iCore Arcade Stick for PlayStation 3

With my fighting game craze still burning and a few CrossCounterTV videos later, I got the arcade stick hype. After a rigorous journey through the land of wonder and sorrow (ie Greenhills, wonder = all the stuff they have available, sorrow = how empty your wallet is after) I think I got one that suits my needs.

I present to you the iCore Arcade Stick for the PlayStation 3. This little bad boy has almost all the things I was looking for in an arcade stick. A price that won’t screw me over, a nice clicky stick with responsive buttons, enough spacing between the stick and buttons while leaving enough hand room plus blocky and weighty design.

I got this over at Game Xtreme for 1200php which is a decent price over the wallet-rape expensive MadCatz and Hori sticks. It’s got all the basics, a cherry top stick, convex buttons and non-slip rubber feet which works like a damn charm if I may add. This is a wired controller but what can you expect from an arcade stick that’s under 2000php. The USB cable itself is quite lengthy so I don’t think you’d have too many problems distancing yourself from the console and a wired controller means no batteries required.

"Long ass cable"

But that’s not all. Yes, I got two.

I believe in fairness. Coming from pad, I find that playing games on an arcade stick, especially faster paced ones, is a little awkward and if I’m going to be awkward then so will you.

What better way to test these puppies out than with a violent afternoon of Street Fighter III: 3^rd Strike Online Edition, Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, Marvel vs Capcom 2, and Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition.

From pad to stick and the fear in between, here’s my story

Growing up, I missed out on the arcade gaming scene and spent most of my gaming with home consoles so I am more accustomed with game pads over arcade sticks. But after seeing a few videos of fighting game pros going all out and almost all of them having their own arcade stick, I got curious as to how much of a difference it can be to control your movements in a video game when using an arcade stick over a game pad.

I’ve heard a lot of people say that they prefer playing fighting games or even classic arcade games such as Pac-Man and the like using an arcade stick and from my general lack of experience playing on arcade machines, I couldn’t understand where they were all coming from. I remember as a kid that one of my friends or one of their friends had an arcade stick for the original PlayStation (or at least I think it was for the PlayStation). It was a dinky little thing, a bit on the thin side and when I would try to perform a generic hadouken motion, the stick would move along with the motion since it barely had any weight to it. We didn’t have access to a table then so we’d prop the thing on our laps as we sat on the couch / chair / or while sitting on the floor. It wasn’t a very fun experience. Another memory I have playing stick was in a local arcade that had X-Men vs Street Fighter. I had it and Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter on the original PlayStation so I thought I could beat a few CPU opponents while I kill some time. I felt so awkward with the controls and found myself doing involuntary jumps during the whole thing. With those being my only arcade stick experiences, you could see why I couldn’t grasp the idea when people said they prefer stick over pad but watching a bunch of fighting game matches online and hearing them tap away at the buttons and clicking their arcade sticks, I got curious and hyped at the same time.

Last weekend, I began my search for a good but decently priced arcade stick. A MadCatz or a Hori stick is just too expensive for me and wouldn’t be practical as I was just very curious about playing on stick and didn’t know if I would even like it. I came across a few that ranged from 1200php to around 2500php and as I researched about these sticks online, I came across a few comments and threads saying that since Sony’s PS3 firmware update 3.5, they have since then blocked most 3^rd party USB controllers from working on the PS3, included was the Blaze Digital Arcade Stick which I had my eye on.  This got me worried because what if the stick I got wouldn’t work on my PS3 since I was on ver 4.0 as of this post. At this point, any form of doubt was not welcome.

What I wanted in an arcade stick aside from a good price and decent quality was a good placement of the buttons and stick plus the size and weight of it. What I like about the MadCatz Tournament Edition stick is the spacing of the buttons and stick while leaving enough space for your hands to rest on along with the massive blockyness of it. It’s not the type that would move from the table or your lap even when doing double fireball motions or 360 command grabs. Me being picky was not making this very easy. Then I came across the iCore arcade stick. It looked like it had everything that I was looking for in my ideal budget line arcade stick. All that I needed to know if it was good in quality. I was worried that after a few hadoukens that the stick would break or get stuck. After searching the net, all info I could really find about it was from http://www.pinoy2dfighters.com/ and they said that for a budget stick, it’s pretty good and reliable but in by no means on par with the likes of MadCatz and Hori which I don’t mind. It goes for 1200php which is pretty cheap because I was expecting to spend around 2000php+. This was a good thing but it also added doubts in my mind because a cheaper stick could mean cheaper quality. Although there was also the possibility of the shops just marking up the price in hopes to catch the ignorant buyer off guard. All that was really left for me to do was take the plunge and buy the damn thing, and so I did.

I bought one last week and though it works, the PS Home button was kinda faulty as I had to really press down on it hard before it connected. The XMB would sometimes appear during gameplay as if the PS Home button was pressed even though it wasn’t. The select button wouldn’t work either and since it is set right beside the PS Home button, I assumed that there was something wrong with the wiring. The store where I got it from, Game Xtreme, said that I could have it replaced with in 7 days if something was wrong. The stick has been replaced and from what I can tell, it works like a charm.

I’m sorry if this has been a long post but bottom line is, if you are looking for a decent budget arcade stick for your PS3 (and PC if you install motioninjoy), the iCore PS3 Arcade Stick is a very good choice.

Recent Buys: Episode 1 - Saints Row: The Third, iCore Arcade Stick, digital Capcom fighting games

Here we are in the new year and I thought I'd start things off by sharing what my recent gaming purchases are for this week/month/part of the month.

Let's start with the intangible stuff. So I got a "loan" on a $20 PSN card, it was supposed to be on $10 but due to some unexplored complications with Sony limiting shared accounts to only 2 users from 5 it left my friend being unable to access the remaining $10. This was sort of an impulse due to a sudden sale of of Marvel vs Capcom 2 and the character DLCs for Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 on PSN. Both were half-off so it was really hard to resist. Not too long after that Sony announced the 12 for 12 sale which included Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Online Edition so I had to jump on that. So that's two Capcom fighting games and a DLC character for another Capcom fighting game. Damn.

On to the disc based stuff. I got Saints Row: The Third brand new and was mildly disappointed that the Asian release of the game didn't give you a free digital copy of Saints Row 2, it is only available in Canada, America and Mexico. shoulda read that fine print. Saltyness aside, the game is pretty neat. Not as stupidly awesome as I was expecting it to be but good fun nonetheless. The best description of the game I could tell you is that it's basically GTA on crack. Still not satisfied? How bout if I told you that you can get a dildo bat that's called "The Penetrator" as a melee weapon?

Last but not least I caved and got an arcade stick. The iCore Arcade Stick is not the greatest arcade stick out there but for a budget stick, it certainly feels better than I expected. The buttons are responsive and feel pretty good and the stick has the little micro-switches so it does those delicious clicking noises when you move it around. The performance of the stick is not the best in the world as I find myself having to jam a motion as hard as I can before my in-game character does the desired move but maybe that's just me not being used to using an arcade stick. The PS Home button on mine is a bit faulty so I'm going to have it replaced within the week.

Watch my poor performance in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Online Edition while I was testing out the arcade stick.

Weekend, what are you playing?

Happy Chinese New Year to you guys and for some of us here in the Philippines, it’s  long weekend. That means extended playtime! From the infamous words of most Pinoy players out there who’s been to a few internet cafes, “Boss, pa extend po”. So, what are you playing?

Migoy: So I got a copy of Saints Row: The Third, the asia version sadly does not give you a free digital copy of Saints Row 2 after you redeem your online co-op pass which bummed me out a great deal (gotta read that fine print), and it seems pretty good. The intro mission was full of intense action but kinda waters down once you get to the new city of Steelport. It’s not as stupid awesome as I was expecting but I’m still having a good time with the game. As for how it holds out later on? We’ll just have to wait and see.

I finally found a Facebook game that I like and wouldn’t ya know it, it’s Tetris. Tetris Battle on Facebook is fun not only because Tetris is one of the best video games to have ever existed but the game pitts you against other players in a match to see who gets the most KO’s in 2 minutes time. KO meaning whose stack reaches the top faster.  Now I don’t know how exactly the whole live versus thing works in this game, I think it’s just AI and the skill depends on the rank of the player, but beating “other players” gives you a different satisfaction compared to reaching level 20 and then just psyching out in the game. If you look at my 2012 gametime spreadsheet, you’ll see a few entries of Tetris Battle on the dates of 1/20/2012 and 1/21/2012.

On a final note, I’ve sort of got a Arcade Stick craze. I don’t want to spend 4000php+ for one of the high end sticks cause I am in no way going to even try to go for pro and I want to be able to afford 2 sticks so that me and my cousins/friends  can emulate the arcade experience in fighting games. Looked around GreenHills yesterday and I’m looking at the iCore Arcade Sticks. They go for 1200php each and though that seems a tad too cheap, I’ve read a few forums saying that it’s a pretty decent budget stick. Was planning to go for the Blaze Digital Arcade Stick that goes for around 2300php but I’ve read that since PS3 firmware 3.5, the PS3 does not recognize the arcade stick anymore so that’s a huge bummer. I don’t mind having a wired stick so if you guys have any recommendations about PS3 arcade sticks, lemme know.

Quash: Finished RAGE this week. The game was awesome all the way until you hit the end. I was shocked on how the last parts of the game felt lacking. More like incomplete really. I had fun thanks to the gameplay, but the racing and the last leg was just disappointing.I'm still planning to play RAGE since I still have Nightmare Mode(first playthrough was on hard) and the nine coop missions to finish.

I started playing Skyrim again. Working on my full mage on Master difficulty. I feel myself getting sucked in again but dying over and over again from one shots can be frustrating.

Finally Gave In and Bought RAGE, Plus Streaming Equipment

When you enter Datablitz and see a game you want so bad that only costs P 1,850 and actually have the money in hand, I couldn't resist anymore. I finally bought RAGE on my Xbox 360 while I was looking around for some cheap streaming equipment. Yes, our streaming will become a regular thing now since all three of us can stream. So look out for that.

Why the urge to get RAGE?

I've been hyped for the game since it was released and it's a new title coming from id Software. Since another game that I was hyped for was coming out on the same day as RAGE, I had to make a choice - Dark Souls or RAGE?  When the day came, I decided on Dark Souls and frankly I don't regret it one bit. Awesome game, but it doesn't mean I didn't want RAGE. After Dark Souls, all those triple A titles that I was planning to get where also coming out so I had to skip on RAGE yet again. Now I had the chance to get it, so I did in a heartbeat.

RAGE is the latest title for the creators who started the whole First Person Shooter genre. id Software created classic titles such as Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake. With RAGE being the next title years after those classics, I had to play id Software's latest.

I'm 4 hours into the game now and it's really a great game so far. The shooting is very solid but what I really appreciate is the character models in the game. From the bandits and mutants you face to the people you meet in wellsprings, everything feels so dynamic. With enemies, they put a lot of detail on enemy reactions on how they get shot, especially specific parts like on the arm or leg. The friendly people you meet are not the regular stiff NPC that will give you a job to do or just simple has something to say. How they move when they talk to you brings out their personality which is slowly becoming a standard in games.

RAGE is the first released retail game using id Softwares new game engine id Tech 5. Of course, visually, the game looks amazing. You'd think the loading time would be pretty long with the kind of graphics RAGE has but it's actually fast. Deus Ex: Human Revolution has a way longer loading time. So far I'm hooked in RAGE. People say the game was good but too short for their taste. People tend to forget this is still a First Person Shooter, not an RPG hitting 100 hours. We'll see if what they say is true with the length of RAGE.

Cheap Streaming Equipment, Gotta Start Somewhere...

When I got home I pretty much went to work on setting up my streaming equipment. Arlie and I bought the same capture device Migoy got. We're using component cables so we could play at 720p display when recording. Playing on Standard Definition was definitely not an option.

Took awhile and had some issues here and there, but I finally got it working. Testing the stream was next, and since I had a new game to play, RAGE was the first test. My first four hours of the game was streamed lived awhile ago and so far the stream was smooth all throughout.

It was always part of the plan to include online streaming to TMG, we just needed extra research on how it can be done. Now we finally got it running and will become a regular thing now. Since Arlie Migoy and I can now stream, you'll see either one of us on the TMG channel streaming our gaming sessions. So I'm expecting the channel to be Live most of the time.

Streaming quality will improve in time as we get better equipment and stronger bandwidth. How I wish we could have crazy bandwidth and a PVR- HD capture device for streaming, but we got to start somewhere. When you see us online, come visit the stream and let's all have a good time. The small stream video on the side of the home page is set on auto play, so if you here sounds all of a sudden when visiting, don't freak out. Stream is just Live. We'll be working on a schedule so that there won't be any conflicts.