Fighting arcade controller for PS2

[ne2eire]

I'd like to grab a fighting arcade stick for Guilty Gear X2 on PS2. The game has completely sucked me and friends in. Hoping to get 2, so I'd prefer if they aren't some rare out of production impossible to find controller

Good build quality, arcade stick, and nice buttons with good response/feel are a must.

Thanks

 

[tonybonekhang]

If you're looking for something you can find locally I'd recommend the Pelican Real Arcade. Kinda pricey at about $40 for the console specific version and $60 for the universal one.
Anything else you can find at you're local Gamestop or Bestbuy for under $20 won't cut it. Trust me I've gone through them all until this one came out. The cheap plasitc ones are either too cramped or the buttons and joystick don't have the right feel. If you can find a Namco one (special editions released for Soul Calibur 2/3, Tekken, 2, 3, tag, 4 and 5) you should grab one. My only dislike about them is that they have the "ball" type stick and not the familiar "bat" type. I've owned the Tekken 2 one and it was fairly nice. I didn't like the way it felt for Street Fighter type games but it was really good for 3d fighters.

As for the Pelican Real arcade it's constructed of a large wood base that has an good arcade feel (has that same textured plastic coating). The joystick and buttons have a good feel as they seem to be constructed out of arcade components as well. The base is quite large (about the size of a large shoebox) and has the perfect balance of weight. It's heavy enough to not move around on your lap but not so heavy as to kill your legs. Only complaint so far are it's size for storage (a plus for gameplay but sucks when you try to pack it away), the joystick is quite springy so when you release it too quickly it has a tendency to "tap" the opposing direction (ie. you're ducking in tekken 5 and you want you release down to do a rising uppercut sometimes causes you to do the jumping fist to the ground thingy instead), I've also noticed recently that the buttons can sometimes be jammed in the down position - not from general play but if you lay something on it(or have a 2 year old daughter that likes to walk on it) for a while they get stuck and you have wedge them out with a pin. The stick does have a lifetime warranty however but I'd be a little wary of shipping it off for repairs due to it's size and weight. Overall a good controller if you don't want to pay $100 for online models or more for custom controllers.

If you're good with your hands you can try building your own arcade stick. Just browse the web for arcade parts and get the amount of sticks and buttons that you need. Should run about $5-10 for the stick and $1-2 for each button. Build some sort of box and mount the sticks and buttons. Then simply tear apart an old PS2 controller (or buy a dirt cheap third party controller) and solder the wires to the controller's circuit. Throw everything into the base, close it up, run the controller connector out and you're done. But after about $20 in electrical parts, $5-10 in wood/plastic for the base, paint, time and labor etc you'll eventually hit that $50 mark anyways.

 

[espy605]

If you can find a Namco one (special editions released for Soul Calibur 2/3, Tekken, 2, 3, tag, 4 and 5) you should grab one. My only dislike about them is that they have the "ball" type stick and not the familiar "bat" type. I've owned the Tekken 2 one and it was fairly nice. I didn't like the way it felt for Street Fighter type games but it was really good for 3d fighters.

The Namco game sticks are made by Hori which base their sticks on Japanese arcade controls, hence the ball-top. The reason why a lot of American gamers don't like them as much is because they have a square gate. The upside to learning how to use a square gate is its preciseness, due to the corners being in the diagonals. You won't have problems like, "But I thought I was blocking low" with a square gate. However, some find getting used to the shape of the gate awkward when doing circular-type motions.

If you're good with your hands you can try building your own arcade stick. Just browse the web for arcade parts and get the amount of sticks and buttons that you need. Should run about $5-10 for the stick and $1-2 for each button.

Depends on the type of arcade parts you want. If you want Japanese arcade parts, these prices are easily quadrupled. If you have the money, you might want to get one custom-made for you.

If you can find them in store, the Tekken 5 Ultimate Collection (which includes Tekken 5) includes the Hori stick for PS2. It's $30 at GameStop/EB, and $50 at Fry's. The Street Fighter Anniversary Controller uses the bat-top, but some purists complain it uses substandard parts. However, the it is compatible with PS2 and Xbox. It's also $30 at GameStop although it is much harder to find now.

 

[Puffa469]

Those pelican sticks are complete crap. So's the SFA stick.

The only cheap stick worth getting is the Tekken 5 stick made by Hori. If you hate the ball top you can always buy a bat top for $3 and change it.

If you buy a Hori Real Arcade Pro stick (HRAP) or the new HRAP2, they come with a real Sanwa arcade stick. The good part about that is if you hate the square gate, you can spend $7 and get an octagonal gate, which makes circular motions much easier.

Trust me when I say that you dont want one of those pos pelican or SFA sticks. Im not the greatest fighting game player in the world, and even I can feel the HUGE difference between a good stick and those shit sticks. Spend 30 minutes playing a fighter on an Hori stick and they try to go back to using the Pelican. You will throw the pelican stick right out the window.