Hori Real Arcade Pro V3 SA vs Mad Catz TE vs Qanba Empire Arcadia

[Option89]

Hi guys, I've been lurking your forums since way back when it was all about guilty gear!

After debating, and a couple almosts, I'm finally ready to purchase an arcade stick.

But if im going to spend 100-150 for a controller, I want to make sure I know my options as well as possible! That's where you, my fellow fighting game enthusiast, come in!

So my question is, of these 3, "high end" pre assmbled sticks, which is the best?

Of course that is a matter of opinion. What I am asking about is build quality and personal preference.

Please let me know if there is any reason to prefer one over the other!

From what I understand the greatest difference between the Hori and the Mad Catz stick is the weight of the device. Can anyone comment on this? Some people seem to find the relative light weight of the Hori stick off putting.

I have also read things about screws coming loose at times on the mad catz TE sticks and the ball top (possibly the entire joystick? I was a bit confused) coming unscrewed on the HRAP V3 SA

I have not found a great deal of info on the qanba. From what I have read it is a solid stick, and appears to be the heaviest of the 3. It is lacking turbo (lol turbo), which the other sticks have, but i have no use for the feature.

What I do know for sure is they all carry sanwa parts, and follow the same button layout (with minor differences involving start buttons and other small things). This leads me to believe any of the 3 would be a worthwhile purchase. I would like some opinions to help me make my decision. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[FunkyP]

First of all don't get a Qanba. Secondly the difference between getting a TE or HRAP is purely personal preference.

I've owned both and eventually it came down to me keeping the HRAP and selling the TE.

Hori has a track record of building the highest quality sticks and the HRAP V3 is no exception. It has most if not all the features that the TE has, and BC support for PS3 as well as PC compatibility that the PS3 TE doesnt have. It is light than the TE by a lb or two, it's somewhat noticeable but not substantial. I found the HRAP to have a case of better build quality than the TE's and it uses the always reliable PCB's Hori's tend to have. That said it may not suit everone's tastes, the start button is on the face and as stated is lighter, also the art will be hard to mod.

The TE is tried and tested to be the players choice for tournaments. It's got many favorable features and is easy to mod. Its heavier by a little bit which may be important to some. The PS3 TE has issues working on non intel PC's and has no PS3 BC for PS2 games at all.

[Option89]

Thanks for the input FunkyP! To this point I have been leaning towards a Hori stick and your post is helping solidify the choice. I'll definitely pick one up if no one else feels strongly enough to comment about one stick or the other.

[Andru]

I will put my vote with the Hori in this case, for the reasons FunkyP pointed out. PC compatibility, face start buttons, not overly heavy yet still sturdy enough. Also I'm not a fan of those huge rubber feet on the TE. I think the Hori is cheaper as well?

[Roldy]

I have an HRAP SA for PS3 as well, and so far (been about half a year now) it works great. I say go for the HRAP.

[RagnaXBL]

I'll vote TE, just because its nice and easy to mod and looks really nice when done properly, and just cuz its standard choice for most tourney players

[TheBaron]

If you're paying list, go with the hori. The Te's go on sale every so often, and on sale, they are usually a pile cheaper.

Keep in mind, if you want to go ps3 and 360, it's easier (and cheaper) to start with a 360 stick and add a chimp.

[g0dsgreen]

Currently HRAP 3, also owned the ps2 one when I still played 3rd strike/gg. For me the interoperability between ps3/pc (plus the fact that the TEs weren't invented yet (2009)) was the selling point because at the time I was playing BB on ps3 and vanilla sf4 on pc. The buttons feel more sensitive on the TEs, I'll give Mad Catz that, but that doesn't hinder gameplay imo.

[St1ckBuG]

If you end up getting the HRAP3, make sure you take care of the cord and take extra special care of where the cord enters the stick. The rubber/plastic shielding the cord as this point has been known to split after lots of use and abuse. Once that splits the next things to go are the wires inside, and once the wires go you have a useless stick. I've experienced this and it sucks. I've have the same thing happen to friends as well, and it sucked for them.

A way around this is to open up your stick and run the cord around the pegs (holding it in place) a few more times. This takes all the possible tension off of the weakest part of the cord, and increases the life of your stick at the cost of a couple inches off of the length of the cord.

I can post pictures later if you want.

Edit: Forget what I said. I was talking about the wrong stick.

If I were to choose, I'd get the TE because there's more room for my wrist and it's heavier.

[FunkyP]

Some people seem to be confused on the stick mentioned in this thead. He is asking about the HRAP V3 not the HRAP3. The V3 is the lastest HRAP with the vewlix layout and all Sanwa parts. It has the cord compartment and all button turbos like the TE does.

[Soniti]

The stick, buttons, and button layout on the HRAP V3 are great. The said, one concern some people have is how close to the bottom of the buttons the stick starts sloping downward. Look at the picture in FunkyP's post and judge for yourself whether you think you will be comfortable with it.

[g0dsgreen]

Oh, well then in that case I'd go with the Hori

[Option89]

Thanks for all the input guys! I have decided to go with the HRAP V3 SA. Backwards compatibility was a fairly large factor with me considering i still play GGAC at times not to mention my og marvel vs capcom for ps1 lol. I have a friend with a Madcatz TE stick. I will try and compare the two when my HRAAp comes and hopefully construct a useful post outlining differences.

[Soniti]

Backwards compatibility? None of the sticks you are considering support ps2 without some sort of mod.

[Option89]

Backwards compatibility? None of the sticks you are considering support ps2 without some sort of mod.

I mean backwards compatibility with software not hardware. I own a fat ps3 that can play ps2 games. From what I understand the hori sticks are compatible with the ps2 software whiles the madcatz sticks are not. Confirm/Deny?

[Dusk Thanatos]

Emulating FGs on PS3 is a no.

Lags frames

[Tarnish]

I realize this is X-Box 360 not PS3, but if you want to talk about lag:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q_VAqwwO6k

You made a good decision with that V3, cause TE's always have me wondering.

[TheGreatReptar]

Emulating FGs on PS3 is a no.

Lags frames

Yea, it's like 3 frames of lag or something like that. That's far more than enough to have people raging at you for trying to play on PS3.

[qwerty]

i don't like the way the te's panel feels. probably has more to do with the plastic cover than the panel itself though.

oh, and i guess it feels kinda hollow too, but whatever. point is, either way you have a pretty good stick. you should also check out the og style hrap 3, since those are probably going to be discontinued real soon.

[tastylumpia]

TE is pretty much standard. Can't go wrong with this stick. Very easy to mod and change artwork too.

HRAP V3SA has cleaner wiring and a better PCB compared to MadCatz stuff. Only disadvantage is it's significantly lighter than the TE., if that's a problem to you.

What I'm surprised is no one has mentioned the Qanba. It's a relatively unknown company but they have some of the best sticks I've ever tried. I tried both the Q3 and EMP sticks. The difference is the solid wood construction compared to standard plastic. If I had the $, I'd go for one of these. Also, the new Q4 is multiconsole PS3/360, but unfortunately is not wood constructed. It kind of looks like a V3 ripoff in design.

[qwerty]

if we're gonna suggest customs, i'll vouch for the voltech VASHG. it's based on the virtua stick high grade, the ever elusive stick that sega made back in 07 for the release of vf5. nice, sturdy case like the actual high grade, except this one is made of steel instead of plastic.

it's a little bit shorter horizontally than the hrap/te and about 2/3rds the vertical depth, but it's super sturdy and heavy. i think you really only appreciate how amazing the stick is once you use it on a halfcab or even on a table/desk, because for lap top use i find it to be a little odd (since it's not as wide as the hrap/te).

[Akita]

sorry to dig this thread up from the grave, but I am particularly asking the same question too (minus Qanba)

I am leaning towards Hori's RAP V3 SA since it seems to look like the arcade layout in Japan (proximity of the button to the stick). Is this just me, or am I blowing smoke (since the time I played at Japan, it felt sorta cramped. Then again, I was also very newbie in that game). I played around with the TE and I like it, but I sorta want to support something Arc is supporting, which I think is Hori.

Another thing I want to ask is, once I buy this Hori stick, am I allowed to customize it, in particular the restrictor gate, since I have heard they are square originally (so i would definitely like to have it something a bit more easier, maybe circular or octagonal -but if anyone want to talk me out of changing this and leaving it a square, please tell me...)

thanks for answering newbie questions

[Adelheid]

Square is far and away the easiest kind of gate to work with. Feeling diagonals is very important, especially for new players. Octagonal is fine if it's what you want to use but you really should not be trying to play on circle gate, it's just mushy and too easy to lose track of where the stick actually is.

[Airk]

To answer the actual question, you are "allowed" to modify the stick, but doing so will generally void your warranty. That said, these are durable devices made of generally interchangable parts, so unless you manage to damage the actual circuitboard somehow, there's not that much you can do that would require you to need a warranty.

I agree with Heidi, however, that you'd be better off getting used to a square gate.

[Pestilence]

I've owned several different sticks and honestly the one I use the most is a Madcatz SE modded with sanwa parts. It's small and compact, and the panel has a slope to rest the palm of your hand on that I really like. You can find them on SRK usually around 80$

As others have said, just get used to the square gate. It works a lot better than you may be thinking. Mostly because you'll ruin your stick if you throttle the stick full force and ride the gate. It's a precision tool, not something your meant to brute force with. Also, ball tops spin naturally, so make round movement is easier than you think.

lol I want a stick with an auto-dash feature. if there is one thing that is 100x easier to do on pad, it's dash.