Hi all,
I recently bought Sega Arcade Classics for PS2 and wanted a good arcade stick to play it properly with. Something like the X-Arcade, but I don't like its button layout. If there's one with Gamecube compatability, that'd be nice too. Budget wise, I'd be looking around the $100 mark. Appreciate any input.
any hori made joysticks are pretty much the best, even namco's joystick was made by hori, ebay has a few at reasonable prices
If you are handy, toodles makes a UPCB. Its basically a way to use arcade sticks on any console.
I prefer to build my own. I built an arcade stick last year, and I'd recommend that option if you have basic woodworking/soldering skills. Slagcoin (http://www.slagcoin.com/joystick.html) will tell you almost everything you need to know about building a PS2 arcade stick. Depending on how many buttons you need, what you use for a case, etc. it costs about $100 to build your own stick from scratch. In the end, you get a product that is exactly what you wanted, along with the satisfaction that comes from making it yourself.
Otherwise, imparanoic's right, Hori's usually pretty reputable, but their joysticks might be out of your price range unless you're buying used.
Hori and Ascii are the brands you want to be searching for. They both make arcade sticks with microswitches. Some of them even have installed arcade sticks and buttons made by real japanese arcade part manufacturers like Sanwa and Seimitstu.
Those usually cost more, but you could always get one without and install your own Sanwa buttons and stick.
you should be able to pick really cheap and very good condition hori sticks for ps2/ps1 ( works on both) on ebay, i have used a hori fighting stick on ps1 for over 10 years, can be even as cheap as US$30 ( sometimes)
i think you need one of these to make it work on your gamecube
http://www.racketboy.com/store/featured/ps1-ps2-gamecube-controller-adapter-cube-joybox-pro.html (http://www.racketboy.com/store/featured/ps1-ps2-gamecube-controller-adapter-cube-joybox-pro.html)
it seems that hori joysticks are pricier in us than uk o (hk possibly the cheapest) as i have check ebay.
For gamecube there is the Hori soul calibur 2 stick. If you want one stick for both systems, the simplest is a controller port adapter but the more elegant solution is modding the PCB.