Mini Review: Competition Buttons

Tighe

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So I got my order of competition buttons from Lizard Lick yesterday in the mail and I finally got to install them. I was worried that I would not know where my fingers were located with the competition buttons, but after asking my wife for an opinion I decided to give them a try.

Here is what my control panel looked like before:
DSCN3943.JPG

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And after, notice I got player 1 and player 2 embossed buttons:
DSCN3952.JPG

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So now I have competition sticks and buttons in that cabinet.

And the difference is very noticeable, my fingers can move from button to button easier and the throw of the button seems shorter. I will definitely keep them in this cabinet. And my Neo Geo feels not as good with the standard buttons, but I don't know if I will switch them in that cab. I think it all depends, with the MVC I want a really responsive panel that my fighter fans can play with me and not complain about the buttons. They all have Sanwa sticks and buttons in their homemade PS2 arcade sticks.

I also got new buttons and sticks for the MK1 I just got, but in this case I stuck with the concave buttons. I think that it would be weird to have competition buttons in a MK1.

My only complaint is that the buttons came with some really cheap looking switches, I wonder how long they will last.
 
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Great looking panel!

I also really like the comps. I bought them and installed them on a Darkstalkers cab. And in my opinion they are oodles better for fighting games. If you're really in tune with your gaming, you'll be able to spot the difference.


And on a side note: those are really nice close-up pictures of the buttons. Should be in a magazine.
 
Your crack is showing! :p

Competition are much easier on the fingers and you are correct in your assumption about the throw distance. The button sits almost on top of the switch on the comps while there is a slightly larger gap on standard buttons. Can you post a pic of the microswitch? They should be Cherry. Cherry is the longest lasting switch you can get and they're not stiff like most chinese switches.
 
Great looking panel!

I also really like the comps. I bought them and installed them on a Darkstalkers cab. And in my opinion they are oodles better for fighting games. If you're really in tune with your gaming, you'll be able to spot the difference.


And on a side note: those are really nice close-up pictures of the buttons. Should be in a magazine.

Thanks! I replaced the plexi on that panel, the original had cig burns, scratches, and spider cracks around all the screws:

dscn1592.jpg


The nice photos are from my Nikon Coolpix s210 set to macro mode.
 
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Your crack is showing! :p

Competition are much easier on the fingers and you are correct in your assumption about the throw distance. The button sits almost on top of the switch on the comps while there is a slightly larger gap on standard buttons. Can you post a pic of the microswitch? They should be Cherry. Cherry is the longest lasting switch you can get and they're not stiff like most chinese switches.

Yah, I made all new plexi and had one crack, I can barely live with it. :eek:

http://www.tighelory.com/2009/09/cutting-plexiglass-control-panel.html

Thanks for reminding me :p

And the switches are not Cherry, I wish I could find a source of cherry switches on the cheap. Lizard Lick charges more ($2.50) with Cherry switches then they do for buttons with Chinese switches ($1.70)!
 
I personally went the other direction, I had a game with them and switched back to the vintage style. The Comp. ones just Look cheap and generic to me.
 
I personally went the other direction, I had a game with them and switched back to the vintage style. The Comp. ones just Look cheap and generic to me.

But it came with iL competition sticks in it! What would you put in it? Ball top Wicos? I understand vintage, and love the look of concave buttons, but they are just not as well suited for fighting games. Also this game isn't vintage, it came out in 1998! I think that Wico was already out of business by that time. My Neo has concave buttons, but the HAPP Supers that came in it HAD to go! The competitions don't look any different anyway. Just get black bat tops if that is your thing.

My Galaga is for my vintage playing. And I wouldn't swap out the leaf switches for anything!
 
I have had the comp buttons on my fighter layout on the MAME cab for a few years. I think they are great for the fighters. I also have 6-button panels with the regular buttons; some people definitely prefer them. I don't have any plans to use them on any of my other games, but I think they are hard to beat for fighters. They don't really improve my skill though. I still suck.
 
I have had the comp buttons on my fighter layout on the MAME cab for a few years. I think they are great for the fighters. I also have 6-button panels with the regular buttons; some people definitely prefer them. I don't have any plans to use them on any of my other games, but I think they are hard to beat for fighters. They don't really improve my skill though. I still suck.

LOL, I can play with either, but I can really tell the difference with the comps! I like the look of the regular buttons though. It is like the difference between a round restrictor plate and the square restrictor plate in the Sanwa sticks. The stock square plate makes the stick fell jerky. I prefer the competition sticks over the sanwas though. I would love to try out a prefect 360, but I don't want to spend the $35 per stick.
 
Cool Bezel, did someone make that, or is that original? Looks really good!

I know it's hard judging whether that's official or not. I'm pretty sure it was made by a super sweet (and may I add; svelte) dude working on a MvC cab project.

ok j/k, i'm not svelte, I'm like a chunky-wolverine. But a way more believable Wolverine over Hugh Jackman. Well, if Wolvie preferred making burgers over snikt'ing fools with his blades.

It is free to use if you're interested.

MarvVsCapbezel.jpg
 
I know it's hard judging whether that's official or not. I'm pretty sure it was made by a super sweet (and may I add; svelte) dude working on a MvC cab project.

ok j/k, i'm not svelte, I'm like a chunky-wolverine. But a way more believable Wolverine over Hugh Jackman. Well, if Wolvie preferred making burgers over snikt'ing fools with his blades.

It is free to use if you're interested.

MarvVsCapbezel.jpg

LOL, I am more like the Blob :D I would like the file if possible, I don't know when I will print it out, but I would love it! Thanks!
 
And the switches are not Cherry, I wish I could find a source of cherry switches on the cheap. Lizard Lick charges more ($2.50) with Cherry switches then they do for buttons with Chinese switches ($1.70)!
If you bought Happ Competition buttons then they come with Cherry switches. The $2.50 buttons are Sanwa. Sanwa are a lot and I mean a lot more sensitive. Because of this they are only rated for 1 million cycles while the Happ with Cherry switches are rated for 5 mill.

If you pull one of the buttons and look at the switch it should be white with a small red button. It'll say Cherry on the side as well.

I wouldn't worry about replacing the plexi overlay. It would be a waste of plexi to do so. It looks fine and the crack is barely noticeable. I was just razzing you a bit.
 
If you bought Happ Competition buttons then they come with Cherry switches. The $2.50 buttons are Sanwa. Sanwa are a lot and I mean a lot more sensitive. Because of this they are only rated for 1 million cycles while the Happ with Cherry switches are rated for 5 mill.

If you pull one of the buttons and look at the switch it should be white with a small red button. It'll say Cherry on the side as well.

I wouldn't worry about replacing the plexi overlay. It would be a waste of plexi to do so. It looks fine and the crack is barely noticeable. I was just razzing you a bit.

The competition buttons I bought from Lizard Lick are actually iLs and come with e-switch switches. If you look on the Joystick page on Lizard Lick they sell Cherry micro-switches (not buttons) for $2.50 each. This is the only place I have found Cherry micro-switches for sale. I need to see if I can find them on MCM or Mouser, I imagine that they would be cheaper through them.

I know you were razzing me, that crack still drives me crazy! :D And the crack wasn't from using the router bit, but when I drilled the pilot hole! :eek: The router cut the plexi like butter and left a nice smooth edge.
 
The competition buttons I bought from Lizard Lick are actually iLs and come with e-switch switches. If you look on the Joystick page on Lizard Lick they sell Cherry micro-switches (not buttons) for $2.50 each.
So when you bought the buttons he gave you IL? That's strange, all the comp buttons I've bout from LL were Happ and came with Cherry switches. The distributor I buy from locally also sells the Happ comp with Cherry switches. You might want to shoot Chad an e-mail and ask him about that. Maybe he sent you IL comp buttons since you ordered IL comp sticks?
 
So when you bought the buttons he gave you IL? That's strange, all the comp buttons I've bout from LL were Happ and came with Cherry switches. The distributor I buy from locally also sells the Happ comp with Cherry switches. You might want to shoot Chad an e-mail and ask him about that. Maybe he sent you IL comp buttons since you ordered IL comp sticks?

I certanily did not order iL sticks! I hate those sticks!! The sticks are HAPP, and come with e-switch switches. I have bought HAPP sticks for a while now, and it has been years since I got one with cherry switches. I also ordered HAPP competition buttons, but when they came they have iL logo on them by where the switch goes.

http://www.lizardlick.com/pages/pushbuttons.shtml

Am I being ripped off?
 
Looks cool. I ordered those buttons for my NEO GEO but haven't gotten around to installing them. I was worried that I would hate them and it would feel much different. Sounds like I need to stick them in.
 
Looks cool. I ordered those buttons for my NEO GEO but haven't gotten around to installing them. I was worried that I would hate them and it would feel much different. Sounds like I need to stick them in.

Yes they are very nice! I have regular buttons in my Neo, and I am wondering if I will replace them. They are that much better in the MVC. The only issue is how they will look in the Neo. Crazy right?

I love the way concave buttons look, they give me a little thrill. The competitions don't do that for me, but they work much better. :D:confused::D
 
I certanily did not order iL sticks! I hate those sticks!! The sticks are HAPP, and come with e-switch switches. I have bought HAPP sticks for a while now, and it has been years since I got one with cherry switches. I also ordered HAPP competition buttons, but when they came they have iL logo on them by where the switch goes.

http://www.lizardlick.com/pages/pushbuttons.shtml

Am I being ripped off?

You DO know that HAPP used to buy their sticks from IL until about a year ago...so the original HAPP Comps were, in fact, IL sticks... and the new HAPP Comps are, in fact, Chinese made crap. Right?

The easiest way to know if you got HAPP (Chinese crap) or IL (The original HAPP Comp) is to look at the dust washer that came with the stick. If you got black dust washers, they are HAPP (Chinese), if you got dust washers that are the same color as your stick, they are IL (the better of the two).
 
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