SNK Neo Geo AES and Neo CD Sticks

[NFG]

It's not well known that a variant of Seimitsu's LS-22 is the core of SNK's Neo Geo sticks.  The base, while not marked as an LS-22, is almost identical to the one used in an arcade stick from Sigma, and that one is marked. 

What I find interesting about the LS-22 variants is what's not the same: the shaft.

I always knew the reason for the Neo Geo CD stick's teardrop knob: the bottom of the knob was very close to the top of the joystick shell.  It was so close that a normal knob wouldn't allow an adult finger to fit between the knob and the joystick shell.



But my understanding of the situation, for several decades, was that the joysticks were identical, but installed at a greater depth on the Neo CD stick.  Because it was set farther into the shell, a raised knob was required to make it usable.

But I recently measured it and found that this was wrong.  For reasons known only to SNK themselves, the shaft in the Neo CD stick was almost 10mm shorter. 



The Sigma stick splits the difference at ~25mm below the base of the knob.

This means they either made the teardrop to fit the shorter shaft, or they made the shaft shorter because they wanted the teardrop knob.  It doesn't make sense that they'd arbitrarily choose a shorter shaft, so I have to believe the latter theory is true.

A lot of game players are resistant to change, and the teardrop was not universally loved.  I'd really love to know how this process played out within SNK.  An expensive new platform launch and a weird change to the primary user interface?  Helluva risk.

It worked for me - I love the CD stick, it's better than the OG Neo Geo stick.  But gosh, that shaft is short.  Here it is installed on a Hori alpha: