Owners Report Mad Catz StreetFighter IV FightStick Defects

[PS3 News]

Just in time for the impending release of Street Fighter IV, owners of the standard MadCatz FightStick are reporting several problems with the peripheral.

Reported on the Shoryuken.com forums (linked above), the various problems include the joystick itself sticking in certain positions and sticky buttons.

Other users are reporting that the controller may fail to register certain directions on the stick or certain button presses, with at least one user reporting that the stick stopped registering all inputs entirely.

Certain users have attributed the stuck joystick inputs to a metal washer that actually grinds away at the inner workings of the stick while in use.

In a statement to Joystiq, Mad Catz Global PR & Communications Manager, Alex Verrey, said, "There are no major problems with the Street Fighter range of products. Customers can buy with complete confidence."

"As with all complex precision-engineered products, there is always a chance that a tiny percentage of product may exhibit a fault," said Verrey, adding, "This is TOTALLY normal and not at all unexpected.

Usually this is due to circumstances beyond our control but this does NOT mean that there is any kind of inherent fault with the design or manufacture of the product." Verrey advises all customers who have encountered a problem to contact Mad Catz directly for a repair (visit http://madcatz.com/Default.asp?page=223 for Mad Catz warranty information).

For those that already have a standard FightStick, have you experienced similar problems?


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[Dreamcatcher]

As usual... Everything I owned from Mad Catz, always broke before its time....
Pure junk.
Glad I did'nt get one before the game comes out...

[hellospaceboy]

Never trusted Mad Catz peripherals, because I like beat em ups I was thinking of getting the arcade stick, but wont be now lol!

Theres another SF4 gaming stick coming out from GAME.com and its priced at £65.

[BigBlarg]

Is that thing really 70$US? It's a scam!

And yeah... all the Mad Catz stuff I bought broke quite fast... or wasn't working properly even when new.

[Veritech]

I hear you on that %100. There sub par products have mislead many, mostly parents onto many bad purchases. The joystick itself looks cool with its eye catching design which lures people in, but highly lacks in functionality. The stick itself is pretty much its downfall, excluding the recent report statements of actual problems with the product itself.

The stick they are using is a quite outdated design, resembling that of the clasic 70's/80's style joystick, lacking the performance needed for intense fast pace combat. Its second biggest flaw is that it is not a base driven layout like as arcade machines themselves. This in turn will lead to moving ot the unit while being used and become a major pain for gameplay unless mounted on a solid base.

It was a nice idea but for price compared to functionality, and development, it was definitely not the choice for me. I just feel bad for all the disappointed SF4 fans who will most likey be using there controllers over there expensive joysticks just collecting dust.

[darthi8nt]

This is good news indeed saved myself money there, but I wasn't going to buy it. Everything MAD CATZ has made is pure crap built poorly. I bought a dual PS3 charger stand from them and it broke after a week, it wasn't until I took it apart and rebuilt the insides myself then sealed the inside with an epoxy resin which worked out well. But shouldn't they have spent the extra dollar on epoxy instead of a hot glue gun.