What is the best type of joystick for a 60 in 1

SOME of the games (xevious, 1942) need an 8-way to be played properly. The downside of that is the bulk of the games, which are 4-way, can be tougher to play properly -- you could get stuck starting to climb a ladder in DK unintentionally because you were accidentally pressing the stick at a slight angle. You could always go with a 4-way and deactivate the 8-way games.

Micro vs. Leaf is a personal preference. I used to swear by micros for years, but now I prefer the feel of leaf switches. Once you adjust the blades well, they work like champs forever. Diagonal directions on the joystick and rapid fire on the buttons is achieved with greater ease, in my opinion.
 
4 way vintage Pac works the best IMHO but there are other alternatives.
The Happ 4 way microswitch ball top is the joystick Namco used in their reunion machines.
The latest Namco Jpn machines use a Sanwa JLF or Semitsu joystick set to 4 way mode.

I really like the japanese joysticks but it really depends on how picky you are about the joysticks and what you are used to playing on.

8 way joysticks will ruin all of your pac games but allow better play for 1942/43 games as well as Gunsmoke. 4 - will limit those mentioned shooter games.

I my Clone Noir cabinet, I juse a JLF with an Octagonal restrictor. When I play Pac-man CE DX I manually swap in a 4 way gate and it takes me like 30 seconds to do this.

If you are building vintage cab, I would say go with leaf buttons for games like Galaga... makes an amazing difference for firing, which is almost MORE important for that game.
 
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Sanwa JLF with and 8 way restrictor gives you the best of both worlds. They may be tricky to mount, but well worth it if you can do it.

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Is there a list somewhere with games and what controllers were used (4way/8way, # of buttons, etc)?... trying to decide a control panel layout and which board to get based on the number of playable games.
 
Leaf switches all the way!
As for 4-way and 8-way, some games would be unplayable if in 8 way but some will not work properly if in 4 way. I believe someone carries a stick that you pull up on the shaft and twist it to switch modes... Don't remember where or who. :(
 
If this is to be in your arcade, I'd go with a 4-way (leaf if possible). Gyruss sucks to operate with a 4-way, but it is possible. So are the other 8-way games. Installing a trackball for Centipede and Millipede will greatly improve those games.

Pacman, donkey kong, etc are extremely unresponsive with an eight-way.
 
Leaf switches all the way!
As for 4-way and 8-way, some games would be unplayable if in 8 way but some will not work properly if in 4 way. I believe someone carries a stick that you pull up on the shaft and twist it to switch modes... Don't remember where or who. :(

http://www.ultimarc.com/controls.html

Mag-stik plus. I have one. It works well but I would prefer the feel of spring tension and a grommet to center it. Then again, given that you twist the shaft to switch I can see why they had to go with magnetic centering to keep it free. They have a ball top stick I would like to try but since I don't often order I am not looking to pay shipping for a single shaft. If anyome has an order I can glomm on to, let me know!!
 
I have used every switching stick known to man (or at least all the ones available 5 years ago), and I still say the best solution when you need a 4 way and an 8 way is to install them both, side by side.

My favored config left to right is "Reunion stick, Wico 8-way, then the buttons".

The reunion stick is quite a bit shorter than the Wico is, so you can install the bases right up next to each other without worrying about one stick getting in the way of the other. If you favor using the stick with your right hand then you need to reverse the layout, making sure the reunion stick is furthest from the buttons.
 
i cant stand the mag stick plus. maybe i got a bad one, but i thought it was a piece of junk. i still have it in a pile of parts, but replaced it almost immediately with a vintage wico leaf switch stick.

for general purpose i like happ competition sticks. theyre not great for pac man games but other than that i think they work well. everyone has their own favorites and opinions, of course.
 
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