I received my Mad Catz Tatsunoko vs Capcom stick today. MarkMan, the MC employee who works heavily on their arcade sticks, requested that I try out the stock parts before upgrading to the Sanwa stick and buttons I have. I decided to give his team a chance before modding.

Unboxing
Front of the box:


Back of the box:


Around the box:








Interiors:


The stick:


The connector:


My review
If you own a Wii, you have many choices for 2D fighters - King of Fighters Orochi Anthology, Samurai Shodown Anthology, Guilty Gear XX Accent Core and GGXXAC+, SNK Arcade Anthology and the titles on the Virtual Console. Despite the number of fighters on the system, gamers have only had one option for a decent arcade stick: Hori's Wii Arcade Stick. That stick is the first Japanese-style sick I ever used and it converted me. Sure, the buttons are a bit mushy but the actual joystick is good. It's gotten hard to find and that's a problem for Wii owners, especially with TvC arriving in 15 days.

Luckily, Mad Catz has the solution for this problem. The MC TvC stick, all stock, is head and shoulders above the Hori stick. The buttons are not as crisp as Sanwa but much better than Hori buttons. The stick is a bit more accurate than the Hori stick. The cord to the Wiimote is about 7 inches longer on the Mad Catz stick. It doesn't seem like much but being tethered to the Wiimote is more stress-free when you can place the Wiimote behind you and not have to worry about it crashing to the floor when you move. I found the TvC stick to be more sensitive than the Hori and was instantly pulling off combos I could not land on the Hori.

The image on the TvC stick has a texture to it that feels nice and has a slight shine to it. It's very pretty. This stick is very similar to the SFIV FightStick on the 360 and PS3. The control panel is the same; there are controls allowing the player to set any button to turbo, set the stick to be either the D-pad or left or right analog, return to the console home screen or lock the panel. The start and select buttons are on the top edge of the stick far away from the action buttons. The TvC has a new feature with the panel lock. Locking the panel also locks start and select.I don't use the lock as the control panel is far enough out of the way that I've never hit it during a match.

The price may be a sticking point for some. The MSRP is $80, which is the same price as the 360 version. The parts in the Wii version are vastly superior to the SFIV FightSticks, falling somewhere between the FightStick and the TE. The Hori is $40, if you can find it at a Gamestop. Otherwise, you'll pay eBay prices which are pretty ridiculous. If you like 2D fighters, want a good stick for the Wii and don't want to build your own, this is the best option you have.