Shadowblade Joystick for PS2

Re: Here's a great thread about joystick selection...

In the case of Joystick selection there are several things to consider:

-stability
-accuracy
-durability
-button placement
-games compatibility

Essentially most VF4 players are very particular about finger placements. There are two machines at our local arcade, one never gets played simply because the buttons are not the standard Japanese style layout. Playing on that particular machine requires too much mental effort to adjust to the slightly different finger angles.

Small things about button angles, spacing and feel compared to the original Japanese arcade machine.

In your case the difference is irrelevant because you have not played VF4.

Finger placement is very important as it will affect your performance at the gamer. As most people on this board actually give a damn about their performance the Shadowblade is not a suitable choice. Although I've never seen the Shadowblade in the flesh, you can tell from the button layouts its going to require adjustment to be able to play VF on it.

VF4 is about precision and this is based on the actual arcade machine. So if you intend to play at the arcade(VF4) ultimately choose a stick that is simular to the layout at your arcade. The standard button placements is always LK,LP,MP : G,P,K

In a Neo-Geo style angle. LP,MP,HP is very difficult to adjust to. Though it is possible to adjust...

Also the Neutral position is important for VF. If the stick tends to bounce when you move it to its extremes then this is not good too.

At a glance the Shadowblade would seem a poor choice given people remarks about it and from a visual impression. Maybe later on, after you've tried both sticks you'll laugh about what was said here. I don't think there was any malice intended from jason etc etc just some good natured fun!