What's in the box? - Street Fighter X Tekken Arcade Fightstick V.S. Edition

So if you read the blog, you may have noticed that I like fighting games. Specifically, Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3. I use to play some in the arcades growing up. Once Marvel vs Capcom 2 came out on PS2 I pretty much stopped going to the arcade. After a while I really lost interest in fighting games all together. When MvC3 was announced my interest was immediately renewed. I picked up Street Fighter 4 and a Mad Catz Fightpad and got back into fighting games. Although I like and feel comfortable with the fightpad, I just kept feeling this need to tryout an arcade stick. So when EVO 2012 rolled around, I decided to get in the spirit and purchase this guy.

Taking a tour of the rest of the box...

  

This box is much bigger than your average Master Grade. Much heavier too.

Inside the box...

Controller looks amazing. Metal casing makes it really sturdy. Really impressed so far.

Art work looks pretty good. Too bad I don't play Street Fighter X Tekken. Really want to replace that with something UMVC3 like.

Comes with a headset adapter. Not sure this is need, but what do I know?

Yay instructions!

Really like the space to store the cored. Tight fight, but it works.

For those that want to customize, you just need a 7/64 hex screwdriver. Only takes 6 screws to get inside this guy.

I swapped 2 buttons. This is the configuration I like. Not sure it's the best, but it's the most natural to me.

Most depressing part. The plastic, artwork, and metal plate are all glued together. Not happy about this. Going to make customizing harder. I'm pretty sure the art work can be removed rather easily, just need to find a replacement for the plastic cover...

I'm really happy I got this guy. Just sort of feels right. I've had a blast using it. At the moment I seem to be better at doing combos, but I really can't move around that well. And blocking?... I need to work on that. But I'm sure in time I'll get the hang of it.

Well that's all I have for now. I'm sure this guy will be customized in the future, so keep an eye out for that. Until next time...

Completed! - XBOX 360 Controller (Fresno State Scheme)

So I thought I'd put my gunpla skills to work on something else. Made a few mistakes, but basically everything that works for building Gundam model kits applies to custom controls. Here's the final results.

Thoughts on the kit...

It's an Xbox 360 controller. If you don't know what one is like by now, you might as well stop reading because this post isn't for you.

Thoughts on my work...

For the most part I think it went pretty well. There were two major issues which really detract from all of the good parts. The obvious one is the big decals. The surface of the controller has a ton of curves. Makes it impossible to get the decal to lay perfectly flat. In my efforts to get it to lay as flat as possible I tore the decal in a few places. Since these decals are the focal point of the controller, the imperfections really stand out. The other part probably isn't as obvious. It's with the sanding. The surface of the controller isn't smooth. If you want to lay down some decals, you need to sand it flat. Well in doing so, you can start to remove details, just like when working with Gundam model kits. I forgot to go back and make sure the detailed parts were still there. So when I went back to panel line the details, paint just went everywhere. Not that big of a deal to me, but it's something to be aware of for next.

And yes I think there will be a next time. Although the kit didn't turn out the way I wanted, I learned a lot and I had a ton of fun doing it. But before I tackle another one, I want to use the one I have to see how well it holds up. I think I'm going to play through Final Fantasy 13 and then take photos again. I figure 50-100 hours of gameplay should give me a good idea if my painting approach will hold up.