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Fighting-GAF - Anyone here actually prefer FightPads to Arcade Sticks???

A

AgentOtaku

Member
These...

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Vs

Those...

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Been an on n' off fighting game enthusiast since the 90s (though got into it fairly hardcore around the release of OG SFIV).
For the longest time I felt like the way of the stick was the only truth and that Dualshocks, fightpads, etc., were merely a stepping stone and I shouldn't really put much time into them.
...well recently I stepped away from my Stick for SFV and have been using my Hori Fight Commander and well... it's like... it feels more natural for me!? WTF!?

I mean, I know of the legends of tho dudes who go on to win stuff like Evo with merely a PSX Pad, but it seemed like they were merely students from Xavier's School for the gifted.
But is pad play really a legit thing that I shouldn't shy away from?
Any GAFFers who prefer pad over stick?

Round 1

FIGHT!
 
The days of sticks being the obvious answer are over. Too many top players in too many games do well with controller so at this point it's just a question of what you prefer.

Tekken, MKX, SFV all have amazing pad players.

EDIT: I've noticed that players who emphasize/need really precise button inputs go for stick, while players who need really quick directional inputs prefer pad, but this might just be me talking bullshit and far from a universal truth
 
I have the Hori Commander BlazBlu edition. I switched to it from a Fight Stick because I played Smash for so long. I gave the stick a fair shot though. Trained on it hard and it still doesn't really suit me. I have been told my execution is pretty tight.

The button layout of the Hori means my thumb finds the buttons it needs, and I don't spend time searching for what button I have to press on a stick.

Also the short cuts for an SRK on the pad made a hell of a lot more sense to me then doing the Motion with a sticks gate.

That's being said, I don't plan on trashing my sticks. Payed a good sum for them and my significant other gives them one hell of a work out when they play their fighting games.

Fight pad I would definitely recommend if you want to kick back and relax. One of the downsides to a stick was proper seating. If ya don't sit right, your motions will be off. Pad lets you seat yourself however you want.
 
Been trying to adjust to playing SFV on my steam controller lately. So far so good. My DS3 needs to retire, and I don't want to beat up my DS4, steam controllers are cheaper, and if I get used to it that would be nice. The touch dpad is easy on my fingers, haptic makes the difference from the 360 SNES pad I had a long time ago. I can do all of the movements and I never need to look at where my finger is, I can feel it. It's just so easy to touch it by mistake when I'm hovering over it at times. Setting up the touch pad so that I need to press the pad in the directions is annoying since it takes so much pressure to trigger.

I tried to get used to arcade stick, but the loud clicking wasn't good for learning it as I played into the night in online 1v1 UMVC3 marathons.
 
it's all about comfort and familiarity. and skill obviously.

the amount of top-tier pad players in precise-movement games (fighting games, STGs) proves that.
 
sephi22 said:
The days of sticks being the obvious answer are over. Too many top players in too many games do well with controller so at this point it's just a question of what you prefer.

Tekken, MKX, SFV all have amazing pad players.

EDIT: I've noticed that players who emphasize/need really precise button inputs go for stick, while players who need really quick directional inputs prefer pad, but this might just be me talking bullshit and far from a universal truth
Click to expand...

Out of curiosity, who are some of the top pad players that you know of?

Love to watch some vids :)
 
If I found a mango lamp and a fighting game genie came out, I would wish that I could undo 25 years of muscle memory on arcade sticks and just use a pad. So much more convenient, quiet and affordable. I try to get used to them but I can force myself for weeks and nothing happens.

I can play virtua fighter on a dual shock fine, at least. But pretty much anything else and it's curtains.
 
I used to play fighting games and STGs with a MadCatz SFIV fightpad before it broke.

It's so much more convenient than a big ass stick. It only loses to a keyboard in that department.
 
I just enjoy playing on a stick more than a pad. The clicks/joystick are just more satisfying to use for me.
 
I'm beginning to think pads are gonna be much more common in tournaments due to size and convenience in carrying.

I've seen someone 3D print an arcade stick, but has anyone 3D printed a pad and just re-purposed a PCB inside it?

It would be awesome having custom button layout and sizes. Plus you could use those small tactile switches as the switches in the D-Pad/buttons to make it much more responsive.
 
I think I've always preferred a fightstick. I grew up with arcade cabinets nearby so my first interaction with fighting games was with a stick. I remember really liking them at the time and years later I bought Street Fighter Alpha 2 for the SNES. That was a nightmare. The game would lag for like 30 frames right after the announcer said 'fight' and trying to play a 6 button fighter with the SNES controller felt awful. I actually returned the game and continued playing fighting games at arcades. I never knew you could buy a fightstick for a home console; even so the SNES fightstick is kind of a mess. But since I became an adult my love of fighting games returned and now I own many many fightsticks lol. I like them because of my own comfort levels.
 
I've always preferred controllers despite playing a lot of games in the arcades back in the days. I did remember becoming somewhat decent at using a joystick on the right side at least but every time I got tossed to the left my srks and hadokens would only start coming out like 60-70% of the time whereas on gamepads I was fine doing those motions on either side.
 
AgentOtaku said:
Out of curiosity, who are some of the top pad players that you know of?

Love to watch some vids :)
Click to expand...

Nuckle Du, Smug (sometimes go by Smuggles), Sonic Fox, and Wolfkrone (I don't know if he still uses pad, but he started with one) are some of notable names that use pad.

Hell, an old top player of VS community I'm part of uses pad and he even uses the same character that I play.

Btw, does anyone know what pad is best to use?
 
It's all based on preference. I personally like arcade sticks better, but that's because I've played most of my fighting games using them.
 
I use a fightstick for everything except for MKX. I use a 360 pad for MKX because it feels more comfortable with block/run being the same button.
 
Labolas said:
Nuckle Du, Smug (sometimes go by Smuggles), Sonic Fox, and Wolfkrone (I don't know if he still uses pad, but he started with one) are some of notable names that use pad.

Hell, an old top player of VS community I'm part of uses pad and he even uses the same character that I play.

Btw, does anyone know what pad is best to use?
Click to expand...

DS3/DS4 are what most of the top pad players use.
 
I use stick for any fighting game that needs quarter circle and half circle motions. For everything else I use pad.
 
Labolas said:
Nuckle Du, Smug (sometimes go by Smuggles), Sonic Fox, and Wolfkrone (I don't know if he still uses pad, but he started with one) are some of notable names that use pad.

Hell, an old top player of VS community I'm part of uses pad and he even uses the same character that I play.

Btw, does anyone know what pad is best to use?
Click to expand...

thanks for the names!
 
It's just a preference thing.

Personally I play way better on sticks than I do pads. I bought a home fighting commander as a change of pace and it really did not click with me at all.
 
Yeah to echo what others have said It's really just preference. Considering what so many players have accomplished with pads i'd consider any stigma towards pad kinda dumb. Just use what you find comfortable its all viable. Pad, stick, keyboard, hitbox.

Personally I play on stick because I find it more comfortable.
 
As a long time fan of fighting games, where in most cases my skill ranges from decent to pretty good, I have to say...

... Pad warrior for life!

Saturn is far and away my favorite Dpad. That thing is godlike.
 
InfiniteCombo said:
As a long time fan of fighting games, where in most cases my skill ranges from decent to pretty good, I have to say...

... Pad warrior for life!

Saturn is far and away my favorite Dpad. That thing is godlike.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't say I'm great at fighting games but the Saturn controller (and 3D pad) are my favourite controllers for fighting games/shmups. I totally understand why many prefer arcade sticks though.
 
Given that I'm a weirdo who prefers an analog stick over a d-pad I think I should give arcade sticks a shot.
Unless this weird thing is good:
FE42hoB.jpg
Click to expand...

The main use I got for my fightpad is for all the side-scrolling games I played.
 
I had a few Hori 4s but they broke within 3 months over the membrane on the face buttons being easily penetrated

I got the Hori V which is half the price and 6 months later no feel of wear and tear
 
Best thing about using pad over stick is the price. Don't need some gaudy Chun-Li art for $200 when I can just get a replacement controller at sub-$60.
 
Professor Beef said:
Best thing about using pad over stick is the price. Don't need some gaudy Chun-Li art for $200 when I can just get a replacement controller at sub-$60.
Click to expand...
And convenience.... while they are carrying that big awkward heavy block with them we can just easily place Pad in pocket or just hold it in our hand
 
Mista Koo said:
Given that I'm a weirdo who prefers an analog stick over a d-pad I think I should give arcade sticks a shot.
Unless this weird thing is good:


The main use I got for my fightpad is for all the side-scrolling games I played.
Click to expand...

I heard that's not good. Bad dpad, inconsistent buttons. The Horis are supposed to be nice. I can say that even inexpensive hori controllers I have owned have always been pretty good. While Madcatz stuff is hit or miss.
 
Preference nowadays, but my preference is definitely the hitbox layout! It's just so comfy and once you're overt the learning curve, playing fighting games feels like new again! Definitely top flight invention.
 
Crayon said:
I heard that's not good. Bad dpad, inconsistent buttons. The Horis are supposed to be nice. I can say that even inexpensive hori controllers I have owned have always been pretty good. While Madcatz stuff is hit or miss.
Click to expand...
He may be referring to the revised version that's actually pretty damn good.
 
Back when I actually tried to be decent I loved my saturn pad, never could put the time in to get good with an arcade stick. Now I'm just lazy and use the PS4 controller for everything because I gave up.
 
Really depends on the game. I prefer controller for MKX or Injustice but I prefer stick for SF, KOF or Marvel. I have a SFV mad catz fight pad I'm actually hoping to sell at some point if it's worth anything ever that's practically brand new. I used to play with fight pads all the time on SFIV but dear god, playing Marvel on a controller was always a complete bitch to me.
 
Neoxon said:
He may be referring to the revised version that's actually pretty damn good.
Click to expand...

Oh I see. I was looking for fight pads just a few months back and I only read the bad reveiws. Probably old reviews. I didn't know about a revised one.
 
Was never a fan of fight pads or pad layout of 6 face buttons personally. Never quite felt right to me personally.

I'm an arcade stick person now a days but for certain games I can be coerced into a pad.
 
Stick for me. I can do a D-Pad but once I started using a stick a few years it was really hard to go back.

Reasons:

- Comfortable for long periods. No hand cramps or sore thumbs

- Feels kinetic and satisfying, like operating a crane while playing piano

- easier to do certain inputs (for me)

- don't need to set up button macros because pressing combinations of buttons simultaneously is easy-peasy

- i can play in a real arcade and not be handicapped

Playing with a pad feels stiff to me. The flow of the game feels smoother with a stick.

But I don't believe a stick makes you better.
 
To play fighting games I generally prefer to just use the controller that comes with the system itself. Exceptions include the Wii, since I used the Gamecube controller, and PC where I use a Dualshock 4 (I used to use a Logitech controller until it died on me a couple years ago).

I've played fighting games more at home rather than actual arcades, so it feels more natural for me to even move around in-game with a Dpad or analog stick than it does with a joystick. Also, with controllers you can map certain button combinations to the shoulder buttons, whereas with arcade sticks you have to manually press 2 or more different buttons at a time for certain commands in games.

I can see arcade sticks being better to learn using in the long run for ergonomic reasons, and obviously if you want to play in real arcades, though.
 
I personally favour stick over pad but the only playable pad for me is either the Saturn pad (Japanese / US Model 2) or the Saturn Nights Pad.
 
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