Universal arcade stick?

Don Tusk

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The curse of being a member of the GLORIOUS MULTIPLAT GAMING RACE is that i need dozens of effing controllers in my room, especially since i do alot local multiplayer.
But arcade sticks are so expensive i can't afford to buy several of them for each platform i own. I need one that will work on PC, xbox, Wii U and playstation. But i had no luck finding anything like that, they are always compatible with only one or two platforms. So if you know any universal ones, please let me kno.
 

SonCamKu

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Hmmm, I'm not sure they're are any universal controllers, but the idea seems friggen awesome. One controller for every system would sure bring in a lot of profit
 

Dirty Hipsters

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There are some that are PS3, Xbox 360, and PC compatible, but I don't know of any that also include Wii or WiiU. You also didn't happen to mention whether you want Xbox 360 or Xbone or PS3 or PS4 and yes, sticks work differently between console generations.

If you want a stick that can play on PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 here's a couple:

http://www.amazon.com/Qanba-Q4-Q4RAF-Black-Fightstick/dp/B007SGGLZW

http://etokki.com/Omni-Sanwa-Edition
 

Don Tusk

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Yeah 360/PS3/PC is what most of them support, maybe it's because we're so early in 8th gen there aren't that many XBO/PS4/WiiU accessories yet. Come to think of it there aren't even any fighting games on PS4 right now. But on XBO i have Killer Instinct so it would be nice to have a stick for it, but the only one i've seen works on xbox one only, and i don't want that!

I actually also own PS Vita TV (for UMvC3 and SFxT if anyone is wondering) but i doubt there is any arcade stick for it, it isn't even out yet in the west.

AFAIK there are no technical reasons not to have a universal arcade stick or any other controller, so im suprised there's nothing like that for sale. Or maybe there is but i can't find it
 

Hairless Mammoth

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I haven't heard of any fully universal (as in within a single generation working with PC, Sony, MS, and Nintendo systems out of the box, except maybe the i-pac, which I'll get to in a bit). Like Dirty Hipsters has said, either go with the PS360/PC ones or wait it out a few more months and see if someone makes a PC/PS4/Xbone/Wii U stick. All I can say for sure is buy something with real arcade parts, like Sanwa or Happ, in it. The x-arcade stuff is decent, but I hear the sticks can be funky. (To this day, I don't know what brand of parts they use.)

Another couple options requires you to get dirty (and I regret thinking about them because now I want to try them). So read on only if you might be interested or like reading build log type stuff.

You could get a cheap and/or broke stick off Ebay (or your preferred location for cheap stuff). (Make sure it's the electronics, not the joystick itself, that broke. Otherwise you gotta buy that, too. Buttons are cheap and easy to replace, so if a plunger or micro-switch is bad, the unit is probably still worth it.)(Or make the entire stick yourself. There's plenty of tutorials online on the best layouts and how to do all the under-the-hood work.)

Then grab some sacrificial controllers for whatever system your planning on using it with. Bypass all the buttons and d-pad directions on them by soldering those contacts to the corresponding points on the arcade stick's switches. You can either use big connectors with many poles and plug in the appropriate controller when needed or try to stuff it all into the box. (Also, if you're really neat and tidy, you might be able to cut a hole in the plastic controller case, feed the wires through that, use the plugs, and use the controller normally when you'd like.) With this way, you can do any system you want, and, to get PC/Wii U/360/PS3/PS4 compatibility, you only need a Wii U pro pad, a 360 pad, and a PS3 pad. Substitute the 360 pad with a xbone one or add it if you want. This gets more expensive if you want a two player setup. But the good thing is you can either use controllers with broken analog sticks or try the "plug in" method to keep costs down.

If you had the room to hide everything and want to get really fancy, wire them up so each controller has a switch to cut battery power. Or, find out if the pad you're modding uses a common ground for the buttons and put a switch in there to cut its input when you're using a different system.

The other option is to get an old stick/make one like above, then get an i-pac or other arcade controller board. I know i-pac has PC functionality out of the box and you can buy adapters for xbox(the first one), 360, PS2, PS3 and Gamecube (along with any Wii or Wii U games that support GC pads). It's not very cheap, compared to a stock PC/PS3/360 stick, to get an i-pac, the joystick(s), buttons, and whatever adapters you want, but I thought I'd throw that out there for anyone else reading my wall of text.
 

Rozalia1

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I have a PS3 (I believe its PC as well but I've never tried) Stick myself and have been interested in one for the PS4. Quick search got me the below link.

http://www.eventhubs.com/news/2014/jun/07/mad-catz-launch-ultra-street-fighter-4-arcade-fightstick-te2-x360-and-ps3ps4-august-japan-no-xbone-ver-due-no-usf4-xbox-one/

A stick that will be PS3/360 and PS4 is quite nice.
 

Naeras

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I'm using a Qanba Q4 that's compatible with PC, X360 and PS3. It's not compatible with the Wii U, but I think one that covers three platforms is the best you'll get, sadly.

I don't think there's a PS4/XBone-stick yet. Not that anything on those system is worth buying an arcade stick for anyways, except for Killer Instinct.