March Q&A
K8cre8 asks for details regarding specific components in high quality joysticks for fighting games and 'shmups,' especially between two major Japanese manufacturers: Sanwa and Seimitsu. I'm paraphrasing here because there's a lot of information to cover, but I'll hit a few key points before getting to my answer.
One of the most crucial parts of the arcade style controller is the joystick itself. You've got weight, mounting height, resistance, spring strength, and much more to consider; if the tension in the spring is too tight, pulling off moves during split second frames of a fight will be difficult, yet too loose and the moves may not be read correctly. If the spring offers too much rebound after letting go of the controller, returning to the neutral position might set off momentary oppositional readings. Essentially, if the joystick is smaller, suitably tight, and tuned properly, then the user will conserve energy and demonstrate higher speeds than users of inferior joysticks.
The buttons, of course, must be responsive without too much resistance for each press, a moderate amount of press depth, alignment (getting a button stuck is infuriating), and smoothness are all to be considered, and here one could say that smoother buttons would be better for fighters (as more buttons are pressed) while concave buttons could offer more stability for long term presses (as shmups tend to require). The following link can offer a good amount of technical info for those interested.
http://www.slagcoin.com/joystick/attributes_brands.html#JOYSTICK_ATTRIBUTES
My answer is this: I got no idea.
Seriously, if you or a friend happen to at the level that you're custom building your own joystick for competitive gaming, then you've completely blown past my level of experience and I salute you. I was only passively aware of the differences between fighting sticks and shmup sticks before this question, and while I appreciate the lead to follow up on some interesting reading, I can't be much help to you.
One of the most crucial parts of the arcade style controller is the joystick itself. You've got weight, mounting height, resistance, spring strength, and much more to consider; if the tension in the spring is too tight, pulling off moves during split second frames of a fight will be difficult, yet too loose and the moves may not be read correctly. If the spring offers too much rebound after letting go of the controller, returning to the neutral position might set off momentary oppositional readings. Essentially, if the joystick is smaller, suitably tight, and tuned properly, then the user will conserve energy and demonstrate higher speeds than users of inferior joysticks.
The buttons, of course, must be responsive without too much resistance for each press, a moderate amount of press depth, alignment (getting a button stuck is infuriating), and smoothness are all to be considered, and here one could say that smoother buttons would be better for fighters (as more buttons are pressed) while concave buttons could offer more stability for long term presses (as shmups tend to require). The following link can offer a good amount of technical info for those interested.
http://www.slagcoin.com/joystick/attributes_brands.html#JOYSTICK_ATTRIBUTES
My answer is this: I got no idea.
Seriously, if you or a friend happen to at the level that you're custom building your own joystick for competitive gaming, then you've completely blown past my level of experience and I salute you. I was only passively aware of the differences between fighting sticks and shmup sticks before this question, and while I appreciate the lead to follow up on some interesting reading, I can't be much help to you.