I put my new Madcatz Street Fighter IV Arcade Stick through its paces today, ironically with The King of Fighters XII. And what a world of difference it made compared to playing with a normal gamepad.

madcatzsfivarcadestick

First up, the arcade stick has decent real estate to rest my hands on, making it a very comfortable experience using it, even over an extended period of time. I don’t claim to be an expert on arcade sticks, and this being the first time I actually own one, but I must say that this thing is very responsive.

I’ve read that this arcade stick is upgradeable, and you can actually swap the buttons and joystick with their respective SANWA counterparts. Looks like that’s a viable project that I intend to perform within the next couple of months.

Back to the review. I do have some minor gripes about the SFIV Arcade Stick. It’s a little noisy, especially the joystick. It’s also a little light, and I wished there were better rubber grips to hold this thing down in a vigorous session of KOF XII.

But then again, these are just minor stuff that really don’t do much at all to detract from the entire experience of using the stick. At half price, this is pretty much the bargain of the year  for video game related stuff (and the cool decal practically makes it the best looking one too).

Check out www.gameon.com.my for more bargains and deals such as this.