5 Reasons to Use a Stick Over a Pad

In preparation for the much-anticipated release of Street Fighter IV, I figured I'd outline some reasons why you should be using a joystick instead of a game pad when you're playing it.

1) Speed

I don't care how fast your thumbs are; you're never gonna be able to do a full 360 degree motion as fast as you can swiveling a joystick. Also makes the dreaded tiger knee motion much easier to do consistently.

2) Multiple button presses

The buttons on most game pads leave a lot to be desired. They're too stiff, and they take too much time to fully compress and register inputs. This isn't so much of a problem when it's just one press, but when you need to press 3 at the same time, it can become a giant pain trying to make sure they all go down at the same time -- especially if your game pad isn't a 6-button one. Good joysticks will have buttons that register instantly with even the slightest compression. Piano/drum, kara and negative-edge techniques are also much easier to do.

3) Partitioning

Ever tried to dash forward while holding down on a pad? Not the easiest thing to do unless you have some kind of alien thumb.

4) Precision

A good Japanese-style stick will only require small circular motions for inputting moves and is much more precise than a pad can be, since there's a larger range of motion available.

5) You'll be ready for the Arcade

Arcades are a dying breed outside of Japan, and most North American tournaments are held on consoles these days, but it's still nice to be able to walk into a game center and actually be able to play properly. It's not like you can lug your pad around with you and hook it up to the machines. It's also handy if you ever get good enough that somebody wants to fly you to Japan to compete.