Steven Pendleton Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 Has anyone tried this thing? If so, how is it? I don't play fighting games so I don't want it for that, but for a basic super cheap not-Neo Geo at-home arcade type thing (After Burner Complete, 32X Space Harrier, Golden Axe, shooters, etc.). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Pendleton Posted March 13, 2020 Author Share Posted March 13, 2020 I forgot to mention this before and it's too late to edit now, but I am specifically referring to the Japanese version, since it seems to be superior to the non-Japanese versions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joesant84 Posted April 7, 2020 Share Posted April 7, 2020 (edited) Looks identical to the American Model 6 Button. I use it all the time for every type of game. I am not a fighting game fan myself, I use it mostly for Arcade style games on my Genesis and it works great. Edited April 7, 2020 by joesant84 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Pendleton Posted April 7, 2020 Author Share Posted April 7, 2020 (edited) Japanese 6 button version supposedly has microswitches when the US 6 button version doesn't. I found the 3 button version over at Trader the other day for just under 6000 yen. Not sure if it's worth it, but I might grab it since there are not many 6 button games anyway and the 6 button one is like 50% more expensive. Edited April 7, 2020 by Steven Pendleton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 (edited) No clue. Most of us here are in the West and so we got the membrane stick. It's OK for what it is, pretty typical for the era. Nothing amazing. I'd like to try a Japanese version if it indeed does use micro switches. Edited April 8, 2020 by Austin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Pendleton Posted April 8, 2020 Author Share Posted April 8, 2020 13 minutes ago, Austin said: No clue. Most of us here are in the West and so we got the membrane stick. It's OK for what it is, pretty typical for the era. Nothing amazing. I'd like to try a Japanese version if it indeed does use micro switches. Yeah, I figured maybe someone here might have imported it, though since there are a ton of collectors here. I'll let you know if the 6 button one does actually have microswitches. I might actually just go and order the 6 button one online since I can't find one in town. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 Just now, Steven Pendleton said: Yeah, I figured maybe someone here might have imported it, though since there are a ton of collectors here. I'll let you know if the 6 button one does actually have microswitches. I might actually just go and order the 6 button one online since I can't find one in town. Yeah, do let us know. If they do then I could see myself importing one some day. Another to look out for is the Capcom Power Fighting Stick. Micro switches for both the stick and buttons, feels really good. I have one.. unfortunately my stick has clearly seen better days, but I'd imagine one in great shape would be fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Pendleton Posted April 8, 2020 Author Share Posted April 8, 2020 7 minutes ago, Austin said: Yeah, do let us know. If they do then I could see myself importing one some day. Another to look out for is the Capcom Power Fighting Stick. Micro switches for both the stick and buttons, feels really good. I have one.. unfortunately my stick has clearly seen better days, but I'd imagine one in great shape would be fantastic. Yeah, I'll take a look and see what I can find. So far, the only 6 button ones I have found are just the 3 on Amazon and one on Surugaya's net store, which might be the same one they have listed on Amazon. Cheaper on Surugaya's store, though. Japanese Mega Drive is not a great system to collect for since everything is hard to find and expensive because the system failed miserably here, so the Mega Drive arcade sticks are not something you see much, if ever. I did find 2 CIB XE-1APs (!) the other day, though, and Super Famicom stuff is everywhere. I got my first Neo Geo AES controller last week and I'm pretty disappointed with the quality of the buttons. The actual stick is wonderful, but the buttons are just not very pleasant to me. I'd like to get a stick for PC Engine shooters eventually, as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 1 minute ago, Steven Pendleton said: Yeah, I'll take a look and see what I can find. So far, the only 6 button ones I have found are just the 3 on Amazon and one on Surugaya's net store, which might be the same one they have listed on Amazon. Cheaper on Surugaya's store, though. Japanese Mega Drive is not a great system to collect for since everything is hard to find and expensive because the system failed miserably here, so the Mega Drive arcade sticks are not something you see much, if ever. I did find 2 CIB XE-1APs (!) the other day, though, and Super Famicom stuff is everywhere. I got my first Neo Geo AES controller last week and I'm pretty disappointed with the quality of the buttons. The actual stick is wonderful, but the buttons are just not very pleasant to me. I'd like to get a stick for PC Engine shooters eventually, as well. Yeah, the buttons on AES sticks are lackluster. I do believe Hori made some Neo-Geo sticks though and would be worth looking into as alternates. Or, using a modern PS4 stick with a Brook adapter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Pendleton Posted April 8, 2020 Author Share Posted April 8, 2020 2 minutes ago, Austin said: Yeah, the buttons on AES sticks are lackluster. I do believe Hori made some Neo-Geo sticks though and would be worth looking into as alternates. Or, using a modern PS4 stick with a Brook adapter. Yeah, the buttons on the AES controller are not great and it was extremely disappointing to me. Over in the Neo Geo thread Anthony said to try the Neo Geo CD controller as well. I don't have a Neo Geo yet, though. I'm planning on getting the AES on the 26th to celebrate its 30th birthday, but I haven't seen any CD controllers in town that are not bundled with a Neo Geo CD. Anyway, it looks like I might be getting this Mega Drive stick from Surugaya's web store. Expected delivery date is between tomorrow and the 18th, so it might be a while. There's one on Amazon that I could guarantee arrives tomorrow and it's cheaper by 1200 yen, but no box and it's a bit scratched. I don't need the box, of course, but for an arcade stick it certainly helps for storage since it protects the stick. I haven't decided yet, but I might get the cheaper one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 2 minutes ago, Steven Pendleton said: Yeah, the buttons on the AES controller are not great and it was extremely disappointing to me. Over in the Neo Geo thread Anthony said to try the Neo Geo CD controller as well. I don't have a Neo Geo yet, though. I'm planning on getting the AES on the 26th to celebrate its 30th birthday, but I haven't seen any CD controllers in town that are not bundled with a Neo Geo CD. Anyway, it looks like I might be getting this Mega Drive stick from Surugaya's web store. Expected delivery date is between tomorrow and the 18th, so it might be a while. There's one on Amazon that I could guarantee arrives tomorrow and it's cheaper by 1200 yen, but no box and it's a bit scratched. I don't need the box, of course, but for an arcade stick it certainly helps for storage since it protects the stick. I haven't decided yet, but I might get the cheaper one. Neo CD controllers are an acquired taste. I like them, but will admit that the thumb stick takes time to get used to. I still struggle at times with doing accidental diagonals on shoot 'em ups or fighting games. They unfortunately don't seem to pop up for sale individually as much as they used to. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonGrafx-16 Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 Did anyone make a multi-system stick? I'd love one that does PC Engine and Megadrive/Genesis... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Pendleton Posted April 8, 2020 Author Share Posted April 8, 2020 (edited) 6 minutes ago, Austin said: Neo CD controllers are an acquired taste. I like them, but will admit that the thumb stick takes time to get used to. I still struggle at times with doing accidental diagonals on shoot 'em ups or fighting games. They unfortunately don't seem to pop up for sale individually as much as they used to. Yeah, and they are expensive, as well. The ones on Ebay are all more expensive than what I paid for the AES controller. I might get this cheap 6 button stick and have it here tomorrow. They just declared a state of emergency the other day and we had a company meeting with the senior staff last night on Zoom and we are closing the office for the next month, so rather than spending money on train trips, I've got some extra cash to spend on fun stuff. Too bad Amazon USA isn't shipping here now, since there are some books and US-only games that I really want. 4 minutes ago, DragonGrafx-16 said: Did anyone make a multi-system stick? I'd love one that does PC Engine and Megadrive/Genesis... Yes, there is one I saw on the internet a while ago. Forgot where. Might be able to find it. Found it. Hori Fighting Stick Multi. https://www.retrogamerrandomness.com/2016/10/hori-fighting-stick-multi-for-pc-engine.html Edited April 8, 2020 by Steven Pendleton 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 (edited) That Fighting Stick Multi looks cool. Might think about getting one of those in the future. 11 minutes ago, DragonGrafx-16 said: Did anyone make a multi-system stick? I'd love one that does PC Engine and Megadrive/Genesis... There are other multi-system sticks on top of what Steven mentioned. One is the Battlestation II controller. Tough to find these days, but they had solid parts and worked with a bunch of platforms. Another option is getting a Brook adapter and using a modern stick (which will inarguably have better parts/have less wear than anything from 30 years ago). I have one that lets me use my PS4 stick on both the Megadrive and PC Engine. Still need to test it out actually, so thanks for the reminder. Edited April 8, 2020 by Austin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Pendleton Posted April 8, 2020 Author Share Posted April 8, 2020 (edited) 13 minutes ago, Austin said: Another option is getting a Brook adapter And yet another alternative to that is the RetroPad32, which looks really cool and works on a whole ton of systems. Crap, it doesn't work on PC Engine hardware, but it works with PC Engine controllers if you want to use a PC Engine controller on other systems. Depending on what you want to do you may need the RetroPad32's expansion board, so be careful. Okay, reading some more, it seems that you CAN use it on a PC Engine or TurboGrafx, but you need a different expansion board to do it. Edited April 8, 2020 by Steven Pendleton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+GoldLeader Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 I've found that HORI generally makes good stuff (I love their PS2 arcade sticks) and of course, microswitches rule! FWIW, I have one of these for my Turbografx and I like it quite a bit. Pretty sure I have a cable adapter to allow its use on my PC Engine DUO R too. I can't remember if I've specifically tried it, but no reason it shouldn't work... https://www.ebay.com/itm/BOXED-TURBOGRAFX-16-ACEMORE-SUPER-STICK-JOYSTICK-CONTROL-PAD-CONTROLLER/293248206702?hash=item4446f4876e:g:ZOgAAOSwiLdWB6Sh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Pendleton Posted April 8, 2020 Author Share Posted April 8, 2020 Well, I ordered the 9100 yen one from Surugaya. It will be here between tomorrow and the 18th, but I'll review it here once I get it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Pendleton Posted April 13, 2020 Author Share Posted April 13, 2020 (edited) @Austin Microswitches! 12 hours ago or so I got an email saying that it was shipped yesterday at 1300, and I got it an hour ago, so here is my review of it for anyone who cares. The actual thing itself is heavier than the Neo Geo AES controller, probably because the bottom plate is metal. Unfortunately, one of the little feet on the bottom is missing so it's a bit unstable. The buttons are simple membrane buttons. They are a bit nicer than the ones on the Neo Geo but nothing special. I think I might prefer the buttons on the regular Japanese 6 button MD controller! My B button is a bit unresponsive sometimes. I did clean it and it's maybe a little better. Hard to tell, but you need to really push the thing all the way or it will not engage. I wish the locations of the Mode and Start buttons were reversed, but that's just me. Am I the only one who is somehow reminded of candy by the color of the Japanese Mega Drive's Start and Reset buttons and now the Mode button on this controller? Speaking of the Mode button, what is the point of having both a Mode button and a 3/6 button toggle switch? Redundant, but I guess if one of them breaks you could use the other for the few games that do not work properly in 6 button mode. The Mode button is in a location that most likely makes it unsuitable for use in the few games that use the Mode button to do something, like After Burner Complete. The turbo slider goes from uselessly slow at the far left to somehow even slower in the middle and then UNBELIEVABLY FAST at the far right. More on this later. This arcade stick is probably more comfortable than the Neo Geo controller since they put the buttons in locations that actually somewhat conform to the human hand, unlike the Neo Geo controller with its ultra awkward slant thing. The MD stick even has a little edge thingy on the left side so your hand doesn't slip and fall off. The actual stick has microswitches, but the Neo Geo AES controller's stick is way better, I think. The Neo Geo's ball is of a comfortable size and the texture reminds me of billiard balls for some reason, but the ball on this controller is huge and totally plasticy. I am not sure if it can be removed. It spins freely but is still captive, unlike the one on the Neo Geo controller, which can be unscrewed and removed without needing any tools. The stick itself is functional, but it seems that it has to travel slightly further than the AES controller's stick does to engage the microswitches, so I imagine it's a bit less responsive in comparison. This could be just me, and it seems to work fine. More testing is required, I think. I mainly used this with my Japanese Mega Drive tower, but I also tested some games on the Mega Sg and even the Nomad. That one's kind of awkward to hold while using this arcade stick with the other hand, but it does work in case you have a weird friend who actually wants to play multiplayer games on the Nomad's tiny screen with this arcade stick. I tested a bunch of games with it and I was way worse at all of them using this stick, which I expected since I have never owned one before (aside from Neo Geo, which I can't use since I don't have anything that I can use it with). The first game I tested was Gleylancer. I actually died on the first level within 20 seconds or so because I'm not used to using a stick, but it works well. The B button being unresponsive at times was annoying since that's the shoot button, and sometimes I would just stop shooting even though I was holding the button. Next was Sailor Moon. It's easier to do the special moves with this controller than it is with a regular controller, and I can actually do Ami's and Rei's special punch things while facing to the right, which I have difficulty doing on a regular controller for some reason. Slap Fight MD is really enjoyable with this controller and it was very easy to engage Toaplan mode. I think this will be my preferred controller for Slap Fight MD from now on. I tried Xeno Crisis with this controller and it was super awkward! I will try this again later, but it's probably better to use a regular 6 button controller for this game if you can. After Burner Complete and Space Harrier on the 32X work, but I found both of them to be a bit awkward. The turbo helps in Space Harrier. I totally forgot to test Virtua Racing (Deluxe). I'll do that if anyone cares, but I don't think anyone does. I wanted to test the turbo, so naturally I chose Jurassic Park Rampage Edition. The turbo on this thing is so fast that not only does the game have massive slowdown, but it caused the music to actually completely stop working for 10 seconds or so after I stopped shooting! This is super awesome, and all turbo controllers should act as a mute button for the game's music. I also tested it in the 240p test suite's controller test thingy and it seems to be WAY faster than the turbo on the PC Engine controllers. I did some more testing just now using the 240p test suite, and it seems that the arcade stick's turbo is faster than the turbo on the M30 2.4g when the arcade stick's turbo is set to the highest speed. An enjoyable controller with a few really small annoyances and a weird B button, but it works well overall aside from that. I'll see about cleaning the B button again. Overall I'd say it's worth getting if you like this system and arcade sticks but NEED microswitches and 6 buttons. Edited April 13, 2020 by Steven Pendleton 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ApolloBoy Posted April 14, 2020 Share Posted April 14, 2020 On 4/7/2020 at 10:09 PM, Steven Pendleton said: Yeah, the buttons on the AES controller are not great and it was extremely disappointing to me. The nice thing about Neo Geo AES sticks is that you can actually remove the original buttons and put in some 24 mm arcade buttons without any extra trimming. I added some Sanwa OBSF buttons in mine (in standard Neo Geo colors of course) and they're dramatically better than the stock buttons. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derFunkenstein Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 (edited) The American 6-button stick is nice. Definitely not microswitches but I am not disappointed. Very sturdy feeling and puts up with my terrible Street Fighter abuse. LOL Although after reading your review, I think I want to buy a Japanese one. Edited April 21, 2020 by derFunkenstein Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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