Hori Real Arcade Pro Premium VLX has a name to match its size, price
By Vlad Savov 
posted February 5th 2010 8:42AM
posted February 5th 2010 8:42AM
posted February 5th 2010 8:42AM
A look back on popular stories from today in a specific year.
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
Did Hori use Microsoft's giant Xerox machine and make themselves a copy of the Mad Catz TE? Even down to the color scheme.
@FrankTheCrank That might be the other way around. Mad Catz might licence HORI tech for the releasing them over here.
@nickgc Nope, MadCatz is not affiliated with Hori in any way. In fact, MadCatz is soon going to bring their Tournament Edition arcade sticks to the Japanese market to directly compete with Hori in their home market.
I recall reading about a popular Street Fighter IV tournament held in Japan recently where something like 8 of the players who placed in the top 10 were using the MadCatz Tournament Edition arcade sticks, even though you can't even buy them locally in Japan. With MadCatz entering their market soon, I think Hori is just trying to come up with a product to prevent them from losing a lot of business to MadCatz.
@FrankTheCrank
Nope, they both copied the Taito Vewlix cabnet that SFIV and other games are housed in. http://arcadeheaven.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/streetfighter4arcadecabinet.jpg
The difference? Hori did it better! Damn, I bought the TE in hopes of getting a real Taito panel to put on top...if only I would have known.
SWEET LORD! If I could get a universal version with 2 players, I'm in. Otherwise it's time to get a 2-player X-Arcade and 2 Sanwa sticks.
They trying to make it look like Madcatz Street fighter TE Stick , i believe Madcatz looks more Beautiful , more width Vs Length and that why Madcatz were very comfortable .
The new TE sticks coming out looks better.
Price?
As an arcade enthusiast I am required to correct Engadget's horrible information verification. This guy is even MORE awesome than they say it is. Sanwa doesn't make the housing in question - Taito does, this guy is a recreation of the Taito Vewlix (which is an HD cabinet) and is loaded with Sanwa buttons and sticks.
And for anyone who thinks this is a new and novel idea, Sega used to do this with Astro City parts back in the day for their Sega Saturn sticks and such.
@dieKatze88
This really is crazy. I thought the TE stick was awesome with its Vewlix styling and layout, but Hori just won the game.
Damn this thing is huge; it's trying to look like the madcatz TE stick. And what's with that button on the far right, bad placement for it and all that extra room on the sides seems a bit much.
I'm loving my Madcatz TE round 2 stick, it’s the best stick I've ever bought, I had to mod it with a new 8 way Octagonal Restrictor Plate, I also got rid of those two pesky ultra buttons and change the ball-top to a bat-top, insert a spring for more stiffness to the stick, new red and black Sanwa button combo. Right now I’m just waiting for my new artwork and plexi to show up from art hobbies
http://www.tek-innovations.com/arthobbies/?loc=products
@wetworker So the Madcatz is the best stick you've ever bought but you had to do all that modification to it?
As an old arcade head I think these sticks are great, but until they come out with an edge where I can put my quarter/token for the next game It won't truly feel the same...
@O Yes sir, I grew up on American styles sticks in arcades so I needed a stick that can give me the same experience. I’ve been playing street fighter since about 1988-89, and I’m sure you know by now that fighting games especially SF depends on a lot on muscle memory you build up over the years. These muscle memories give you the ability to pull off complicated combos without even thinking.
For instance Ryu combo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqLHWde3zaQ
I did a lot of research on the other stick and the TE was the only one I saw that gave me that level of customization with minimal effort. After opening the case it takes me under a 30 min to change the bat-top, gate and buttons, while I was in there why not go even further, get rid of those crappy ultra buttons that only makes you lazy and go traditional six button config.
The stick out the box is sensitive as hell as well as looses, so I added an extra spring for stiffness.
I’m a graphic design so artwork is a must plus who wants their stick to look like everyone else’s when you go battle at SF events.
...yep best stick ever :)
@wetworker It's fine if you prefer American style sticks, but that's not what this is emulating. This is an exact recreation of the Japanese SFIV cabinet controls.
Preferring something different is one thing, but criticizing something because it's just a different product than what you want is not going to accomplish much. It's like going to McDonald's and complaining because they don't sell Whoppers there.
I Understand that they are trying to recreate the arcade cabinet experience but to a point.
The reason Madcatz TE sticks are selling like hotcakes is because people actually though about the placement of each button, the weight of the stick etc. The button on the far right of the Hori Real Arcade Pro stick is a bad idea, especially if they want to capture the Madcatz owners, if that button is pushed during tournament play that's an automatic DQ. If they have a switch that locks all the buttons on the front like the TE then that’s a different story.
As for the size, it's just too long on the sides; some places you go are cramped already so having something that can fit into small areas is very important. And what about portability and weight, my TE stick can fit into my 15.4 inch messenger notebook bag.
As for the American Stick, Button colours, Gate, Art that’s just personal preference.
Requirements for a good stick:
Button placement
Size
Weight
Durability
Portability
Button lock
Cord storage
Easy to fix/ Mod
...Can i get fries with that. :)
Considering the title, it would be nice if you actually gave us the size or the price.
@Pies 33,000 yen
So this thing has sanwa Parts or hori?
@Shaungg Sanwa buttons and joystick, just like the arcade cabinets and the MadCatz TE.