Just in time for the impending release of Street Fighter IV, owners of the standard MadCatz FightStick are reporting several problems with the peripheral. Reported on the Shoryuken.com forums (which seem to be overloaded as of press time), the various problems include the joystick itself sticking in certain positions and sticky buttons.
Other users are reporting that the controller may fail to register certain directions on the stick or certain button presses, with at least one user reporting that the stick stopped registering all inputs entirely. Certain users have attributed the stuck joystick inputs to a metal washer that actually grinds away at the inner workings of the stick while in use.
In a statement to Joystiq, Mad Catz Global PR & Communications Manager, Alex Verrey, said, "There are no major problems with the Street Fighter range of products. Customers can buy with complete confidence."
"As with all complex precision-engineered products, there is always a chance that a tiny percentage of product may exhibit a fault," said Verrey, adding, "This is TOTALLY normal and not at all unexpected. Usually this is due to circumstances beyond our control but this does NOT mean that there is any kind of inherent fault with the design or manufacture of the product." Verrey advises all customers who have encountered a problem to contact Mad Catz directly for a repair (visit this link for Mad Catz warranty information).
For those that already have a standard FightStick, have you experienced similar problems?
Reader Comments (103)
Posted: Feb 16th 2009 5:15PM SitriStahl said
i KNEW mad catz couldn't make a working peripheral
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Posted: Feb 16th 2009 6:06PM darkinchworm said
I got downvoted for telling people the same shit some weeks ago.
Maybe now you can hope for the best... and brace for the worst.
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Maybe now you can hope for the best... and brace for the worst.
Posted: Feb 17th 2009 2:16PM 7egend said
I have never bought anything from MadCatz that was of any value. Heres to hoping MS and Sony release a fight stick controller for their consoles. I know I would love to have a sleek black FightStick with pretty little triangles and squares on the buttons.
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Posted: Feb 17th 2009 1:28AM bigjf said
I don't have one and don't plan on getting one, but just thinking long back to the old days when I used to frequent arcades...wouldn't Mad Catz actually be making an authentic arcade experience by making an arcade style controller that sticks in various places and at times doesn't register? Happened to me all the time because of people's spilled soda and whatnot...
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Posted: Feb 16th 2009 5:15PM (Unverified) said
I thought Madcatz got their act together. Here's hoping my TE stick isn't affected
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Posted: Feb 16th 2009 5:28PM (Unverified) said
Actually, these problems are affecting the standard FightStick, which does not use Sanwa parts. It's the Tournament edition FightStick that has Sanwa parts.
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Posted: Feb 16th 2009 5:40PM The Wicker Man said
I agree ive never used anything from madcatz that worked properly. maybe the z in the name makes is suckz.
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Posted: Feb 16th 2009 5:41PM (Unverified) said
except it sounds like they are, in fact, making them like they used to
o.0
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o.0
Posted: Feb 16th 2009 6:38PM (Unverified) said
No, they aren't making them like they used to. The Panther XL was the best FPS controller that has ever existed...and it was made by MadCatz. Look it up and you'll see that there are still dedicated users of this controller out there. Too bad they never made a USB version.
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Posted: Feb 16th 2009 5:18PM (Unverified) said
what do you expect from madcatz?
its probs held together by chewing gum and the buttons are made of bottle caps
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its probs held together by chewing gum and the buttons are made of bottle caps
Posted: Feb 16th 2009 5:20PM (Unverified) said
Well obviously... EVERYTHING I've owned by Madcatz have all broken soon after I got 'em, and some didn't even work out of the box. I'm never buying anything from them again, and I've told lots of friends not to, either. Congrats guys, maybe that'll teach you to test your crappy peripherals before shipping them out.
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Posted: Feb 16th 2009 5:25PM (Unverified) said
Anything I've ever owned from mad cats has broken.
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Posted: Feb 16th 2009 5:24PM puerrican85 said
"This is TOTALLY normal and not at all unexpected. Usually this is due to circumstances beyond our control but this does NOT mean that there is any kind of inherent fault with the design or manufacture of the product."
But of course!! We all like to buy products to find defects on it to be compleeetely normal..... Hopefully its a very small handfull that are experiencing this, though if it continues then it's obvious they have a problem with the manufacturing process that they say is not related to the issue... lol
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But of course!! We all like to buy products to find defects on it to be compleeetely normal..... Hopefully its a very small handfull that are experiencing this, though if it continues then it's obvious they have a problem with the manufacturing process that they say is not related to the issue... lol
Posted: Feb 16th 2009 6:38PM (Unverified) said
My TE Stick is fine. I did have a problem with my standard edition fightstick not registering button presses though. I replaced the buttons with sanwa parts, so basically it works just as well as the TE stick. I'm happy with the quality, seems like it will be much more reliable than my Hori stick, which didn't last me a month!
Oh, BTW - the pictured stick does NOT use sanwa parts-though it's VERY easy to replace both the stick and buttons with Sanwa.
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Oh, BTW - the pictured stick does NOT use sanwa parts-though it's VERY easy to replace both the stick and buttons with Sanwa.
Posted: Feb 16th 2009 9:34PM (Unverified) said
Where would be the cheapest place to get those buttons and how much are they?
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Posted: Feb 17th 2009 11:54AM (Unverified) said
The problem is that if you want to replace the parts in the standard madcatz stick with Sanwa parts you're looking at:
8 x $3.50 for the OSBN-30 push buttons
and I think lizardlick has the Sanwa JLF sticks for $25?
add on $5 for shipping and you've just bought yourself a slightly cheaper smaller TE stick with a voided warranty.
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8 x $3.50 for the OSBN-30 push buttons
and I think lizardlick has the Sanwa JLF sticks for $25?
add on $5 for shipping and you've just bought yourself a slightly cheaper smaller TE stick with a voided warranty.
Posted: Feb 17th 2009 12:02PM (Unverified) said
I already have tons of parts so it's fine with me. You have a valid point though- it's more effective to go with a good custom stick, although for the ease of use, buying the madcatz stick is the easy option. The quick disconnects are easy to pop off and place on the new stuff, no soldering involved.
I got a good deal on parts from akihabarashop.jp, but lizardlick is a great site for parts for those in the states.
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I got a good deal on parts from akihabarashop.jp, but lizardlick is a great site for parts for those in the states.
Posted: Feb 16th 2009 5:24PM (Unverified) said
Oh madcatz will you ever make good products, ill just use my Hori EX2 controller thank you very much
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Posted: Feb 16th 2009 5:28PM WiNGSPANTT from TopTierTacticsco said
Madcatz always sucked and always will suck. If you buy a product from them, prepare for it to suck.
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Posted: Feb 16th 2009 5:38PM (Unverified) said
The FightPads have serious problems too in almost 50% of the shipment, at least. It's sad, I had finally started to get faith in Mad Catz, but this is pretty inexcusable
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Posted: Feb 16th 2009 7:13PM (Unverified) said
Uh...what problems? I haven't seen anything. If you're talking about the one guy on gamefaqs complaining about how he's terrible at diagonals with it in Virtua Fighter 5, that isn't a problem.
The FightPad has zero problems and I know that for a fact.
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The FightPad has zero problems and I know that for a fact.
Posted: Feb 16th 2009 7:20PM (Unverified) said
I agree with Eggman. I have used my FightPad quite a bit over the last four days, and it has operated well the entire time. =/
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Posted: Feb 16th 2009 8:01PM (Unverified) said
Chiefly, there's been reports of huge problems with the diagonals not registering, aproblem mine suffers from as well
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Posted: Feb 16th 2009 9:09PM (Unverified) said
The diagonal thing isn't a problem. That's how the controllers work. They still work 100% fine. I can still crouch-dash and blah blah blah every move in VF5 just like I normally do.
People are just trying to find something, anything, to pick at.
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People are just trying to find something, anything, to pick at.
Posted: Feb 16th 2009 9:39PM (Unverified) said
Diagonals not registering is not how a pad works, and if it is, it's a shitty pad. Hell, the standard 360 pad works better than the pad I ahve a(and the second one I got on an exchange) and the others apparnetly going around.
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Posted: Feb 16th 2009 5:38PM (Unverified) said
I seem to be having no problems right now with mine, very happy with it
Works great with SFIIHD and my emulators on the pc.
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Works great with SFIIHD and my emulators on the pc.
Posted: Feb 16th 2009 5:40PM (Unverified) said
My NES Advatage works pretty well with SFIV, but I can only seem to do slow shoyukens and quick kicks... what gives!?
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Posted: Feb 16th 2009 5:43PM einhanderkiller said
What's a good, affordable fighting stick for the PS3?
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Posted: Feb 16th 2009 5:48PM (Unverified) said
the beauty of the ps3 is that it can use pretty much any usb controller so it doesnt even need to be specific to ps3 which opens up a ton of options for a controller.
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