The last time I opened up my Mad Catz TE, I switched out a broken button with a brand new one. This time, I swapped out the joystick. After hundreds of hours of use, it didn’t feel as crisp as it used to. If you’re interested in trying the procedure yourself, I have documented my experience as a step-by-step manual, which may be helpful for you.
joystick
Button Dies on My Mad Catz TE
The other night, I was playing Marvel vs. Capcom 3 online. I was running with my main team of Wolverine/Storm/Sentinel when something went awry: nothing happened when I hit the Sentinel button. Sure enough, my right trigger button on my Mad Catz TE had died.
Pick Up Post: Nintendo Wii Fightstick By Hori
Wii owners with a fighting game itch have very little to scratch it. While Tatsunoko vs. Capcom is awesome and there are no shortage of Street Fighter games on Virtual Console, it still pales in comparison to the plethora of fighting games on the XBOX 360 and Playstation 3. On top of that, joystick options are limited too. All Wii owners have are the Mad Catz SE fightstick packed in with Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, the Hori Wii fightstick and the Intec Combat Arcade Stick, which I don’t trust one bit.
I still want the Mad Catz stick, but in my country I can only get it with Tatsunoko vs. Capcom; a game I already have. Instead, I grabbed the Nintendo Wii Fightstick by Hori. My experience with Hori has been hit and miss, but after putting it through its paces, this one thankfully is in the former category.
Early Impressions on the Hori Tekken 6 Stick
Hori has been known as a top name in the arcade fight stick scene for a while now. Unfortunately, my first experience with Hori products was awful. My Hori EX 2 broke within an hour of owning it, which I fully documented on this very blog.
So it was fair that I was a bit hesitant in picking up this limited edition Tekken 6 bundle that comes with a Hori stick. If I wasn’t able to buy this for 60% off the original price, I probably wouldn’t have given this a shot.
Hori EX 2 Was An Epic Fail
I’m not new to this whole video game hardware failure thing. It’s frustrating every single time. Going into this, I knew I was getting an entry-level arcade joystick, but the relatively positive reviews and the trusted Hori brand name led me to believe that I was getting a “good enough” joystick to start with.
So much for that thought.
Pick Up Post: I Got The Magic Stick
After months of deliberation, I have finally decided to purchase an arcade joystick. With the release of Super Street Fighter IV happening in a few days (and Marvel vs. Capcom 3 having just been announced), I figured now would be the right time to finally give this arcade joystick thing a shot. As a long-time pad player who has always struggled with joysticks in the arcade, this is a bit of a risky investment. The market for joysticks varies wildly, as the prices can go as low as $30 and as high as $200 for products that do the exact same thing. All of the joysticks also vary wildly in features, build quality and the ability to fix/mod the joystick yourself.
As much as I would like to immediately jump to the top-of-the-line MadCatz TE stick, I’m not ready to invest $200 on a controller that I may never find as comfortable as a regular controller. With everything taken into consideration, I ended up putting down the money on this arcade joystick.
Lost In Translation
Over the weekend, I was out with my girlfriend on a date that partially consisted of a trip to the local…I’m hesitant to call it an “arcade”, cause it’s more of an amusement place with lots of arcade games in it. Semantics aside, they had a Street Fighter IV arcade machine there. This is significant because Capcom never made a North American arcade version, so this place actually imported a machine (not the one above, but something like it). I didn’t think this place in particular would do that, but there it was and I had to give it a go.
In Third Person 
