Topic: Well, I broke down and bought it.

[K-man]

http://www.arcadeshock.com/items/pro-arcade-sticks~mas~hori~/capcom-style-fighting-stick-ps-ps2-full-size-compstick-convex-csfsfcc-prosticks-detail.htm

Got it with concave buttons instead of convex.  I'm a 2d fighter whore, so this is money well spent.

MAS has been making sticks like this for 15 years or so.  They're made by some politically charged Vietnamese guy and his wife in a trailer at a trailerpark in Westminster, CA.  Aside from custom-building your own (or having someone build it), MAS is the only option to get a true American arcade stick.

I can't wait for this thing to arrive.

[TheOtherBelmont]

Those are really nice man, my upstairs neighbor that I play a lot of 2D games with uses one and its works very well.  I got used to playing so many 2D fighting games with the Playstation directional pad though that I got a little better with it than the stick, especially on Guilty Gear.

[sirean_syan]

Congrats. I'm not against the convex style myself, but I'd prefer the concave as well.

I used to wish I had a stick like that back when I played SFII and the like. Nothing really feels as good as buttons with that nice clicking action. Now, I suppose if I ever went all out on a control setup it'd be for something like a sim... too bad they don't exist anymore. I did get Steel Battalion, but my home setup never accommodated the game very well.

[Cobra951]

I want something with a good D-pad or 8-way digital stick for the 360.  The D-pad on the standard controller is lousy.  The 4 cardinal points need to be easier to engage than the diagonals, and the response needs to be quick and reliable.  I don't think a fighting stick is the answer, though.

[Quemaqua]

I'd love to have one of those, but I honestly don't play fighting games nearly as much as I used to.  But if I had one of those... I might play more.

[PyroMenace]

You should go ahead and list the latest purchases you got K-Man and include all the 2D fighters you had previously.

[K-man]

You should go ahead and list the latest purchases you got K-Man and include all the 2D fighters you had previously.

I'm assuming everything I bought aside from the stick itself.

A Ps3 adapter (which hopefully will work without a hitch)
a DC adapter

Fighters picked up this week:

Fatal Fury Battle Archives Vol. 1
King of Fighters XI
Capcom vs SNK 2 PS2 (to replace my xbox EO copy, kinda hard to find so I had to resort to ebay and ebay prices)

I have:

PS2
Street Fighter Anniversary Collection (PS2, Xbox)
Street Fighter Alpha Anthology
Neo Geo Battle Coliseum
Grabbing Fatal Fury Archives vol 2 and samurai shodown anthology when they hit

DC
Capcom vs SNK
Marvel Vs Capcom 2
King of Fighters 99
Soul Calibur
Powerstone 2

Thanks to Pyro I also own a bunch of capcom fighters for Saturn.  However, I find the gamepad relatively satisfactory, although I may throw down 15 bucks toward a saturn converter at some point.

[TheOtherBelmont]

Why don't I see any Guilty Gear games on that list?  This makes me sad.

[K-man]

Don't worry, Accent Core's on the list.

[gpw11]

Wasn't there a weird issue with the control scheme in MvC2 for the DC?  I seem to remember that, but now that I think about it, it could just be that it was a bit weird because the 'Strong' attacks were the trigger buttons.

[K-man]

(click to show/hide)

Came with convex buttons instead of concave, which sucks ass.  Regardless.  It is here.  And it is huge.

[Quemaqua]

Holy hell, that is huge.  How does it handle?  Shame about the buttons.

[K-man]

Buttons and stick both have a very tactile response.  I'm actually growing to be ok with the fact the buttons are convex.  They seem as if they would be very easy to hit during play.  They're also very firm, which is something I really wanted concave for.

The main thing I'm going to have to get used to is the straight button layout.  The curved Japanese layout is much more user-friendly.

I'll post some more detailed feedback tonight after I give SF3, SFA3, and KoF XI a workout with it.  I'd love to test MvC2 but my dreamcast converter hasn't shown up yet.

[Quemaqua]

I hadn't thought about the straight layout... I honestly don't know if that would bug me or not.  Could probably get used to it either way.  Anyway, keep us updated!  I hope you end up liking it.

[K-man]

Ok, after 15 minutes with Street Fighter Anthology, I realize this stick is a cut above everything else.  Zangief's spinning pile driver is probably widely considered as one of the most difficult special moves to consistently pull off.  However, I can perform them using this stick without a single problem.  It feels so solid when in use (no doubt due to the sheer mass), and the springs in the joysticks and buttons are very firm.  In short, stick feels great.  In fact i'm probably about to rush out and grab Guilty Gear XX Accent Core to celebrate.

God, there's no way I can't recommend this stick to every 2d fighting game fan.

[Quemaqua]

Damn you for making me want to spend more money.  And damn it, is Accent Core out now?  I haven't been keeping very close watch lately.

[TheOtherBelmont]

Hahaha what the hell Que?  YOU made a topic on Accent Core back in September.

[Quemaqua]

I remember making one, but I don't remember making one because the game was out.  Of course information flies out of my head like nothing, so... yeah.  If so, consider me a dipshit.  Or a bigger one if you did already.

[TheOtherBelmont]

I remember making one, but I don't remember making one because the game was out.  Of course information flies out of my head like nothing, so... yeah.  If so, consider me a dipshit.  Or a bigger one if you did already.

It's ok man, huffing paint is hard habit to kick.

[Quemaqua]

It's so good.  And painty.

[K-man]

So apparently Accent Core is ALREADY getting rather hard to locate retail.  It's been discontinued through Gamestop and Aksys themselves.  I had to resort to ordering it from amazon, and even they won't be back in stock until the 22nd.

[Quemaqua]

Jeez.  Apparently I better go find my wallet.

[K-man]

Ugh.  Trouble in paradise.  Apparently the Dreamcast converter I bought doesn't work with this stick for whatever reason.  Works fine with an actual ps2 pad and my tekken 5 hori stick, but not the MAS.  Hopefully I'll be able to get to the bottom of it, but it appears that I have wasted 20 bucks on a dreamcast converter that I can't use.

If the ps3 converter I ordered doesn't work that will be a huge kick to the nads.

[K-man]

The ps3 converter I bought works, but with the slightest bit of lag.  The converter also makes the controller work on PC!  woo!

Anyhow, my copy of Guilty Gear XX Accent Core came in today.  So I know what I'll be doing tonight.

[Quemaqua]

Do post impressions.  I'd love to get some details on that one.

[TheOtherBelmont]

Do post impressions.  I'd love to get some details on that one.

TRYANT FLAME!

Also I'll bring my copy of Accent Core over when I come out there.

[K-man]

Well considering this is my first Guilty Gear game that I've ever owned, I can't compare it to the others.  However, I can certainly tell that this is a 2d fighter enthusiast's game.  Combat looks remarkably deep.  Also, the game has a progressive scan mode that just looked absolutely beautiful on my LCD.

I wish I had sort of a background on everyone though.  The game itself does little to progress any hint of a storyline.

[Quemaqua]

I've been playing the games for years and I can barely make sense of it.  If you want a lot of that stuff, learn Japanese and go look on ebay for books and manga and other stuff that's around.  For the rest of us there are some story modes in past games, but they don't give you much.

[TheOtherBelmont]

There used to be this awesome fansite that had a ton of translated mangas and lots of info on the story(like a mini Wiki), but it went down a couple of years ago.  Wikipedia has some pretty decent articles on the characters themselves and some of the story along with all of the music references in their attacks and names themselves.