Cool Aliexpress Stuff for Arcade Sticks/Fightsticks V1

Aliexpress is a pretty cool site, I often browse just to see what comes up. I know there's some worry about it due to scams/packages getting lost, but from my experience that chance is pretty low. It might take a while to get to you however. Aliexpress is also pretty helpful when getting a refund if the package is never sent or lost.

When browsing I usually look at arcade items so often I come across some cool products. I thought I would share some in this post. I'll limit myself to 10 just so this isn't too long/more in the future. I won't include enclosures since that can be for a future post. The titles and pictures formatting might be a bit odd. I'm too lazy to adjust it. The images are in webp and don't want to spend the time converting them.

I am NOT associated with any company/store mentioned. If something happens with any orders please message the store, not me. Links are NOT referral links.  

LED Joystick 5V Light Illuminated Glitter Fighters Stick Durable Copy SANWA Rocker With Clear Bat Top Ball Arcade Joystick

To be honest I'm really only putting this here because of how cool they look and how it looks like if a Sanwa and Seimitsu joystick had a baby. The joystick base is pretty unique with the translucent color. Not sure on how the switches are. If anything you could put in a regular Sanwa PCB and it'd probably still work. There's two connections so I think it's for digital and analog inputs. The description just says "fishing games". The LEDs are most likely just white and the use of translucent colors gives it the colorway. For under $10 I might pick one up to see how it is. If you really care about internals of your stick then this could be a cool way to color match it.

SJ@JX Arcade Controller 3D Analog Joystick Sensor Module Potentiometer Thumb Stick

 

Now for a joystick that is actually analog, we have one from SJ@JX. Pretty cool and on the cheaper side when comparing it to other analog solutions. I do plan on eventually picking one up, but the case need would most likely need to be pretty big. Or maybe it's similar size to a Korean joystick. Either way it's pretty cool. 

LED arcade joystick 5v luminous colorful led joystick Arcade stick joysticks for arcade doll machine Pandora box

Probably the last joystick I'm going to mention for now. This is basically a less cool version of the previous LED joystick. Simpler might be better for some. Looks similar to Qanba's LED joystick so you can probably use a Sanwa PCB rather than the PCB it comes with.

GX12 square base aviation connector flange socket 2 pin 3pin 4pin 5pin 6pin 7pin diam 12mm

 

GX12 ports are pretty cool. Arcade sticks like the TE2/TE2+ and Razer Atrox/Panthera use them. They are pretty easy to install to any arcade stick. However the flaw of adding one to your own arcade stick is the chance of the port twisting. It might not be a lot, but it does happen. This really doesn't matter to everyone and this could be fixed with some lock tight, but these mounting plates attached to the GX12 port are pretty cool and solve this issue. If you do plan on buying one of these then go for either the 5pin or 4pin version. I'd recommend the 5pin. They don't come with the mounting screw, but the size I think will fit it is M2 or M1. I recommend taking it to a hardware store to get the correct screws. Only thing to make this better is some type of gasket that goes around it. Kind of like the Neutrik ports.

Zero Delay Arcade USB Encoder PC with 5V to Joystick Arcade Rocker Circuit Board Control Panel For MAME Gaming

Also known as the CY-2201/2202 this little PCB board has been pretty good for me. I won't go too in dept about it now (since I plan to do it some time in the future), but a very good cheap PCB board. The only issue is that the shop sends you the wrong type of connector to give this board power. You can find the actual cable on FocusAttack. Or if you know how to solder you can make your own connector.

Rocker Mixbox Keyboard Rocker Keyboard Direction Mixbox360 Instead Rocker Installation

 

 

Another way to add keyboard controls to your arcade stick. Not 100% sure on this. If you don't live in the United States then this could be a good option. However if you do live the United States then I think the options from OmniArcade or MyrzArcade are better. Still cool to see these here and there.

ELEWIND 22mm USB connector socket Economy cheaper plastic type USB2.0 socket Female B to Female A

 

Another connector port for the people who use USB-B cables. These are a similar bypass port to the ones FocusAttack and AdaFruit sell. However those are in black, these ones are in white which is the reason I'm sharing them. Easier to color match for those who have a case/build that is mainly white focused. The only issue I see is that these might just be spray painted so quality of this product can be questionable.

EG STARTS Arcade Spinner for Arcade1UP Machine Asteroids Games Controllers

 

Spinners aren't something a lot of people use, but if you do need one then they are often expensive. This spinner does seem like a good option (according to the reviews) and isn't super pricey. However I do think you can find this on Amazon so be sure to check there before Aliexpress if you need the item in a timely matter.

RAC-J300S Detachable Arcade Joystick Shaft Quick Release DIY PARTS Support Sanwa

Now time for a Phreakmods The Link knock off. If you are able to purchase the original one then please do. It really isn't that much more than the one I linked. If you aren't able to buy the original one or you have an extreme budget then this doesn't seem that bad of an option.

10pcs Built-in Small Micro Switch For DIY Arcade Controller Jamma Mame 24mm Factory Price Arcade Button Round Push Button

Lastly I'll show some buttons. Chinese generic buttons aren't too great, but I'm sharing these for a couple reasons. It's pretty uncommon to find generic metallic 24mm buttons. This is a screw on, but a pretty long one which might not be the best for slim cases. These are pretty cheap so the quality can be questionable. Regardless might be an item I check out. 

WIP #1 - Daiwa Scarlet/VLX Mishmash Mad Catz TE

 

EDIT (10/07/2023): I finished this build however it took a different direction, here's a link to the finished build. - https://www.instagram.com/p/Ccglu1Lu-KH/ 

To keep my blog active, I thought I would document the building of this stick. Since it actually does have more going into it than most of my other builds. My plan is to complete this build before 2022, I still have a couple months left (I still have a bunch of other builds left too, but uh I'll finish those eventually too). 

Anyways, lets start at things that are mostly finished. 

Finished/Decided

Artwork Design 

I've been wanting to do a design with Daiwa Scarlet since she's my 2nd favorite out of the Uma Mumuse series, but I've never really got a good idea on what to design. So playing around with a couple artworks and placing it behind a basic background, I eventually made something I liked. For some reason I had an idea to just put the VLX design in there too and I'd say it fits fairly well. Some might prefer it without the anime character, but this is my stick so she stays.

Buttons

These might look like regular Sanwa OBSC buttons, but they are mechanical switch buttons I found on AliExpress. They are pretty interesting, and cheaper than the other options. 

They originally came with MX-Blue style clones soldered onto a PCB. These were fine, but after messing around with one, I figured out that the switch mounts via the top so if I removed this PCB then I can put pretty much any MX styled switch in there. I'm not 100% sure on what switches to put in, but currently there's Novelkeys x Kailh Linear Cream switches. They kind of feel like a lighter Seimitsu button.

I'll talk more about connecting these to a PCB later in the post.

Case Choice

This I'm still not 100% sure on. I own quite a bit of arcade sticks so I can fit the artwork to any other stick I own. However I do own way too many Mad Catz TE (I want to say around 10), so I feel like I should get to customizing those first or just sell some of them. So I decided to go with the TE really for how the buttons are attached (which I'll talk about later) to a PCB. Ultimately this can change, but I think I'll go through with it mainly because I like the case design (I wouldn't own 10 if I didn't) and the bezel and side panels can add more customization. 

Non Finished/Undecided 

PCB

The stock PCB on early Mad Catz arcade sticks are pretty ass when it comes to PC (which is my main "console"). So there's a good possibility that I'll change the PCB to a Brook board. Which one? Still don't know. Not sure if I'm going to make this one of my main sticks or something that just stays around the house and is used casually or with friends. I was also considering a pad hack, but we'll see. The Mad Catz PCB also come with a daughter board when it comes to connecting their buttons. It's pretty cool and one of the reason why I chose this stick for this build. 

Basically the idea I had when it came to connecting the MX buttons to the board is to trim one side of the connection cable and solder that to a Kailh hotswap. Then I'll basically have a quick disconnect for the buttons and I can test out other switches, if I decide too. This should work, really the only issue comes if the kailh hotswaps will fall off the switch progs. Other than that everything else should be fine (in theory).

Joystick

I'll probably go with either a JLF or Seimitsu LS-32. As for balltop, I did like those Seimistu's marble ball tops, but they might be out of stock currently (and may never come back). ParadiseArcadeShop also has some cool ball tops so I might go with one of those too.  

Plexi or Adhesive?

Currently I'm using an adhesive print for the artwork. I've been testing adhesive printing mainly on sticks that don't have plexi pre available for them (i.e Hori EX2, Hori VX/V3, Mad Catz SE).  This has gone decent for the most part. Personally I go with Walgreens printing. Their prices are pretty good and discounts happen often. Shipping is quick or you can even do same day pick up. The only issues I've had is I'd like for the material to be a little thicker, adhesive seems good for the most part, but if you touch it a lot then it'll unstick to the surface pretty easily. Lastly is that you kind of have to indicate that the print is an adhesive order. I do this by having text on the print saying that it's an adhesive order. I was having issues where the person printing it either ignored it or didn't notice and sent me a regular poster. Then there's other issues of using adhesive, you have to cut it out yourself and worry about air bubbles which is really annoying. Plexi is another option, but my main issue with plexi is how it handles heat, mainly humidity. It just flexes and it can also ruin the cardstock. Also for the skinnier plexis they flex pretty easily. That's kind of the reasoning I've been going with adhesive, since it doesn't have those issues, but it still does bring in issue of it's own. Also $10 > $25, I'll probably get another print of the artwork to get a cleaner cut.

Cable

I like adding a detachable cable to my builds. Mainly because I feel like arcade stick (specifically higher priced ones) should already come with this. Having a detachable cable makes storage easier too. I usually like adding a GX-12 cable since they are pretty easy to make and the mounting doesn't take that much room in the case. Depending on the PCB I might have a GX-16 detachable aspect to have regular USB or Type C support. Really all I have to decide is what paracord to use. I usually don't add Tech Flex, but I might for these cables. I'll probably do a tutorial on how to add a GX-12 or GX-16 port to an arcade stick so look forward to that whenever that comes.

Bezel/Side Panels 

And last we have the Bezel and Side Panels. The Mad Catz TE is pretty cool for this aspect and does add a lot of customization options to the build. You can find different color bezels on eBay, but side panels (thicker ones) aren't as common. Although for the slim panels, Buttercade does have his service for printing new ones. I might go that route or if the regular black side panels look good in the end then stick with those. I have a cool idea for the bezel, but I'm not sure how I'll able to achieve it. 

 

That is about it currently. I might do another WIP in the future before the complete build. If you read all of this then thanks. I am not sponsored by anything I mentioned. If you'd like to help me with this build (or any future ones) then consider commissioning me for some Photoshop work. Until next time. 

- globe