Amazingly hot Otomedius arcade stick from Hori

One of the main questions I had after hearing that Otomedius would be ported to the Xbox 360 was how would the touch screen features be transitioned to a console without a touch screen.

Though the simple solution of using the right analog stick for those portions is at least a passable solution, Konami and Hori have decided that they wanted to go ahead and offer gamers another option (so long as they are willing to pay a nice little sum for it). On September 25th, the Hyper Stick Pro - Otomedius Gorgeous Version will be released in Japan for about $250 (fortunately the game will come bundled with the stick).

In addition to being one of the first arcade sticks on the Xbox 360 to feature Sanwa parts, the Hyper Stick Pro will also have a small touch input screen on the right side of the action buttons. Using this input screen, gamers are able to recreate all of the touch features from the arcade version of Otomedius with the home console port.

The Hyper Stick Pro can currently be pre-ordered at Konamistyle and probably will show up at importers like Play-Asia before too long. I wouldn't be surprised though if you end up paying a hefty 'import' tax to bring the controller stateside though (I'm expecting that it may end up near $325 when it's all said and done).

I wonder if I can convince my wife that Otomedius requires this specific arcade stick to play...

New XBOX 360 Hori stick

Hori announced its plans to extend their Xbox 360 line-up of accessories with an Xbox 360 version of the Real Arcade Pro. Though it is definitely an improvement over the Xbox 360's Fighting Stick EX2, I am a little miffed about the layout on the buttons. What is with Hori's trend with a downward curving layout? If I'm not mistaken this is just one of several recently released that has followed this pattern. I've always found it to be a bit uncomfortable and awkward, but perhaps that's what's popular now...

The stick is currently being planned for a release on July 10th for about 12,000 yen. Play-Asia.com already has a place holder for pre-orders, but the pricing through their site hasn't been announced yet. If the PS3 stick is any comparison, it should be on the site for around $129 before shipping.

First Wii Neo Geo Stick 2 image

NCSX opened up pre-orders for the Wii NEO GEO Stick 2 and included the first image of the stick I've seen online. Surprisingly, instead of following Hori's route with the Apple-esque color scheme of the Wii, SNK Playmore has elected to keep the iconic black color scheme of the Neo Geo in tact for the Wii version of the arcade stick. The Neo Geo Stick 2 will ship on April 10th and has a listed price of around $60 at most import stores. Whether or not SNK Playmore USA will be marketing the stick here is yet to be seen, but with the number of NEO GEO classics coming out for the Wii this year it would be a crying shame if they didn't.

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NEO GEO Stick 2 for the Nintendo Wii

Popular Japanese retailer Rakuten has posted a new online page for the NEO GEO Stick 2 for the Nintendo Wii. According to the listing, the new arcade stick will be available on April 10th for a price of around 5,040 yen (or about $50). There weren't any images of the stick provided by Rakuten, but the item description states that it will be similar in size and shape to the currently available (but a bit hard to find) PS2 NEO GEO Stick 2 (shown in the picture to the left).

The Wii's NEO GEO arcade stick will be fully compatible with all Virtual Console NEO GEO releases (and any games supporting the classic controller), so for people wanting a more authentic arcade experience this may be your best solution on Nintendo's console (since it matches the original layout of the MVS units a bit better than the previously released Hori Fighting Stick).

With SNK Arcade Classics Volume 1 rumored to be around the corner for the Nintendo Wii (the PS2's speculative release date is in March), the NEO GEO Stick 2 for the Wii seems to be coming at a perfect time...

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Hori Reveals Arcana Heart Licensed PS2 Arcade Stick

Hori has been splashing official artwork on all sorts of sticks lately. From Soul Calibur to Street Fighter to Dead or Alive, nearly every major fighting series has been getting the preferential treatment from the company with licensed products for their respective consoles.

Examu's Arcana Heart series is just the latest Hori offering, and if I say so myself, is one of the most stylish pink arcade sticks that I've ever seen. Based on the link to the Horistore provided by GamerCafe, the arcade stick is set to hit shop shelves near simultaneous with the release of Arcana Heart for the PS2 on October 12th. The stick isn't available for preorder at Play-Asia.com or NSCX which makes me think this may be a limited edition Hori store exclusive. The Arcana Heart arcade stick is part of Hori's Real Arcade Pro line. You can find it at the Horistore here.

Hori Fighting Stick for the Wii Revealed

Seems that Play-Asia has let the cat out of the bag finally. The first arcade stick for the Nintendo Wii has been revealed by Hori. The stick has been rumored for the past couple of months, but this is the first time that we've seen both the images and the first details of the latest Nintendo Wii accessory.

Hori plans on releasing the Fighting Stick (Wii) in August for a retail of around $52.90, according to its Play-Asia listing. This puts its release pretty much right after Guilty Gear Accent Core on the Wii which hits shelves in Japan in late July (Accent Core Wii will be released in America in the Fall). Considering that Neo Geo games were promised to be on the Virtual Console sometime this summer as well, the nice 4 button/2 row layout of this fighting stick would be a great addition to any Wii owner's library. Especially if they plan to accent the current stock of Virtual Console games with a healthy selection of Neo Geo arcade games.

I've already put in my pre-order for the stick, so once I get it in I'll be sure to post up a review of it. Until then, you can find more information about the stick and place your own pre-order at Play-Asia.com.

Virtua Fighter 5 Limited Edition Arcade Stick for the Xbox 360

With Virtua Fighter 5 hitting the Xbox 360 in July, most people have been clamoring for a new arcade stick that offers a bit more variety to the limited selection that is currently on the market for the console. Hori, one of the top companies in gaming accessories, seems to be coming to the call once again, if recent Gamestop listings are to be believed.

According to the retailers online site, a special edition arcade stick will be released simultaneously with Virtua Fighter 5 on the 360 console. There is one odd thing about the listing though, as in Japan the only officially licensed PS3 Virtua Fighter 5 stick at this time was released by Sega and was the Virtual Stick High Grade. According to Gamestop's listing, the Xbox 360 stick is an arcade stick designed and produced by Hori, but is also the officially licensed and endorsed arcade stick for Virtua Fighter 5.

Whether or not this is an error on Gamestop's part is unknown, but based on the price point, we definitely won't be receiving the Sega designed arcade stick which featured all Sanwa parts. Rather, expect a design fairly similar to the Hori produced Dead or Alive 4 stick (seen above). Chances are the stick will be a manufactured build featuring all Hori parts like the previous Xbox 360 release.

I'll be keeping my eye on this as we get more updates from Hori and Gamestop.