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Shadowblade Arcade Stick
  PS2HardwareUC  
  opened by paleface at 05:01:57 07/18/10  
  last modified by paleface at 12:27:18 03/05/24  
  paleface [sys=PS2; cat=Hardware; reg=NA]
           
[This is a very old review; as far as I can estimate now this stick wouldn't hold a candle to a stick made from actual arcade parts like you can get without too much trouble these days, but for the time, and in the States, it was a surprisingly heavy-duty home console stick.]
 
Interact's Alloy Arcade Stick has been discontinued for quite some time--I've been looking. :( Coincidentally, I recently picked up the Interact ShadowBlade PS2 stick--it seems to be pretty much the same build as the AAS, just colored black and adjusted for PS controls. The stick IS really long, kind of longer than I'd like. It has a rubber ring around the square base which will probably stiffen and crack after a while. The stick has good tension (not sure how much is due to the rubber base ring) and is pretty quiet though it clicks *very* slightly. The eight buttons are HUGE and, happily, concave on top. If I'm not mistaken they're even a bit larger than standard US arcade buttons; spreading one hand to cover four is slightly uncomfortable for me, though I have smallish hands. They make a very nice little snappy pip sound when pressed. The buttons wobble slightly if you press down on the outer rim rather than in the middle. The base is metal, large, very heavy and well contoured for holding in the lap. All in all it's an incredibly impressive feeling piece of hardware, unfortunately is hasn't worked with any of the five PS-2-DC controller adapters I've tried with it. It seemed to work well in Tekken Tag Tournament on the PS2 I rented last weekend though the simple moves in that game really don't put a stick through its paces. :PPP
 
I don't own a PS or PS2 but I've kept the stick around as an example of a top-notch controller (and because I'm too lazy to try returning it).
    

 
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