Mad Catz Fightstick: upgraded
Well, not as nicely as I had hoped, but the effect I wanted it to have on my playing ability is realized. I really wanted to repaint the casing, and maybe one day I will (perhaps when Marvel vs. Capcom 3 releases?) but upon cracking open the housing, and seeing the time it was going to take to undo everything, prep it and paint it, and then reattach all the wiring, I realized it would take me a couple weekends. I really didn’t want to wait to try the parts out, so I said fuck it and just went to work pulling the old push buttons and stock joystick, then replacing them with the new parts.
The nice part about the Mad Catz stick, is that all the components are ridiculously easy to swap with Sanwa parts (sorry Jason!). The only troublesome part was having to shave off a little material from the sidewall of the buttons so they would slide into the holes (hot). I’m really not sure if the push buttons are worth the upgrade, although they do seem a bit more sensitive, so that could lead me to being less of a button slapper, and more of a finesse player. But, the change from the stock stick, to a JLF with an octagonal gate and a bat top, was like going from a twenty dollar hooker, to one of them high dollar ladies of the evening who have a waiting list. It feels so much nicer. The octagonal gate makes going half and quarter turns so much smoother. Good enough, that I’m pleased to report that just last night, not only did I finally win a match online, I won two. Sure, that was out of about a dozen, but it’s better than the 0-12 that I had going with the old setup.
All together, the stick wound up costing me right about $110 total. I spent $45 dollars on the stick from Amazon, and another $65 from Lizard Lick for the parts (5 of which weren’t needed because I bought a ball top and a dust sleeve just in case). That’s forty bucks less than the tournament edition stick which uses the same parts that I upgraded to. Forty bucks that can go towards another game, or sit in my bank account and earn interest. It’s not worth the money for one game, but two? (Marvel vs. Capcom 3!)…yes.
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Damn you and your fancy stick!
Man i was thinking of going that route but i cheaped out and ordered a Hori stick for $40 so i could give the game a try. If i really like it i might get something better. So if you grew up on a arcade round gate is the square gate a deal breaker?
It’s by no means a deal breaker. It really depends on personal preference, and to a lesser degree, who you like to fight with. Some people swear by square gates. I read alot that they are preffered by people who use characters who need to hold the stick in a specific direction for special moves (like Blanka and Guile) and some people will argue that they are better for the Shoryuken style attacks. I just like the octagonal gate because I can feel the corners better on half and quarter circles. I think that switching to the JLF with the stock square gate would still have been an improvement over the stick that came with the Mad Catz.
I’ve never used a Hori stick, but I’m willing to bet they are on par with what came in the stock setup in the Mad Catz, not fantastic, but way better than using a gamepad.
I’m thinking I could still pwn you with the default PS3 pad. Just sayin…
yeah, probably….but we’ll see
No doubt man, stop on by sometime and we’ll throw it on the ol’ 110″ and duke it out.
so…how’d you like my fist to your nuts style? I gotta get that game so we can mix it up again.
7 comments
Damn you and your fancy stick!
Man i was thinking of going that route but i cheaped out and ordered a Hori stick for $40 so i could give the game a try. If i really like it i might get something better. So if you grew up on a arcade round gate is the square gate a deal breaker?
It’s by no means a deal breaker. It really depends on personal preference, and to a lesser degree, who you like to fight with. Some people swear by square gates. I read alot that they are preffered by people who use characters who need to hold the stick in a specific direction for special moves (like Blanka and Guile) and some people will argue that they are better for the Shoryuken style attacks. I just like the octagonal gate because I can feel the corners better on half and quarter circles. I think that switching to the JLF with the stock square gate would still have been an improvement over the stick that came with the Mad Catz.
I’ve never used a Hori stick, but I’m willing to bet they are on par with what came in the stock setup in the Mad Catz, not fantastic, but way better than using a gamepad.
I’m thinking I could still pwn you with the default PS3 pad. Just sayin…
yeah, probably….but we’ll see
No doubt man, stop on by sometime and we’ll throw it on the ol’ 110″ and duke it out.
so…how’d you like my fist to your nuts style? I gotta get that game so we can mix it up again.
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