Amazon taking preorders for HORI Real Arcade Pro

[shallowgamer]

I know I'm way behind on these types of things, but I had no idea this beast was coming to the States. I was about to pick up a Soul Calibur 4 stick when I saw this:



Questions for the expert panel:

1. Is it worth paying more than twice as much for this than their "standard" stick?
2. Anyone here use the Japanese version? Like/Dislike?
3. (the $25,000 question) Will the Street fighter 4 stick (by MadCatz??) be a better buy (currently listed at 10 bucks more)

Discuss!

[racketboy]

One could use this on a Windows machine as well, correct?

[NotBlaine]

1) Yes. It's built out of nothing but top-of-the-line parts. It's roughly the consistency of an abrams tank. While it is pricey it might well be the last joystick you ever purchase. Ever. Eventually we may stop using USB as a society, so you'd have to do something about that, though. The HRAP:EX is designed to last, and should something break on it, it uses industry standard arcade parts and would be surprisingly easy to repair.

2) I've used them before, they're probably out-of-the-box the best sticks made. You can modify another stick for something comparable for about $70 ($30 for a good Sanwa stick, 8 action buttons at $5 a pop, few bucks for start buttons). I didn't know Amazon had them. I'll now be ordering one since, while it seems expensive... HRAP sticks (like the PS3 Special Addition sticks) run for almost $190 - plus shipping - from Japan. Which can be about $30.

3) Will the Mad Catz one be better? I don't know. Normally I'd say 'no', but some early reports have been that those are some really quality sticks. Truthfully, I'll be surprised if it's night and day since they'll both be using the same hardware, essentially. The Mad Catz are supposed to be made exactly like the Viewlix cabs, which if memory serves are Sanwa throughout. So you might see some people with a preference for one or the other, but I don't think you can go wrong with either.

4) You should be able to use it on a Windows box. 360 joysticks are DirectX10 USB.

Thanks for the heads up. $129.99 plus free shipping? That's a stellar deal.

[RemyC]

how drastic is the improvement over the, EX2?

[NotBlaine]

how drastic is the improvement over the, EX2?

Depends on the person.

There are pretty much two categories of Hori sticks. The Real Arcade sticks and the Fighting Sticks.
Real Arcade sticks are all actual arcade hardware (sanwa and seimitsu), the Fighting Sticks aren't.

So the HRAP EX, HRAP SA2, HRAP SA3, etc etc etc are all basically the same. The SA3 might be more expensive than the EX, but it's mostly for cosmetic reasons and the fact that the SA3 is a 'special edition'. Hardware wise, they're very similar.

So if you're a person who really needs the controls to feel just like they do in the arcade, it'd be a drastic improvement. If you're a person who needs something other than a control pad, then it's probably just a minor improvement.

If you were to mod an EX 2 to have the same hardware as the HRAP EX, you'd probably need to spend $70 or so. That's really where the price difference comes in. If it was important to you and you don't wanna spend the money, you can start off by modding an EX 2 with a new joystick (between $20-$30).

[shallowgamer]

Thanks alot for the info. I got on the preorder list, because I don't think I'll ever find anything like this cheaper. And you're right about the shipping- other places would charge at least 12 bucks to ship this guy.

I also noticed that the PS3 stick on Amazon is 30 bucks cheaper than the 360..hmmm.. guess they know their market??

[RadarScope1]

Thanks for the heads up, OP. I've been thinking about snagging an arcade stick lately. I play at lot of classic-style games on XBLA and I'm going to be getting the SF2 HD remix this week. But I'm considering getting one for the PS3 instead because I have a lot of games going back to the PS1 that I play on it. I'd like to get a good stick but that means more money, and I'm not going to buy two ...

Choices, choices...

[Radiant Hero]

Does the Amercan Hori work on a Japanese 360?

[Doctor Fugue]

Does the Amercan Hori work on a Japanese 360?

Yes, indeed it will.

[RackGaki]

I just might order both the 360 and PS3 models - this is great news. Really glad I didn't piss away my money on the Otomedius Gorgeous stick.