Hori Fighting Stick EX2 Review!

You must be kidding me bro, must be aesthetic tastes cause I'd rather have a VSHG in my lap right now.

This stick has a weird short throw and the actuator is really close to the switches than the usual sanwa (cause you have to swap them out).

The stick is so stupidly thin and light that it's really annoying, I really have to stick to my "floor style" or this thing is gonna fly off in the wind.

The work required to get this done, the annoying little things Hori does, the fact that you have to literally rape a poor innocent JLF stick to get it to work....

It must play better for you cause of how much shit it makes you go through lol.

 

ah favorite to mod and favorite to play on are 2 different things haha.

i usually play on a coffee table so i never have to worry about a stick moving around. playing on sanwas taught me to be light on the stick anyways so i don't really worry about that kind of stuff and just try to keep movements minimal.

as far as the actuator, you should try cutting down the sanwa actuator to be the same height as the hori. the hori actually is a tad bit fatter around the area where it hits the switches and makes it so sometimes a switch might not return to neutral when you return the stick to neutral. you'll see a difference for sure. also the sanwa actuator fits into the corners of the square restrictor better as well.

basically when i mod these i just swap out the shaft and cut down the actuator. nothing else needs to be done to the jlf. maybe relubricate the shaft ring and top conical piece but thats about it.

haha, but you don't think it plays tons better than stock hori parts with all new sanwa parts? i guess vshg has really spoiled you just from being a heavier stick.

 

Sounds like the old saying: "I love to bash my skull with a hammer 'cause it feels so good when I stop." /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbs_up.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

 

I don't like my sticks to move even a little bit, when I was at EVO west I played every match on the floor no joke. So light sticks really annoy me.

That actuator idea actually sounds like a smart choice as the fatty hori one really sucks. Nice thing about using an end mill and mounting to the metal is I don't have to sand/break the bottom or use screws or any of that crap at the end.

 

what about putting the DOA innards into a VSHG?

 

yeah i mount to the metal plate as well but with countersunk screws from the top to the 4 holes on the corners of the jlf base. i don't like the idea of reusing the screws into plastic that is already weakened/stripped from when you originally take the screws out to take off the hori stick. i also do it this way so i don't have to drill through the restrictor plate and am able to change out the gate/microswitch assembly without having to unscrew everything. basically i don't do it the way it is shown on srk.

 

it can be done but it would be much better and cheaper to use the gamestop microcon controller since it has a common ground setup meaning you wouldn't have to cut the traces on the jlf microswitch board and you would be able to use the 5pin connector instead of soldering to each switch terminal.

 

Already have them as LB/RB. Triggers were the two up by the start button.

 

Unsafe_Dan: I don't suppose you could maybe show us what you did to mod yours? I'm probably going to mod mine next month but there seem to be a million ways to mod the stick itself and I just want a slightly not painful one. Just swapping the shaft seems like an easy enough way to avoid sanding the end of a JLF.

 

Swapping the shaft isn't the only thing I did. I end milled the plastic off and mounted to the metal panel.

There is probably no painless way to mod this stick as you will always have to find some way to make room inside (moding JLF and/or moding case). And you also always have to scratch out your ground traces on the JLF.

To do my mod you need:
#1 end mill dremel
#2 Soldering gun, solder, soldering wick (I don't suggest a desoldering pump)
#3 I used a mill but you can use any sheet metal cutter to make holes for the mount. I used a press to put in the countersink.
#4 3 Sanwa 30mm buttons, 3 30mm button plugs, 1 f'd up Sanwa JLF stick
#5 22-26 gauge wire, stranded or solid doesn't matter
#6 Insolated .110 quick disconnects (optional, I used them for convience, but you can also just solder to the buttons)

 

little more feedback on the ex2 stick after some more play...it's great. i think it's a little better designed than the vf4 evo sticks...certainly feels more responsive to me anyways.

 

Sigh. It's nice for it to have a low profile but why did they have to make it SO small that there's no room for anything? /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/frown.gif

 

That's why /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

 

I know now why that sentence keeps bothering me. Logic is backwards. The way you wrote it makes it seem like they only want you to turn the stick into a Sanwa stick. Hori has done it's best to make sure you can turn this thing into anything but a Sanwa stick.

 

<span style='font-size: 17pt'>Leonard McCoy's Fighting Stick EX2 (Hori) Review</span>


I cannot quite understand the complaints about the EX2: you get a decent arcade stick worth your dough ($40). It is no VSHG - but for your $40, which is quite cheap for such a stick, you get a well-manufactured, decent stick.

Let's make comparisons that are fair - that means that it's not really helpful to compare a $40 stick to one that is more than twice as expensive (+plus shipping cost), and thus, has better parts in it. The ordinary gamer would never pay so much; thus, Microsoft and Hori had to go down the mainstream road, which is not bad at all.


Sega Arcade Stick VS. Hori's EX2

<span style='font-size: 17pt'>VS.</span>


If you compared the Fighting Stick EX2 to the original Sega Dreamcast Arcade Stick back then, two equally expensive sticks, then you will agree that the EX2 is at least twice as good: with more decent buttons without spongy pressure point, and a decent stick itself, which is compared to the Sega one, more flexible and needs less effort to maneuver. The weight of the EX2 is similar to the Dreamcast one. The only advantage that Sega's arcade stick features is a bigger area for resting your hands upon it.

 

Man, I can't agree. The green goblin >>>>>>>>> EX 2. I mean I'm fine with the EX for VF, but I can't compare them. The Asci will remain my favorite stock stick till the end of time I think.

Some of my friends and I are actually wondering if it's the 360 version that feels different and not the stick. Those two sticks -should- be identical considering their parts and make. But it does indeed feel different. And while we havn't heard anything on the 360 version feeling different, we can't help but feel like it does. It seems more, crisp or something. Maybe it's placebo, I don't know, but it's definitely something we've all noticed.

 

Can anyone compare this stick with the SC2 Hori stick?

 

I'd like to disagree here. The Green Goblin has buttons with an imprecise pressure point - it's much too spongy.

 

Okay so most of the people here say that the hori stick sucks but are there any alternatives, i bought VF5 today and i want a arcade stick, i was planning on ordering this but now i don't want it anymore and the DOA4 arcade stick is sold out everywhere so....any other arcade stick for X360?

 

The EX2 and DoA4 stick are the same sticks. So you might as well get the EX2 if you're after the DoA one.

Do my take a poll challenge, and see which stick people here like more, I'm curious now. I never would have thought someone would prefer the stock EX2 over the stock ASCII.