Joystiq impressions: HORI VF5 joystick for 360

28 Comments by Richard Mitchell Jul 13th 2007 9:26PM
Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, E3, Peripherals

At Sega's Virtua Fighter 5 360 demo station at E3, there were two shiny HORI joysticks, which are being released alongside the 360 release of VF5. While we were (barely) bested by Sega's employee in our matches, we definitely enjoyed the hardware on which we played. The buttons and joystick have a nice, durable feel to them. The joystick has a definite tactile click to it, and it's not too loud either, which is nice. The buttons click solidly and the joystick inputs seemed spot on. We managed some nice body checks with Akira with no problem at all, and diagonal inputs were easily recognized too. The Sega rep informed us that the stick should retail for around $50 or so, which seems fairly standard. Considering the DOA4 stick is now nearly impossible to find (and damned expensive if you do), you'll definitely want to pick up the HORI stick if you're serious about your virtual fighting.

Tags: e307, hori, joystick, sega, vf5, virtuafighter5

(Page 1) Reader Comments

Truepatriot: Jul 13th 2007; 9:37PM

i sorta want this for vf5 and some arcade games.im sure pacman would play better with this.i miss having a joystick controller.

Figcoinc: Jul 13th 2007; 9:47PM

How many buttons does this have? Will it work with SF games?

Norm: Jul 13th 2007; 11:51PM

Yes. It has six buttons on the face, and the bumpers on the top portion.

Mikeawesome: Jul 13th 2007; 10:18PM

Wireless?

benjamin: Jul 13th 2007; 10:27PM

The pic above makes it look like it's cabled.

I'd imagine a lot of fighting game enthusiasts would prefer this, being worried about potential input delay.

Off to play some Guilty Gear on my 360 thanks to our friend the BC update. ^_^

okenny: Jul 14th 2007; 9:26PM

I don't think people have to worry about input delay with Microsoft's wireless technology. It's based on 2.4GHz technology.

Urza: Jul 13th 2007; 10:23PM

How does it compare to the DOA stick?

Norm: Jul 13th 2007; 11:52PM

It is the same body and Hori parts. Not as High quality as the Real arcade pro, but similar in design.

cyberfrog: Jul 13th 2007; 10:55PM

Can you use this joystick on the pc as well? That would be pretty cool.

Norm: Jul 13th 2007; 11:53PM

Yes, just like the previous version.

Jake: Jul 13th 2007; 11:21PM

My impression: too big.

J.Goodwin: Jul 13th 2007; 11:29PM

It doesn't look exactly the same. If it is, I'll pass, since I didn't care for the DOA stick's diagonals at all. There was very poor directional sense.

Jigsaw: Jul 13th 2007; 11:37PM

Well that's extremely disappointing. The button layout looks as bad as the DOA4 one, and although it's hard to tell it kinda looks like it doesn't have 6 buttons either. I guess I'll have to get a custom-built stick once VF5 hits after all.

Norm: Jul 13th 2007; 11:50PM

You should definitely get a custom stick, regardless.
(from me?)

Norm: Jul 13th 2007; 11:49PM

It is the same design as the Hori DOA 4 joystick. It is the same design as you will find in japanese arcades,(NOT AMERICAN ARCADES!) similar to a Sanwa Joystick and buttons, though slightly less responsive. These sticks are very easy to mod with 8 way restrictors that are great for games like pac-man. This stick has a white and green graphic, with a six button layout. The mapping is the same as the DOA 4 stick.

for more images of this stick do a google search for Hori Fighting stick EX2.

Norm: Jul 13th 2007; 11:54PM

It is.

viewtiful dru: Jul 14th 2007; 2:01AM

Where the FUCK is the HRAP, Hori?

Enough of this fighting stick 360 crap.

Plus the DOA4 stick is just stupid to modify.

ShinobiFist: Jul 14th 2007; 2:10AM

HORI sticks are garbage, no need to explain. And playing Joysticks at home is nothing compare to a cabinet, you can never get it steady enough, even with a table. I rather be standing up. I try playing on those small Japaneses machines in Chinatown Fair NYC when they got VF4 for the first time a few years back. it wasn't happing. I'll just use a USB mod to plug in my PS2 pad. Thats the way to go. Anybody who played VF would tell you, the PS2 pad is perfect for it. I even use it for the PS3 version also. Can't fuck that PS3 pad and it's stupid "No grip back triggers"

Norm: Jul 14th 2007; 2:21PM

You are a minority among VF players if you think hori sticks are garbage and prefer pad over stick. Hori sticks are the closest thing you can get to a sanwa, which is top tier among pro players.

The only thing pad is good for is mapping buttons, which most tourneys don't even allow, because its a crutch.

Brad Mecoli: Jul 14th 2007; 4:26AM

"and it's not to loud either,"

Don't you mean "too?" *cough, cough*

Supino: Jul 14th 2007; 7:13AM

This will be useful for XBLA games in general. cool stuff.

Po0py: Jul 14th 2007; 7:58AM

Who the hell made it? Fisher Price?

Defenestrator2.0: Jul 14th 2007; 12:59PM

Have you ever stepped foot into an arcade? They all look like that.

Po0py: Jul 14th 2007; 2:45PM

I'll buy it if it gets good reviews but arcade sticks are normally black or grey where I come from. That looks like cheap white plastic. But then, its just an arcade stick so to hell with it. If it does the job its supposed to and if it doesn't fall apart if I break wind in the same room then thats good enough for me.

Thad: Jul 17th 2007; 7:36PM

Wonder what the ramifications are for MAME. I've been waiting for a nice wireless joystick forever.

Dache: Jul 17th 2007; 9:03PM

"Anybody who played VF would tell you, the PS2 pad is perfect for it."

Anybody who played VF would tell you that you're the most wrong-thinking person on the planet. NO ONE uses a pad for VF. What the hell is wrong with you?

k4polo: Jul 26th 2007; 10:09AM

"Anybody who played VF would tell you that you're the most wrong-thinking person on the planet. NO ONE uses a pad for VF. What the hell is wrong with you?"

I use a pad in VF and I am consider good among my friends. Joystick or pad doesnt matter to much its more reliant on the skills really. A VF expert can essentially be a pad users as I cant use the joystick. Just because I cant use it doesnt necessarily make me a sucky pplayer at all. People need to realize that.

dan turner: Jul 27th 2007; 8:46PM

Where do you get a custom stick made? I am a quadrapalegic and can't use my hands for regular controllers.

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