Lo, I was firing up my Saturn yesterday for a game of Soukyugurentai, with my Japanese-style Virtua Stick (the one with the colored buttons, not the grey-and-blue variety). To my dismay there appeared to be something wrong with the stick - when pushed left or right the stick would return to the center position, but it would not 'click', i.e. unswitch and hence my ship would keep going in that direction unless I manually brought the stick back in the center position. Anything I can do about this?
Take the controller apart, and if the joystick is the clicky type as you said, it should feature microswitches around the joystick, and odds are - on account of dirt or just being older probably - one of your switches is sticking. It could be fixed with a brisk scrub of a toothbrush and the cleaning solution of your choice, or if they are standard arcade microswitch size, you could even order some replacements if it turns out the damage is permanent. My favorite is Happ Controls (http://www.happcontrols.com), as I've ordered from them a few times for a joystick mod and some other things, and their microswitches are truely top notch.
Try Arcade Rick http://www.arcaderick.de/index_inside.html. They seem to have a good selection of Sanwa parts. Never dealt with them though, although I am gonna get my IGS PGM from them....
Ah yes, I know Arcaderick - but I didnt know they stock parts, thanks Funny to see how ridiculously expensive their ST-V stuff is compared to what I saw in Japan
I've been going through some joystick woes for some time now. I could never figure out why the sticks on my friend's MVS cab felt so natural and my Saturn Virtua Stick seemed unusable. Yesterday, while reading about arcade sticks, I found the root of my problem. The restrictor! My Virtua Stick and Namco PSX stick both have square restrictors! This makes quarter-circle motions feel very jerky and unnatural. Plus, the stick tends to gravitate toward the four corners so I'll often hit hit down-back rather than just down. This makes my dragon punch motions very unreliable. So (as I finally reach my point), which stick would you recommend for fighters? I had my eye on the Happ P360, but it's missing that gratifying 'click' sound. Furthermore, how difficult would it be to replace the joystick on my Saturn Virtua Stick? Would intense soldering and/or mucking about with encoders be a part of the process?
I'm trying to remember the one I got - it's either the Happ Competition or the Happ Ultimate joystick - but I've used both before, they both make the awesome clicky noise and work like a charm. The downside is that if the hole in the top of your Virtua Stick or Namco stick is square, a new joystick won't help you. As far as adding a new joystick goes, it all depends on how your stick is set up - both the amount of room and the way the joystick is wired. Basically, if there are arcade microswitches on the joystick, then you should be able to replace it with a normal arcade stick with a minimum of soldering. If the wires to the joystick are fitted with quick disconnects (as is the case with the Capcom Power Fighter Stick) then you're in even more luck, as they will literally just slide on and off of the connectors on the microswitches. If the wires are soldered on to the existing joystick, you might want to buy some quick disconnects from Radio Shack or something and solder them to your wires - it will make changing a microswitch so much easier in the future. Also, as I said in the top, space is an issue. My Capcom Power Fighter Stick uses a standard arcade style joystick, but I can't transplant my spare Happ stick in because the stick is about an inch and a half thick compared to about 3/4" of space in the CPFS, so you'll need to gauge your available room. I'm not what type of Virtua Stick you have - if it's the Japanese one, you might have luck with a bit of customization, but it never looked to me like the US one would work well. The Namco stick, however, should prove a little more fruitful.
Sorry for not replying Antipasta. Try himura games (google for a URL). He sells Sanwa parts at very competitive prices (some cheaper than hobby shobs in Akiba). I've got a stick on the way, but am going to use it when I convert a DC Arcade Stick to a PS2 stick.
Thanks, I'll give it a try I'm gonna try modifying one of my Saturn arcade sticks to work with my ST-V, I'll keep you posted ;-)
Thanks a lot for the help, Greatsaintlouis. The VirtuaStick is the JP version, and it's a lot thicker than the Namco stick. Still, I'll have to do some measuring so I can make sure I won't have to bust out a dremel (and then learn how to use one ). I don't think the hole where the joystick pops out is square, it's just the restrictor plate where the stick hits the microswitches. Either way, thanks again for the advice.
