I like fighting games (among other types). If you look past the appearances, they're not button mashing games as one would think. A good fighting game requires technique (requires precise execution), patience, and above all, strategy. There is a lot of mind play and opponent mind reading occuring in battles as well. And with a good fighting game comes a good controller: enter the arcade stick.

Gamepads are good for other games, but when it comes to vs fighting, they are not precise enough. All the buttons used by the game are spread around the whole pad, meaning that you need both hands to press them, requiring more coordination. The joysticks are, in general, too imprecise and/or loose. It is often the case that you will jump by accident, and some movements are just too hard to do, as the only muscles acting as motors for directing the joystick are those of the thumb, restricting some moves. You need something more unified and versatile; on an arcade stick, your whole left hand is dedicated to movement, and all the buttons are on a flat position, controlled by the right hand, all in one place (useful for combos and simultaneous button inputs). For now, I play on keyboard, which is, in my opinion, in the middle; you gain control by having all the buttons flat, in the same space, controlled by the left hand, and gain also some precision on the direction inputs with the right hand, as each direction has a button for it. However, some moves become just impossible to realize this way (try hitting very fast Left+Down then Right+Up). Also, you can't take your keyboard with you in a tournament or at your friends on their home consoles.

One of the most popular sticks among fighting games enthousiasts, the Mad Catz Tournament Edition stick.

A stick won't get you to a better skill magically: you'll have to readapt, relearn, retrain. Why build a stick myself when I can buy a solid one? First, the price. I can build one myself for about half the price of an official one. Then, the fun! It's a good experience to plan and build such a project.

Plans realised on QCAD, an free CAD system (big picture, link opens new tab).

I started by drawing plans - everything's easier when all is planed. My main source for this step was slagcoin's joystick controller page. It helped me learn how to lay out the differents layers of the box. As I won't have access to specialized tools, I chose a design which requires no wood routing, hence the three layers of my panel. The first layer, the plexiglas, only lets the button and the stick get through. The second has a space for the stick mounting plate to rest. The third layer supports the mounting plate and has larger holes so that the buttons can be screwed.

Then, I bought the planks and plexi I needed and had them cut to the right sizes. I chose MDF by recommendation of the wood seller who told me that it was easy to work with, and well resistant for a box.

In the same time, I ordered the parts I needed from ArcadeShop.de, one of the only (and cheapest) europe arcade parts providers. I then had the choice of chosing between Sanwa or Seimitsu parts; I chose Sanwa because I preferred the look of the buttons, and I heard that the stick is somewhat stiffer. I alswo bought everything else I needed: rubber feet, terminal strips, cables, a project box, strap ties, butt connectors and quick disconnects.

The last task I undertook before building the box itself was prepping the pcb. I chose to mod a generic usb gamepad which I bought on DealExtreme for a few bucks. The soldering part was not too difficult, and I had the help from a friend. Basically, we soldered a wire for each button, and one wire from a big ground strip around the D-Pad that we will daisy chain to the stick and all the buttons. When we finished, I spend time to verifiy with a voltmeter that each connection was established, and that no solder trespassed on another wires, then took a big breath before plugging the usb cable hoping that nothing will explode.

It worked! You can see in the picture, I directly tested the inputs on Street Fighter IV by establishing a circuit between the ground and each button. It's very fun to try to play SFIV by connecting wires between them :3 All the inputs only activated one button/direction, so everything was working magnificiently. All is left is building the box!

To be continued...