Happy New Year all!! Heres my issue:Just bought new 60 in 1 Jamma sit down cocktail machine.It came with 8 way joysticks(sorry don't know the mfg)I am getting flak from the wife and kid and I'm kinda unhappy also while playing maze games the player hangs up at corners and just doesn't have the "feel" of the old original arcade controls.I have done limited reading and found that some people say to use four way joysticks rather than an eight way.If I were to switch, would using a four way then affect my diagonal controls on say "time pilot" and other games requiring diagonal movements??
If switching to some four ways than what would be some good durable joysticks to install??

thanks.......Gosharpie97.

Sorry admins if this is in the wrong area.

gosharpie97 wrote:Happy New Year all!! Heres my issue:Just bought new 60 in 1 Jamma sit down cocktail machine.It came with 8 way joysticks(sorry don't know the mfg)I am getting flak from the wife and kid and I'm kinda unhappy also while playing maze games the player hangs up at corners and just doesn't have the "feel" of the old original arcade controls.I have done limited reading and found that some people say to use four way joysticks rather than an eight way.If I were to switch, would using a four way then affect my diagonal controls on say "time pilot" and other games requiring diagonal movements??
If switching to some four ways than what would be some good durable joysticks to install??

thanks.......Gosharpie97.

Sorry admins if this is in the wrong area.

8-way joysticks aren't very good when playing Pac-Man/Frogger etc. I suggest you look underneath your control panel and see what kind of joysticks you have. I'm guessing that they have a restrictor plate which makes them go 8 ways instead of 4. If this is the case, all you need to do is to get some 4-way restrictor plates and replace them, which will force the stick to only move in 4 directions. Remember that this will make the stick useless in other games that utilize more than 4 directions (fighting games, shooters etc.), as you won't be able to move diagonally.

The best way would be to get some top-switchable 8/4-way joysticks. That way you can easily switch to 4-way mode when you're playing Pac-Man and back to 8-way mode when playing other games.

I recommend the Mag-Stik Plus from Ultimarc, which is a great, sturdy arcade joystick that can easily switch between 4- and 8-way modes. You can get it with a ball-top or oval shaft, whatever you prefer.

Check it out here:

http://ultimarc.com/controls.html

Make sure it will fit your control panel before ordering (just send an e-mail to Andy @ Ultimarc and I'm sure he'll help you out).

Best of luck and happy new year to you too!

Ok I talked to the guy I bought it from.He says they are 4 way/8 way sticks.I looked and couldn't find any names on the bottom assembly of the joysticks,but I'm wondering if theres a map setting to set them up for each game.I'm going out now but will look into it and post my findings.
.........gosharpie97.

Ok so I switched them to 4 way.They're a little better but still not as great as I was hoping.Maybe I've set my hopes too high?
Gonna try for a while then still might order 2 of those mag stik plus joysticks.
..........gosharpie97.

gosharpie97 wrote:Ok so I switched them to 4 way.They're a little better but still not as great as I was hoping.Maybe I've set my hopes too high?
Gonna try for a while then still might order 2 of those mag stik plus joysticks.
..........gosharpie97.

Are you sure this is a joystick issue at all? When you say "not as great", what do you mean? Is the response slow or are you experiencing input lag?

The mag stik plus sticks aren't very good for 4-way games to be honest. If you want a good 4-way stick, get a Sanwa JLW-TM-8 (balltop) or JLW-UM-8 (oval handle). These can be set to 8-way as well using the restrictor plate.

Also, if you're looking for a dedicated 4-way then you should look at the original Pac-Man 4-way joystick:

http://happcontrols.com/joysticks/506084112.htm

Note that this is 4-way only and can't be used for playing 8-way games.