[quote name='Lieutenant Dan']I bought a Tekken 5 stick at EB yesterday. I really haven't used a joystick before for any prolonged period of time (except of course in the arcade a little), so I'm completely new to fighting with a stick. It took a little getting used to, but I know it's better for fighting than a pad so I'm going to stick with it.
One thing I noticed immediately was the square gate. I didn't really know what it meant before I bought it (I heard it mentioned in this thread), but as soon as I picked it up I felt it. At first it felt a little awkward, but I don't notice it now. For anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about, it's like if you were to try to move the stick around in a circle, you can feel it move in a square pattern. The stick seems to "catch" a little in the corners if you're really - for the lack of a better word - yanking on it. With a little practice it doesn't bother me anymore.
One thing I do have to ask though, is why would anyone prefer a square gate? Keep in mind I'm a noob as far as arcade sticks go, but it would only seem logical to prefer a "diamond" gate (if they even make those, I don't know). This would seem to make it easier to move straight foreward, back, or up and down. In all the fighting games I play, you rarely hold a diagonal direction for an extended period of time, but might want to hold one of the four main directions to walk or crouch. Since I just started practicing with it, occasionally I jump or crouch when I don't mean to because of the square gate.
I really like the stick a lot. Since it's my first, I can only take the advice of the majority of fighter fans that say this stick is one of the best. I recommend it to anyone, I just wanted to ask that question above.[/quote]
In most 2D fighters, you don't hold forward, back, up, or down for any extended length of time. Why? Take up first...most of the time jumping straight up is either a defensive move or planning for a less used offensive attack. Back isn't held unless you have to get away fast, in which case its usually better to back dash or air back dash, or unless you have to block an overhead, in which case its only held for the duration of the overhead, and then usually you return to down-back. Holding down is almost useless. Why hold down when you can hold down-back instead? And finally, forward would be held for offensive movement, but usually a dash, air dash, or jump-in is better anyway. In turtle style play, the only direction you HOLD for any period of time is down-back!
Since down-back is so important in a lot of 2D fighters, I think Japanese players prefer the square gate. A final reason is that certain moves are MUCH harder to do on a circular gate...chief one being Guile's super in Super Turbo, but also tiger-knee moves where you have to roll towards up-forward or up-back.