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Games Diary

While I'm busy blogging, maybe I can write about a few things I did a long time ago.

Last month, the stock buttons on my Mad Catz Fightstick broke. It was the really old standard edition of the Street Fighter 4 stick, so the parts weren't that great. I'd always wanted to upgrade the parts, but I always kept putting it off.

Well, one of the face buttons broke, and when I cracked it open and started fiddling around with the wires, another two or three broke. The whole controller was on the verge of going bust, it seemed.

So, I ordered a bunch of buttons and a new joystick from Focus Attack. I went full Seimitsu, mainly because my friend had a full Sanwa Mad Catz, and I could always go to his place to try out his stick. I also got an octogon gate for the new joystick.

I chose not to replace the art because from what I saw, you'd have to destroy the artwork on the stock stick to replace it, and I kinda liked the art. So, I just got buttons and a stick that would match the colors it came with.

So here it is. Seimitsu LS-32-01 joystick with a three-way restrictor plate, and a bunch of LS-14-G pushbuttons in white and black. I got a white balltop (an LB-35 white) for the stick too, since it came in black. Looks much the same, doesn't it?

What did it feel like? Spring. Fresh air. I like the octogate too - it really helps those circle motions. My old stick, I had some problems with getting the diagonals. If I rolled too hard, I'd get stuck in a corner (in a square gate). If I rolled too soft, I'd miss the diagonal. With the octogate, there's nothing to get caught on. Dragon punch motions don't seem too hard either, so octogate it is.

Compared to Sanwa... well, those Sanwa parts are really sensitive. It took a little while for me to stop accidentally pushing buttons I didn't mean to push, and the joystick is really loose compared to the Seimitsu. The Sanwa joystick I feel I could get used to, but for the buttons, I think I prefer the Seimitsus. They need more deliberate button presses, and the Sanwas can go off if you slacken your hand a bit and let your fingers down.