Joystick

Okay, so it\'s been a over a year since I bought my first Saulabi SPS-3000, and even with the constant daily abuse I give the stick, it\'s still holding up strong. I\'ve been so happy with it I actually decided to buy a couple for my friends. When the new sticks arrived I immediately noticed the joystick made no clicking whatsoever! I opened it up and found they had replaced the original microswitch setup with some sort of quick contact switch. Which makes the joystick virtually silent when rotating it.

Now while this seems to make the stick much more responsive it has one drawback. If you happen to push in one direction quickly and the let go of the stick, before it centers itself, it will bounce back in the reverse direction and make a connection on the opposite side. Not a big deal, but the original microswitch version does not do this.

Also the buttons are now different. Instead of the original glossy convex buttons, these new buttons have a texture, and are slightly concave in the center. Not overly concave, but you can definitely see and feel the difference. Also these new buttons seem abit more springy, but that could be due to my old stick being broken in over the last year.

I tested both sticks together (on the same games), and both perform very well, with the new stick being a bit more responsive. Only time will tell how the new stick stacks up against the old in terms of wear and tear. But for the most part I\'m happy with the purchase. I just wish I had some sort of indication that the hardware had changed. I was kinda taken back when I noticed the sticks were not the same as the previous one I had ordered. Currently there is nothing on the packaging or stick that shows a different model number.

P.S. The new sticks, like the old, do not support analog mode, and only map to the PS2 D-Pad.

Despite the low budget commercial I saw for this joystick, the quality of the actualy product is top notch. The stick itself is very responsive, the ten button layout works for a variety of fighters (Capcom, Namco, SNK, etc.), and it\'s weighted very well (not too heavy, but you know it\'s there). It\'s small enough to fit on your lap, but it\'s slanted design and rubber feet make it suitable for a table top use as well. The stick does make a clicking noise when it hits each contact, but it\'s quiet enough that it doesn\'t drive you nuts. The only real complaint I have (if any) is that there doesn\'t seem to be an analog/digital switch, and it appears the stick is in digital mode all the time (so for games that require analog input, the stick just won\'t work).