I've got a HRAP EX not the SE though so it's a Sanwa stick with Hori Buttons only cost me £40 though!!
It's a nice stick for fighters (once I'd changed the buttons) but honestly I find it really clunky for Shmups not because of the stick or anything but because of the actual unit size. I'm considering a SFIV Standard stick and modding it with Semitsu parts just for shmups If I can find a cheap one, they're in a Sale nearby for £29.99...
billberth wrote:I've heard many good thing about hori R.A.P.EX but it seems that buttons is not as good as the madcats joystick.
The regular HRAP EX buttons are indeed not as good as the Matcats, which uses Sanwas. But there is a HRAP EX SE, which uses all Seimitsu, so the quality is just as good, but the feel is just different. Just something to keep in mind.
Blizzard Entertainment Software Developer - All comments and views are my own and not representative of the company.
I have a hard time understanding how a button can be good or bad. It's such a simple mechanism with low requirements. You press it, it activates. Joysticks are much more tactile, and more complicated internally. So I can see how quality parts matter there. I'll mod my X-arcade with a better joystick eventually but I have no problems with the buttons whatsoever.
We are prepared to live in the plain and die in the plain!
Hatta wrote:I have a hard time understanding how a button can be good or bad. It's such a simple mechanism with low requirements. You press it, it activates. Joysticks are much more tactile, and more complicated internally. So I can see how quality parts matter there. I'll mod my X-arcade with a better joystick eventually but I have no problems with the buttons whatsoever.
In a vacuum a button might be perfectly functional, but if you have two different buttons side by side and you try both of them you can clearly feel a difference in the quality. My first joystick was a Hori Fight Stick for SSF2THDR. Then when SF4 came out I decided to get the Mad Cats TE stick. When I tried that out the buttons had a much smoother and cleaner action to them and I couldn't stand to use the old Fight Stick anymore.
Blizzard Entertainment Software Developer - All comments and views are my own and not representative of the company.
Hatta wrote:I have a hard time understanding how a button can be good or bad. It's such a simple mechanism with low requirements. You press it, it activates. Joysticks are much more tactile, and more complicated internally. So I can see how quality parts matter there. I'll mod my X-arcade with a better joystick eventually but I have no problems with the buttons whatsoever.
This is easily solved by going to an arcade. Play three different machines, you'll answer your own question.
A button is just a button...Except they're all made with different materials, or for different purposes (convex/concave), and by different manufactures. All of which boils down to variable to quality and personal preference.
HellHammer wrote:
This is easily solved by going to an arcade. Play three different machines, you'll answer your own question.
A button is just a button...Except they're all made with different materials, or for different purposes (convex/concave), and by different manufactures. All of which boils down to variable to quality and personal preference.
I've never used an arcade machine with buttons I didn't like, except for the ones that didn't work due to decades of abuse. The buttons on my X-arcade don't seem any better or worse than any arcade button I've used. Convex vs concave, now I can see how that matters. Mechanical switches vs membrane, that makes a huge difference. But among buttons of the same type, I don't see how brand matters.
We are prepared to live in the plain and die in the plain!
For $150, you can get just about any stick you want, save for those custom dual system sticks.
I recently bought a SF4 TE stick for the PS3. It's extremely well made and accurate as hell. It does have a square gate on it which will throw you off a bit if you aren't used to it. They sell octagon gates for like $5 plus shipping if it bothers you that much, but after a while you get used to it.
It has turbo buttons as well which are handy for SHMUPs.
I own a HRAP2 SA and a Namco PS1 stick (has been modified with all Sanwa parts). I would accept nothing less than Sanwa. I say man up and get used to the square gate. You'll become a better player when you do.
The X-Arcade may "look" to be equipped with HAPP parts, but it is not. If you spent a lot of time on HAPP sticks and buttons back in the arcade days you will notice the difference immediately. That's not to say it's a bad stick. The X-Arcade is very capable (sometimes requiring minor adjustments and mods), but it is not an arcade equivalent.
Here's a video I made about the HRAP2 SA and my modded Namco stick. The HRAP2 SA is comparable to the Mad Catz TE.
only cost me £40 though!!
