Ok, after reading so many horror stories of sticks breaking down and people finding out they don’t like fighting games after all, I have mainly been off the boards for two reasons. One is I don’t want to get banned for calling everybody out there for making stupid decisions like spending way too much on a stick or just general complaints on the game. The other thing is that I have been playing SF4 myself and realistically don’t find enough other fighting game fanatics on the GB boards compared to other sites lets say.

First thing first, I just want to say I had totally failed and lucked out all in a single week of the SF4 release. I had planned to get the game at launch, but it didn’t happen. However I lucked out and found an online store that had the game and a stick as well.

If you really want to know what I think of the game I did write a review on it.

I have my set up of the stick and monitor to be like an arcade cabinet. The Stick is resting on the box which is resting on my table. At that height I can stand to play with the sticks at a reasonable height. Also the monitor is so high up that it actually is at eye level. Overall this makes for a set up that reminds me of the arcades.

On to the stick itself, the stick is called Real Arcade Pro 3 made by Hori. This stick has Sanwa stick but Hori buttons. The plus side though is that this stick is real mod friendly with the same quick disconnects as the official SF4 merch.As you can see the base is nice and wide to that my entire wrist and then some has all the room it needs to rest. Holding the stick in a claw/wineglass fashion, I no longer risk super giant callous on my thumbs but rather arthritis instead.

The buttons may not be top of the line, but they will do for now. Perhaps when SF4: Super Off the Hook Tournament In your Face edition gets released in a year or two (or any other big fighting game), I would be more inclined to upgrade. I have seen people complain about the layout, but I simply don’t get it. Sure it may be different from what the arcades set up may be. A simple counting fact of seeing 8 buttons instead of 6 is a giant indicator. But the slight curve is actually welcomed to me since it follows the natural curve of my hand. To each their own I guess.

For future reference I probably will mod the stick, but it makes little to no sense to write about a stick as a review after you mod it. I plan to use this stick in its original form for at least a year to test out the durability. Then any modifications I make I should be able to tell the difference immediately. I mean after all why stop at the buttons? Perhaps I want to put a new kick ass graphic art face plate and even spray the overall box Candy red or blue topping it off with clear coat for extra shininess...