Hori Real Arcade Pro AX S+G

LiQuiD[EViL]

Seimitsu LS-32-01 lever, Sanwa OBSF-30RG buttons, Astro City layout.
http://iplaywinner.com/news/2013/2/8/hori-announces-special-real-arcade-pro-for-the-xbox-360-with.html
http://www.hori.jp/products/xbox360/controller/realarc_pro_ax_stg/

Darksakul

That looks real petty like. I want it more for the Astro City layout than for anything else.
I can always swap parts and art on the top place, swaping the layout on the top plate is another thing all together.

hibachifinal

I'm buying this stick. It's the most official dodopanchi saidaioujou stick we'll ever get. I mean come on, honeycomb pattern.
Glad to see RG buttons being back in the fold.

Darksakul said:

That looks real petty like. I want it more for the Astro City layout than for anything else.
I can always swap parts and art on the top place, swaping the layout on the top plate is another thing all together.

HORI's DOA5 stick is similar (Astro layout), and significantly more affordable (here in the US at least). Which is what I should just do, I have some OBSN-30RG's, and I have LS-32's lying around haha.

W00P MstR FresH

Hori showing some shmup love

Ikagi-chan

Man, as much as I love the fact that they are going back to the Astro layout, I'm really peeved that they're STILL not bothering to center their layouts. The green A (Light Kick in SF notation) button should be just a smidge to the right of the center bolts, not all that way to the left. For comparison, look at the Virtua Stick High Grade which has a perfectly centered layout:



Still, I'm really glad they're still using that Soulcalibur V body. That's probably my favorite modern generation stick case yet. Also I hope they plan to change their stock image when it gets closer to the release. Unless Seimitsu suddenly up and changed their dust washer design and made shaft covers for their LS-32 line, that's a Sanwa stick. :P

hibachifinal

Ikagi-chan said:

Man, as much as I love the fact that they are going back to the Astro layout, I'm really peeved that they're STILL not bothering to center their layouts.

because 8-button :(

and oh, would be cool though if Hori did indeed put the extra effort to make LS-32 shaftcovers... but yeah I doubt that lol.

Ikagi-chan

hibachifinal said:

because 8-button :(

and oh, would be cool though if Hori did indeed put the extra effort to make LS-32 shaftcovers... but yeah I doubt that lol.

If this were the older Real Arcade Pro sticks (2, 3, and EX specifically), I'd agree that it would be because 8-button, but this? Nah, this is just them being lazy like they were with the Dead or Alive 5 stick and not bothering to move the joystick mount at all. I really can't understand why not, considering that to make the Astro layout work on the DoA5 and this stick, they had to have removed the plastic strip that was separating the buttons and joystick on the original Soulcalibur V stick, but I guess welding a mounting bracket to a different spot is more costly than moving where the button holes get punched out of the metal. =/

GeorgeC

hibachifinal said:

I'm buying this stick. It's the most official dodopanchi saidaioujou stick we'll ever get. I mean come on, honeycomb pattern.
Glad to see RG buttons being back in the fold.

Darksakul said:

That looks real petty like. I want it more for the Astro City layout than for anything else.
I can always swap parts and art on the top place, swaping the layout on the top plate is another thing all together.

HORI's DOA5 stick is similar (Astro layout), and significantly more affordable (here in the US at least). Which is what I should just do, I have some OBSN-30RG's, and I have LS-32's lying around haha.

Oh, this joystick is definitely NOT worth it then if it's the same layout as the SC V, DOA 5, joysticks.
Those older releases are still very available in the US along with the TT2 release very often with nice reduced prices for the newer stick releases.

It's too expensive to import Japanese exclusive joysticks now, IMHO. It's at least $50 shipping (airmail) on top of whatever the third party seller wants.
I've only ever done that with the HRAP 3 SE and I still have somewhat of a buyer's remorse on that one.

It's definitely cheaper just to buy the domestic releases, remove and sell the OEM parts (JLF, 30mm and 24mm Sanwa buttons), and retrofit on your own.
It's rarer now for domestic importers to get exclusive JP stick releases in-stock now. It was common before the end of 2009 but has become much rarer since then.
I expected the Hori HRAP VLX Diamond to be carried by a vendor because it was the biggest exclusive release of the past year (and the previous VLX proved to be a hit) but don't expect the Seimitsu edition or "anime art" joysticks to be carried in the US again. In the past, some of the exclusives have taken an uncomfortable time to sell out and quite a few have ended up selling at reduced prices online, too. (Speaking specifically of the Arcana Heart 2 joystick which appears to have not been a great seller in retrospect... Seems like there was a bit of over-ordering and over-production there.)

If you're going to end up removing the original artwork at any rate, it's silly to pay an extra $100 for this joystick!
Much cheaper to buy the Seimitsu and other specialized parts on your own and refit yourself.

Those of who prefer Seimitsu levers end up doing this on practically every joystick release we get anyways...

jaquio

Dunno about second pic but the lever in the first one is not LS-32.

GeorgeC

You're right, jaquio.

Looks like a Sanwa JLF.

Seimitsu LS-32's don't have shaft covers and that joystick obviously has a shaft cover AND Sanwa-style dust cover.

Sharp eyes!

Only thing I can figure is that Hori possibly mocked up an existing joystick to show what the Pro AX could look like and that this is NOT an actual production joystick or even prototype/pre-production joystick. That would make sense to me. Considering that these companies generally only change the artwork and part colors between new production releases...

Blank

Reminds me too much of the DOA5 and TTT2 Hori sticks. Not that I'm saying they're bad but it seems they're just repeating the case designs and adding different buttons/artwork

therobin

At least they are doing better than mad catz to bring something differnet to the market.

This is actaully a better atempt to differ from previous sticks than ever (Other than the all original fighting edge). I know people who have commented they don't mind Seimitsu joysticks but dislike their buttons. This is a good atempt to apeal to different taste. Probably only annouced it in asia to test the waters. I must admit this is the only stick announced in a long time that interests me in any way.

The_Third

Hold up, Hori made a special shaft cover for LS-32?!

gahrling

The_Third wrote: »

Hold up, Hori made a special shaft cover for LS-32?!

Possible.. but I suspect these are just promo images which don't reflect the final product.

The joystick looks too much like a JLF & SK set to me..

eperelez

RG's are amazing! The only other retail stick I know that ever used RG's was the Hori Real Arcade Pro Amazon.jp Special Addition that had Sanwa Vermillion RG's exclusively:
http://www.hori.jp/products/ps2/controller/realarc_pro_s_fix/index.html

fifty8mm

eperelez said:

RG's are amazing! The only other retail stick I know that ever used RG's was the Hori Real Arcade Pro Amazon.jp Special Addition that had Sanwa Vermillion RG's exclusively:
http://www.hori.jp/products/ps2/controller/realarc_pro_s_fix/index.html

i did not know the buttons used in that stick were RGs..food for thought

Gaijinblaze

Ikagi-chan said:

Man, as much as I love the fact that they are going back to the Astro layout, I'm really peeved that they're STILL not bothering to center their layouts. The green A (Light Kick in SF notation) button should be just a smidge to the right of the center bolts, not all that way to the left. For comparison, look at the Virtua Stick High Grade which has a perfectly centered layout: 

Yeah... If you were to play VF on this, your right hand would be more or less on the middle of the unit. Ironic since this layout is popular because of Sega cabs in the first place.

Anyone know if it's possible (preferably easy!) to replace the art on the DOA5 stick?

Jelloman581

Funny, I asked the Hori rep at SCR2013 if they were coming out with a stick that didn't have game-specific art (SCV, DOA5). He said there's something coming out soon;  I guess this is it. I like that it almost matches the MadCatz EVO stick in design, but why-oh-why do the buttons overlap the design around the stick? The art needs some tweaking, or the butttons shifted to be more centered, as mentioned previously. I'm digging it otherwise, a possible addition to the collection!

inblue

Art looks pretty DoDonPachi-themed to me, which fits with the LS-32 and Xbox exclusivity, and Saidaioujou's due for a 360 release this spring.

hibachifinal

Good news guys, dengeki made a full article about it, has pictures of internals and everything... its true seimitsu for sure.

There's also comparison with other HRAP models. And insight by dodonpachi player, mon.

after the jump

http://news.dengeki.com/elem/000/000/600/600305/

Key points:

- Only 4 of the buttons are RG's, the rest are OBSF-30

- No Seimitsu LS-32 shaft cover :V

- comparison and talk on Sanwa vs. Seimitsu with regards specifically to shmup play.

BEST HRAP EVER amirite.

GeorgeC

It's being released May 30th according to iplaywinner.

Bad news -- it's going to cost $192.  Ouch!

Inflation, indeed!

gahrling

Only 4 RG's?

Lol Hori, why are you so messed up?

hibachifinal

gahrling said:

Only 4 RG's?

Lol Hori, why are you so messed up?

RG's dont come in black so probably just laziness... then again they are touting this for shooting game use, which commonly use 3 buttons at most.

and yeah price point is still ridiculously high :( gonna have to adopt this one at a later time.

gahrling

But then why would they put RG's into something meant for shmups? It makes no sense. 

And if black RG's are not available then why not choose from a selection of colours that are?

Hori are their own worst enemy. I wish I could sit in on their meetings so I could see their logic in action.

hibachifinal

according to the article, its because they are comparable to PS-14-GX's.. but they are discontinued, so they used OBSF RG's.

engage being lighter on PS-14-G/OBSF-30's wherein the plunger and rim don't even have to touch for the input to come out, which is prone to 'accidental input'.

tech7

That is a nice looking stick with great parts already in it, but, man, I do not need a fourth 360 stick.

Also, isn't it using the Namco Noir button layout and not Astro City? Compare the images of the Hori stick to the VSHG from Ikagi-chan - the first column buttons. The angle is different with Astro City being more pronounced. Or are my eyes playing tricks on me due to the angles of picture of the Hori stick?

hibachifinal

well, the button layout isn't exactly perfect, even on earlier HRAP's.. there might be minor measurement differences... but the distance of lever to buttons is what is mostly of concern here, Noir layout is further away, this seems to be more Astro that Noir just on that note.

jaquio

Btw it seems Hori has an accumulated Seimitsu stock, because i'm seeing a old LS-32-01 version placed on the new controller. That blue sub-gate tells everything. Seimitsu made slightly changes on both LS-32 gates last year and i'm pretty sure these very first pics above is showing the old one. Below is the comparison.

Old LS-32 subgate shape
http://in2amusements.com.au/images/products/secondary/seimitsu ls-32 joystick-1.jpg

This is mine, i bought almost 1 year ago. Also this new version has a bright metal plate.
http://s51.beta.photobucket.com/user/macgaren/media/Arcade/ls32subgate.jpg.html

Darksakul

gahrling wrote: »

But then why would they put RG's into something meant for shmups? It makes no sense. <br />
And if black RG's are not available then why not choose from a selection of colours that are?<br />
<br />
Hori are their own worst enemy. I wish I could sit in on their meetings so I could see their logic in action.

Hey didn't someone figure out how to add RG switches to normal Sanwa buttons (and replace the microswitch in the switch assembly)

xenoannals

Very instrested in this stuff...why don't they make all bottons white?

Darksakul

xenoannals wrote: »

Very instrested in this stuff...why don't they make all bottons white?

Microsoft Licensing require the X, Y,B and A buttons to be their respective colors on all Microsoft approved Xbox 360 controllers.

xenoannals

Darksakul wrote: »

xenoannals wrote: »

Very instrested in this stuff...why don't they make all bottons white?

Microsoft Licensing require the X, Y,B and A buttons to be their respective colors on all Microsoft approved Xbox 360 controllers.

Then will you buy this stick if you are a shmup manic and have no sticks?
I just wonder if it's worth buying
Forgive my poor English~

d3v

Wait, so does this mean that HRAP "A" is the model name for the SCV bodied HRAPs?

hibachifinal

d3v wrote: »

Wait, so does this mean that HRAP "A" is the model name for the SCV bodied HRAPs?

i'm guessing it refers to which layout these HRAP's have. One for the Astro layout "A" (DOA5 stick and this) while the Noir Layout ones (SCV/GUNDAM/TTT2) are referred to as "N", at least that's what the unbranded "N3-SA" is, also same if you see the usb device name, referring the SCV HRAP as "N3/NX".

lolmark

So, this stick is coming out at the end of the month and I'm super interested in getting this stick while the USD to Yen exchange is still solid. Are there any online shops selling to US customers?

MarkMan

Just read up on this thread. I'm excited for this stick and can't wait to get it.

Also wanted to comment on some stuff here.

To those complaining about us (Mad Catz) releasing the same thing over and over. You should do some research. If you really want to get into arcade stick history/releases with me, I'd be happy to school you. <3

GeorgeC

I wouldn't bother, Markman...

Some of them are the same guys who can't read the stickies and rules for posting art or starting new threads.
It's beyond annoying that many people aren't willing to do at least basic research before shooting their mouth off... (Unfortunately, there seem to be more and more people signing up for SRK that are like that.)

I've noticed a lot of people who used to answer questions all the time from years past have dropped off the board as real life catches up or they get busy with work related to or not related to game hardware. (At least getting paid $$$ for this stuff counterbalances some of the rudeness and blatant stupidity online. That's gotta wear on them and is probably the reason why a lot of vendors have stopped responding a lot on threads.)

But yeah, low-ball figure is that Mad Catz has done at least 4-6 uniquely different case designs over 4 years.
That's pretty good considering how much mileage Hori got out of two basic case designs! LOL What was it --- six to seven years for the HRAP astrobase used for the HRAP 1-3 lines and more squarish original FightStick case???

Of course, if you really want to get technical and include color variations, LE releases, and such, there have easily been over a dozen unique Mad Catz joystick releases. Not gonna bother to list those -- somebody else has already listed them in the stickies the complainers haven't bothered to read!

I honestly don't know why people like to get so bent out of shape... If people don't like the colors or parts so much, they are made to be modded so easily... Can't help other people with earning money to buy things but <yeesh> people just have to complain for the sake of complaining!