When I bought my PS3, the first game I got for it was Virtua Fighter 5. I seriously love fighters, especially those with 2D gameplay. Playing VF5 on the Dualshock 3 was fine but I knew I needed a proper arcade stick for Battle Fantasia, Street Fighter IV and SF HD Remix, among others. I managed to find a Hori Fighting Stick 3 at a nearby Gamestop and I also won an auction for a slightly used X-Arcade Solo. I ordered an X-Arcade PS3 adapter and tested both sticks to see which I prefer.

Hori Fighting Stick 3



As a huge fan of the Hori's Arcade stick for Wii, I had high expectations going into this test. I found some tings about this stick to love and a few major disappointments.

The FS3 has a good weight to it; the metal bottom gives it good balance and the plastic on the upper portion feels light yet tough. The buttons are wonderful; they are traditional Hori pushbuttons, requiring little movement to activate and the buttons themselves are slightly convex. The stick itself is either Seimitsu or a clone and it feels very loose. Unlike the Hori Wii Arcade Stick, this joystick has no resistance at all. It's a true Japanese-style stick and I find it a bit hard to use. Since I grew up in American arcades, I am used to arcade sticks having some serious resistance. The Wii stick is in the middle of these two extremes; it has just enough resistance. The gate on the PS3 Hori is square. This allows the player to "feel" down-right, down-left, up-right and up-left. This also means that circular motions feel a bit different than on an American stick which has a circular or octagon gate. Evo-level players prefer the Japanese-style sticks; I find myself loving something between American and Japanese styles.

There are a few bad points about the Hori. The button layout is somewhat odd. The buttons arc in the middle rather than arcing up from left to right. I think I could get used to that over time. The really bad point is that the Hori lagged horribly when I was playing PS2 fighters; it seemed like half-a-second. I thought the lag may be due to the software BC, but the game does not lag with the X-Arcade or the Dualshock 3.

If you like Japanese sticks and don't plan on playing PS2 fighters, this is a great stick for a great price. I paid $30 for it.

X-ArcadeSolo



I recently sold my X-Arcade Dual; it's too hard to use without a table to place it on. I've wanted to get a Solo for awhile and eBay made that happen for $50.

The X-Arcade Solo is a great stick. It is very close to being the perfect American-style arcade stick. The case is made of laminated wood, has good heft and just feels good. The buttons are clones of Happ parts and can easily be changed out for authentic parts. The clones feel precisely like arcade machine buttons. The stick is very solid and has a good amount of resistance; it's also less clicky than the Hori PS3 stick. I much prefer the button layout on the Solo; the six buttons in two rows layout is classic Street Fighter and that's where I grew up as a fighting game enthusiast.

The only downside of the X-Arcade is the price. New it costs $120 shipped with a PS1/PS2/PS3 adapter. the good news is that adapters for almost every system are available for $20 + shipping; the exception is the 360. MS will not allow X-Arcade to make a 360 adapter. The price isn't so bad when you factor in the lifetime warranty, the adapter system which makes the stick mostly future-proof and the easy customization of the stick. I am planning on upgrading the buttons and stick to authentic Happ parts, in bright green at that. It'll set me back $30 or so.

A note about lag: The people on shoryuken.com hate the X-Arcade sticks. They claim that there is lag in the X-Arcade PCB. I've tested this with my Solo using the Gamecube/Wii, DC, PS2 and PS3 adapters. I tested lag by closing my eyes, pushing buttons and listening for the attack sound. I detected no lag whatsoever. Of course, the Shoryuken crew says to get a custom for the same price. Unfortunately, custom sticks cost $50-$100 dollars more than an X-Arcade and don't come with the lifetime warranty.