Fightpad, Fightstick, or Normal Controller?

[Steampunk]

Been playing Street Fighter IV a lot with the PS3 controller, and wondered if it was worth getting a controller specifically for fighting games. Some websites suggested a fight stick, but the damn things are like $100+ for the ones everyone recommends. So is it worth getting one in the first place? Secondly, do I need to drop that much money on one or would a cheaper one work alright? Thirdly, should I go with a fight pad or an all out arcade style fight stick?

[IceBrand]

Depends on your play style. I use a normal controller and have beaten several people who use fight pads and fight sticks. If your good with a PS3 controller then stay at it. All three are a good choice though.

Edited July 14, 2013 by Majestic Paladin

[Rehab]

Your wrist/arm is generally stronger/can make the inputs faster than your thumb, so some would definitely argue your execution will in the long term be more solid with less overall effort on any fightstick than on any pad, and of course if you're ever actually at an arcade, and you're only used to pads, you'll be a bit put-upon (and you can find a stick to use with any console/pc etc).

There are certainly "pad warriors" out there, though, whom you may have heard of, who simply don't take as well as others to sticks, and/or who really love playing on pad, such that they practice up their pad execution enough to execute at a speed and consistency that's at least competitive with most players using sticks. I'm not sure how common they are at the "major threat at international tournament" level of players, or even a step or so down at "can out-place Justin Wong on a good day," but I wouldn't be surprised at all to hear they exist. If you're not exactly aspiring to that level any time soon, and the idea of getting a stick isn't something that seems really appealing to you regardless of what somebody else has to say, I wouldn't say you got ta got ta get one just to play the game. It'd be a good idea to try one if you can spare the money and love, though.

On the topic of comfort zones, another (or maybe rather, a further explanation of an already mentioned) thing kinda sorta against sticks: though in the long run, most people who love fighting games would call good sticks good investments, if you've never played on one before, there's plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest you're not necessarily going to see an immediate "whoa where has this been all my life" improvement in your overall comfort/execution. Although some people do see that! But it's something to consider/prepare for, that your execution might actually dip some until you get used to it.

Basically, you'll have to practice to have good execution regardless of your choice, and ultimately it's a matter of taste (and of course practice practice practice), but I would say it's a good idea to at least try out a stick of your own if you keep playing.

I personally fucknsaDIbae hATe playing on pad because I'm dum and find it too easy to tilt the controls up just enough to jump when I don't fnerrfin want to jUMP, and then to fail to tilt it up enough when I actually DO want to jump, which can be, uh, costly, while playing, but that's just one more opinion to throw into a sea of them.

Also, to be sure, there should be some ~$20-$30 sticks out there. This post is a bit old at this point, but it rattles off some places you might be able to start looking for getting into sticks use. It's debatable whether price is in this case an actual indicator of the execution ceiling you can reach with the stick, or if it's more simply an indicator of how long the thing will last before showing wear&tear, but even a low-end Hori should last you long enough/generally be worth enough of your money to help you figure out how you feel about sticks in general.

Not sure I have any advice to give on the regular pad versus the fightpad that goes beyond "if you do figure out that you want to stay on a pad for whatever reason, but don't feel comfortable hitting buttons on the regular pad, by all means try the fightpad, and if you do, don't worry about it," unfortunately

Edited July 14, 2013 by Rehab

[shadowofchaos]

Fightsticks are pretty much an investment.

The cheap ones out there will work for you for a while, but if you want something that lasts, a tournament edition one that has the quality parts the same as the Japanese arcades will be more reliable.

It all depends on your need. I honestly don't recommend burning $200 on a dual-modded stick like I did if you're not gonna use it much:

[Fei Mao]

@Rehab Fanatiq might be the one of the best pad warriors.

Normal controllers work nicely, (since most tourneys uses PS3, sometimes Street Fighter uses Xbox), Fightstick is a hefty investment like SOC and Rehab said, but I heard doing the piano hand technique for Gen and Honda players are easier on the stick and sometimes less execution errors. Fightpad's are sometimes already dual modded (I think) so that's good if you're around locals with multiple consoles.

But yeah w/e you're comfortable with, like what Rehab said you'll still have to work on execution either way.

Edited July 14, 2013 by Generic Operator

[Siruppercut]

I love using a joystick over a pad. I grew up hating it at first but I won't ever go back to controllers for fighting games. Execution on moves is easier and you can use more than just your thumb pressing the buttons when using a arcade stick. Playing a charge up character like Guile is just killer on the wrists using a controller at least for me after long hours of play.

Off topic but there isn't any talk about EVO 2013 at Serenes. When Woo lost the KOF XIII grand finals and threw his joystick. I loled Ho Lee Fuk.

Edited July 14, 2013 by Siruppercut

[Steampunk]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll look at trying a cheaper one out to see if I like it better. I figured most of the older fighting game series (like Tekken, Street Fighter, etc) were make with arcade machines in mind, so an arcade style controller would be a better fit for those games than the default controller (which seems to be made for FPS/3rd person action games). And yeah, some of the inputs wear on my thumb after a while.

[eclipse]

You'll probably want a stick. There's some techniques that are really hard to emulate on a controller (double-tapping comes to mind).

[shadykid]

@Rehab Cloud805 might be the one of the best pad warriors.

fixed

but in all seriousness, if you're serious about playing, a stick is generally better