« Review: Joytron EXChanger Arcade Stick »

Peripheral companies like Mad Catz, Qanba, Hori and Razer are able to reach out to many markets around the world with their arcade sticks but there are some that are isolated to their native nations; South Korea's Joytron being one of them. Whether or not they have plans for international release, they made an arcade stick of their own with the EXChanger. While the EXChanger has some traits that you can find in some arcade sticks today and doesn't necessarily change the playing field, it does have it's own unique aspects that you can't find anywhere else all at a decent price.

The most striking aspect found on the stick at first glance is its body. Although most arcade stick exteriors differentiate from each other, they have a certain conformity with shapes to the designs. Constructed by Korean group Red Design, the EXChanger has the most unorthodox look in commercial arcade sticks due to more rounded areas. In another way of saying, the EXChanger's body is more 3D than 2D, more dynamic than flat. It's really good that Joytron wanted to differentiate themselves cosmetically.

The mostly plastic body at first seemed like it would act flimsy during active play but it does have a good appropriate weight to it, similar to Mad Catz's Arcade FightStick Tournament Edition. Due to the unique design, the handles are on the side which does well when carrying it on one arm. The playing panel features enough real estate for resting wrists. The Vewlix-like layout has some space between the lever and the buttons which necessarily minimizes interruption between hands.

On the stock unit, the EXChanger is equipped with the Crown CWJ-303G (similar to CWJ-303N) Korean Fanta lever. The circular restriction and the rubber tension system remain in the CWJ-303N. This Fanta type feels lighter to move around than the Myoungshin Fanta from the Etokki Omni review so some new players interested in trying them out might not feel much strain after use. Doing wavedashes in Tekken and 2D fighters with half circle and full circle motions felt just as smooth as the Myoungshin.

The inside of a Joytron EXChanger.As for the buttons, the EXChanger is equipped with 30mm Qanba buttons. It is a bit surprising to see their buttons in a different stick, commonly found on the Qanba Q1 Cut, but at the least they perform well for being budget parts. The tension is a little bit harder than that of a regular Seimitsu button but feels smooth and inputs come out well even when double tapping.

The characteristic design compliments the EXChanger's biggest trait which is the ability to pop open the lid. With the flick of two lock switches on the sides, even if labeled inappropriately (off-on instead of lock-unlock), and the push of a button at the front opens the hood. Although released years before, this featured found on the EXChanger is similar to that found on the Razer Atrox. While the locks are good to keep the top and the bottom body parts, they are both maintained together through 2 plastic hinges when opened which seems questionable in quality so treat the process with appropriate care and sensitivity in case.

While it gives you the ability to open the case, the EXChanger limits the modding capabilities. At the most, you can only really swap out the lever, buttons and maybe utilize LED support. It's unfortunate that you can't change artwork to the EXChanger.

While you can swap levers and buttons much like most arcade sticks, Joytron allows users to swap between Korean Fanta levers or Japanese levers (flat mounting plates only). For those who use Korean Fanta levers, Joytron provides metal spacers to lower the mounting height to a reasonable level; installation process with the spacers might be troublesome and tape is needed. Japanese lever users are given large dust covers to compensate for the bigger hole used for Fanta mounting and a black ball top. Whatever your preference, Joytron also provides the necessary harnesses to connect any of the levers. As seen before with the Etokki Omni, Joytron took advantage of player preferences for lever mounting in which competitors should take note on for future sticks.

Commonly found on Qanba/Eightarc sticks, Joytron provided multi-console support on the EXChanger out of the box. The EXChanger's EX Dual Chip performs similarly to the Q4/Fusion sticks by allowing to play on both the Xbox 360 or the PlayStation 3 with the flick of a switch on the control panel. A neat cosmetic aspect found on this PCB includes what controller position the stick is connected to, Xbox 360 controller style. For those who play fighters on Xbox Live, there is a headset jack available.

The biggest problem I had with the EXChanger was the USB cable. Since the body has no compartment, the cable needs to be tied somewhere on the stick's exterior. Unless you know can properly tie the cable and contain it using the lever top, it's likely to breakdown and become unusable. This could have been a good opportunity for Joytron to use something like a USB jack for external cables.

A Crown CWJ-303G installed on the EXChanger. Notice the tape close to the metal panel. It's needed to keep the height spacers attached to lever during installation.The Joytron EXChanger varies in prices but the online store that sells the stick consistently has it for $123, which seems pretty affordable for a multi-console stick that can use both Korean Fanta and Japanese levers. The problem is that the additional shipping price can bump the overall cost to around the $150-$200 levels which isn't too bad for international folks.

Joytron made a really interesting arcade stick with the EXChanger. At the time of its creation, they really had very neat ideas that you see in more recognized sticks nowadays as well as having some unique features that you can't find anywhere else. Regardless of some detracting points or things that should have been implemented, there are enough solid aspects in this stick. The price isn't too bad either since you get good features for a price below $200. Although it won't absolutely revolutionize the competitive business, the EXChanger does prove itself as a worthy challenger.

The Joytron EXChanger is currently available now on ExportPrive! If you own an EXChanger and need lever installation help, please check out these guides (Korean, Japanese) provided by Joytron!