The Arcade Stick/Controller Thread

[kamiboy]

So, currently I am playing my X68000 with one of those grey FM Towns Marty joypads. People give them a lot of shit, but I beat Akumajo Dracula using it and I didn't really have any gripes. It is not as good as a 8/16 bit Nintendo joypad, to be sure, but it is certainly not in the Master System shit tier either.

Anywaste, lately owning Arcade sticks have been weighing heavy on my mind. I will definitely need one for my PC Engine given the systems library. For the same reason I'd like to get around to finding one for the X68000 as well.

Unfortunately using the PC Engine one on the X68000 seems impossible due the very different ways in which those two systems approach controllers.

Fortunately you should be able to use any joypad between a Mega Drive and X68000 using a simple converter.

In any case, so far as I understand the list of common Arcade sticks that work on the X68000 is rather thin. So far I've only seen those absurdly expensive but temptingly sexy Micomsoft XE-1's, the ones for the MSX, and some sort of 6 button Fighting stick.

I lean towards the XE-1 despite the price because I don't play fighters and it bothers me to have extra buttons on a controller that I wont be using.

What are the sticks and controllers of choice for you fine gentlemen?

[BlueBMW]

I rewired an original non turbo pc engine pad to work on the 68000.  I had to remove the multiplexer chip inside and just wired the cable to the pins where the chip was.  Works fantastic!

[kamiboy]

Yes, I guess that would work, but I do not have extra controllers to permanently convert to X68000 controllers. The good thing about the Mega Drive controllers is that the only thing different between them and X68000/MSX controllers is the pinout.

[BlueBMW]

Yeah, an adapter to use PC Engine pads would be a little more involved.  That's why I sacrificed a non turbo pad.  I cant make the turbo function work anyways, and sacrificing a common old ugly non turbo pad is no big loss.

[kamiboy]

No none turbo PC Engine pads ever came my way. Controllers for the X68000 are generally very expensive. All the Joycards I've seen with turbo functions have cost over 4000 yen. That is why I ended up with the Marty Controller. Also the Marty controller matches the aesthetics of the Compact perfectly.

[sharp]

What I use is an X1 Sharp joycard.
I managed to snag 1 that was in great condition.
I have seen some that had holes worn through the buttons.
There are tons of controllers/sticks that are compatible though.
It is just hard to come across them now.
There was a joystick released with uh... mr.do
I would want that joystick.


I have seen these on YAJ.
I was tempted to get one a few times.
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/ジョイボール

[SuperDeadite]

Hori Neo Fighting Stick II.  NeoGeo adapters are really simple to make.

[kamiboy]

What kind of connector does the Neo Geo controllers use?

[SuperDeadite]

What kind of connector does the Neo Geo controllers use?

http://bit.ly/19mfSEz

[BlueBMW]

Lol super...

They use a standard dsub15 connector.  Same as the cable that connects to the analog RGB port on the 68k.  Neo Geo sticks are pin to pin, so they're very easy to adapt.

http://www.gamesx.com/controldata/msx.htm

http://gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=controls:neo_geo_controller

[kamiboy]

Great, all I need now is to buy a Neo Geo AES I guess. Hell, I've been wanting one for years but somehow I always end up spending my money on other games and systems.

One of these days...

[BlueBMW]

Great, all I need now is to buy a Neo Geo AES I guess. Hell, I've been wanting one for years but somehow I always end up spending my money on other games and systems.

One of these days...

You could also just buy some arcade buttons and joysticks and make up your own arcade stick.

[kamiboy]

Nah, for certain things my mind will not acknowledge the build quality of something that cobbled together myself. I'll have to leave it to professionals at that point.

I've recently discovered that Hori made a multi system Arcade stick that works across SNES, GENESIS and PC Engine. With a simple cable that I already have it can also be made to work on the X68000. That one sounds like a winner so far. Although such convenience never comes cheap.

[SuperDeadite]

Nah, for certain things my mind will not acknowledge the build quality of something that cobbled together myself. I'll have to leave it to professionals at that point.

I've recently discovered that Hori made a multi system Arcade stick that works across SNES, GENESIS and PC Engine. With a simple cable that I already have it can also be made to work on the X68000. That one sounds like a winner so far. Although such convenience never comes cheap.

Do NOT buy the Hori Fighting Stick Multi.   It's a piece of trash.  By far the worst stick Hori ever made.  Here in Japan the famous game stores have stacks of them for 500yen each collecting dust.  They are garbage.

[kamiboy]

The deuce you say, I was about to pay over $100 for one. What exactly is the problem with that stick? Bear in mind that I've spent all of maybe 10 minutes in an arcade in my life and I've never owned an arcade stick before.

So is this quality issue glaringly obvious even to a dilletante or is it something delegated to the realm of true arcade stick connoisseurs?

Getting an arcade stick that works on 4 systems is really, really convenient. Not to mention it will save me a lot of money.

[SuperDeadite]

It's cheap piece of garbage.  The individual system sticks used quality Sanwa arcade sticks.  The Multi uses a Hori created stick and it sucks.  Seriously the Multi is worth $5 here.  The long standing rumor is that Hori did their best to make a quality controller perfect for all 3 systems, however when people whined about the price of buying all 3 they got a bit butt hurt, and made the Multi as requested but purposely made it shit out of pride.

[kamiboy]

Those rumours are pretty dubious. I always raise a brow when I hear stories of companies acting as if they are spiteful 4 year olds. That is not how things work.

In any regard, I suppose the so called shortcomings of the Hori is not something that can be remedied by swapping out the parts with quality replacements?

Bear in mind though, as a person who has practically never handled a stick before that Hori would have to be horrible for me to appreciate its lack of quality. Most likely the difference between that an a quality stick will be lost on me. Unless it is nothing short of horrendous.

If that is the case then I suppose a Neo Geo plus a few converter cables is going to be my best bet.

[SuperDeadite]

Regardless of the rumors, the Multi is garbage, and it's built in a way that no normal stick fits.  You say you aren't experienced with a real arcade stick, in that case I wonder why you even want one?  I'd stick with a good pad over a cheap stick anyday.

[kamiboy]

I am curious about sticks, especially for arcade shooters. I hear they are better played with a stick, so I want to try one. For 2D platformers I think I'll stick to the good old nes style control pad though.

[gypsie]

Amstrad gx4000 pad works very well (all 2 buttons)

[frankmonk]

I have to bring this post back up!

I am also looking for a new x68000 compatible stick.

are there any other Options than the micomsoft sticks? any custom made sticks for MSX/x68000?
How about the capcom Adapter? I should be able to use any sega Genesis pinout Controller with it if I am not wrong

[cometclean]

I scored a Micomsoft XE-1 for about 80.00 US (before shipping). The reason it was so low was because the previous owner had lightly scraped away some plastic around the tops of the buttons so the buttons wouldn't stick. its not that noticeable and it doesn't effect functionality at all. It just hurts the collectability a little I suppose. In any case I love it and would recommend it to anyone looking for a great 2 button stick for the X68k. My next purchase will likely be a genesis pad converter as these are very cheap and the genesis 6 button controller is still my personal favorite gamepad.

[kamiboy]

Well this is a blast from the past. I am actually currently rocking a ST2 Micomsoft stick. The good thing about the model I have is that it has a switch that changes it from Mega Drive mode to Atari mode. So I can use it with both my X68000 and SEGA 8/16 bit systems. The bad thing is that it lacks turbo buttons. I believe the PRO version which only works with Japanese PC's has turbo buttons.

In any regard, anything that works on a Japanese PC will work on the X68000 since they all had the Atari style joypad port. Your best budget bet is to get a MD stick and either modify it or use an adapter to make it Atari compatible. You could also get hold of a CAPCOM fighting stick adapter that lets you use an SNES stick by CAPCOM.

The best option though is the Micomsoft sticks, they are amazing.

[gojirien]

I'm using a megadrive arcade controller with an adapter for my x68000, but I'm thinking about using my Neo Geo arcade stick, it's far more confortable and better.

I was wondering, how to put a third button for the x68000 ? Chelnov or Parodius for example, use 3 buttons.

[frankmonk]

yes, an Adapter for the neo geo stick would be great. does someone know where I can find such an Adapter? I cant built this on my own...for sure!

[X-Col]

I use the Namco Arcade Stick for PS1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namco_Arcade_Stick

Bought a PS to MSX converter of E-Bay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Cyclone-RX-Playstation-Joystick-Gamepad-Adapter-for-MSX-Computers-/111339965213?hash=item19ec610b1d:g:zvkAAOxyi-ZTX7ar

For good measure I replaced the parts in the Namco stick with high quality Sanwa buttons and stick.

Amazing solution and cost under £100

[Pinwizkid]

I have a Hudson Soft Super X Joycard for player 1 and a hard modded a Genesis controller for player 2. I also have a Cyberstick to swap into the player 1 port for certain games and I really love that thing - it looks and works fantastic, especially for the games that support the analog controller feature.

That Playstation controller adapter is really cool. I might pick one of those up as it would open a whole a bunch of controller options.

[dos]

I have three controllers but I mainly use the ASCII Stick II Turbo MSX, the joysticks they used in these feel fantastic, way better than XE-1 imo. There's a panel at the top with LEDs that come on when you input a direction or button and flash when turbo is used. Turbo can even be applied to the directions. There's a switch to reverse the buttons which comes in super handy on X68K, and a 4/8 way setting. For certain games like Dracula/Castlevania I'd rather use a pad, so I have the Hudson Super-X Joycard, which is pretty much perfect.

EDIT: man I didn't realize how old this thread was, sorry for bumping it if that's a problem