« The Last Minute Arcade Stick Buying Guide Day Five Part Two: Arcade Stick Stores »
The Phantomnaut
EVO is in a couple of weeks and you registered for your games of choices. There is a problem! Maybe you play on Xbox 360 but EVO is a PlayStation 3-specified event. Maybe your PlayStation 3 stick is broken. Maybe you don't have a stick and want to get one before the big event or for other future meetups. Well here is a last minute guide on various sticks available in the market today. You guys can check out Monday's edition on Mad Catz, Tuesday for Hori, Wednesday for Qanba/Eightarc and Thursday for Etokki and custom sticks. We are at the home stretch with the final day. I have posted my piece on custom controller boards and converters. Now lets end it with online stores for getting additional arcade stick parts.
All right, you are ready to go play at EVO or any local tournament with your stick of choice. But your buttons or your stick lever might not be in best condition and you want to get a new one so you can do as best as possible in your matches. Well here are some sites that provide good service.
This is the premiere arcade stick shop online if you live in North America. You need Seimitsu buttons? What about a joystick lever bat top adapter? Maybe a USB adapter? Focus Attack has the stuff. During tournament weekends, Focus Attack might have sales on various items so always check the site for more information.
Giby @ManChest over at Arcade Shock also has his own store located in Southern California. Not only you can get arcade sticks from Qanba and Hori (and even some from MAS Systems! American!) and various arcade parts, you can also get legitimate arcade boards. This includes Capcom's own boards, the latest shoot 'em ups from Cave, and even a large array of Neo Geo MVS and AES carts!
For the folks in the Great White North, this site should help your needs easily. They can be of sorts the Canadian equivalent of Focus Attack as they provide a good list of various parts from different companies. The site is also an official distributor to Qanba so you can get a multi-console stick with ease. They also house Qanba's older line of sticks if you prefer their looks more. Canadian Joysticks also offers Pocky if you want to get a snack with your order.
Based in South Korea, Etokki specializes in Korean parts while having some Japanese added for good measure. They sell the Paewang Revolution multi-console board and the Etokki Omni stick. For those who want try out Korean stick levers and buttons on their stick, the site sells a variety from companies such as Myoungshin, Taeyoung and Crown.
Based in Japan, the site is aimed towards international users interested in getting Japanese parts. Maybe the part you are looking for is not on any of the stores above, maybe it can be found on Akihabarashop. You can get specific on what you want to get so if you want a large Sanwa microswitch or a specific Seimitsu lever mounting plate for example, Akishop has them.
Overall thoughts
These stores should be able to help a majority of players trying to get parts for their sticks, especially if they have Japanese parts. I didn't tap into the European stores much since I don't have any experience but if you can suggest some good ones, please comment below!
Thank you very much for checking out the buyers guide to arcade sticks! I hope it helps you find the right stick! I like to thank IPLAYWINNER for letting me do this guide and the arcade stick companies, modders and distributors for providing their services to the community!
You can always find me being friendly on my Twitter @ThePhantomnaut!
