Thoughts on SF4 arcade fight stick se

[ohhnothemusic]

looking at getting one for first fight stick and seeing if others had experince with it.

[KaTst3R]

if you watch some video reviews on youtube. quite a few people complain of unresponsive buttons after some months of use

[Bibadeez]

To get one of those now a days, unless your buying it second hand, you will paying too much. Everyone calls them collectors items and RARE. They are simply discontinued, meaning they are no longer in production. At one point in time (when SSF4 came out) Gamestops were selling vanilla SF4 WITH the SE stick for $40. They are popular for people who are starting out because they are unsure about devoting a lot of money (which is understandable) but If you are THAT unsure, then don't buy it. You will definately have to sawp out the lever and buttons at some point. They just can't handle the abuse. Also, the sensitivity of the lever and buttons are not that great. The way I saw it was, if I'm gonna drop $40 on this thing and have to swap out lever (Sanwa is about $26) and buttons (Sanwa about $6 each, so x6=$36), that's $62 additional. And each time one things fails, it is time spent that I can't play unless I go back to the controller. Luckily it was Christmas time so EVERYONE had fightsticks on sale. I grabbed my Madcatz SFxT Pro from Amazon for $80 (free shipping). To be honest though, I have been playing with my controller more, now-a-days. After I got the fightstick, I LOVED IT. Played with it for about a year. Now, I think I haven't used it in a few months...It's not that I don't like it anymore. It's just not absolutely necessary to have fun while playing SF.

[KaTst3R]

I believe the consensus is that if you get the SE, at some point like the guy above says, you may need to switch out the buttons and stick to Sanwa parts. The SE is a nice entry point, but it is plagued by quality issues and the cost of replacing the parts will be close to buying a TE on special. In addition, the TE has a good weight to it which helps stabilise the stick while playing. You might regret getting the SE after sometime but you will never regret getting the TE. My TE is still going strong after 3 years of dp mashing and smashing.

[Bibadeez]

Yes! I forgot to mention that point as well. Like Katster mentioned, the SE is VERY light. So, it will slide around easily when making quick movements (mashing) especially if it's on your lap. Many people end up opening the cases and adding something/anything inside to increase the weight. The SE stick is also popular because they are easily modified. I may be wrong about this but i THINK all Madcats sticks have connectors for their buttons and levers. Hori solders them so if somethings fails and you are NOT comfy with soldering, you will have to have someone else do it. I'm almost certain that if you had a chance to play with a SE and a TE/ HRAP/ Qanba, one after the other, you would not want to go back to the SE after using one of those higher grade sticks. It's a world of difference. But like I said, in my opinion, you don't necessarily need a fight stick to have fun with this game.

[JELIFISH]

The SE is great only if you get it a good price. People buy them knowing that they'll swap parts. The majority of the price of any stick is actually the case and PCB. Getting a full Sanwa or Seimitsu setup will run you about $45. The SE would only be worth it if it's cheaper than $35 because there are so many stick sales on good sticks these days.

[Catching Zs]

I bought the SE fightstick when it was first released. The buttons lasted about 3-4 months before they stopped working. After replacing the stock parts with Sanwa parts, my fightstick has lasted since. I wouldn't recommend buying the SE unless you can find it for cheap and plan on modding it down the road (which is very easy to do).

[ohhnothemusic]

found one used for 35 believe the buttons and stick have already been changed cause the are blue instead of white

[Meri]

The stock version of the stick is pretty much garbage. You just need to google for it and you will find thousands of bad reviews. Sooner or later you are going to regret it and replace the joystick and the buttons. In my opinion and that is what I actually did, if you are considering to buy an arcade stick, do not be cheap about it. Commit yourself to it and buy a quality stick. My old Madcatz Tournament Edition is 4 years old still going strong and is working like a charm. The bigger case is better as well. The stick is heavier which makes playing with the stick on your lap more comfortable. The stick will not slip and mess up your inputs.

[Bibadeez]

Originally posted by Mass Marines:

found one used for 35 believe the buttons and stick have already been changed cause the are blue instead of white

But have they been changed to something better? You don't really know what kind of buttons and lever. Blue might be the stick and buttons from a Tatsunoko VS. Capcom stick. Which is equally as bad. Madcatz made the WWE Brawlstick, Tatsunoko VS. Capcom and the Street Fighter SE stick using the same casing. So they are all the same stick with different graphics.

[ohhnothemusic]

is there a way to tell when i open it up if the stick and buttons are Sanwa parts?

[Bibadeez]

It should probably say Sanwa or OBSF-30 somewhere on the back of the button.

[Bad_Conduct]

Originally posted by Mass Marines:

looking at getting one for first fight stick and seeing if others had experince with it.

I got the QANBA Q1, no complaints thus far.