Playstation 3 Real Arcade Pro. 3 Fighting Stick

by Hori

Product Features

• *Hi-end next generation arcade style controller.
• *Turbo (20times/sec) function can be set up on all buttons.
• *The 8 main buttonds are designed and placed on same layout as the arcades.
• *With toggle switch, the stick control can be directed to PS3 controller's directional pad, left stick, or right stick controls.
• *Recommended for fighting, action, shooting, FPS, and other games that are available through PlayStation Network.

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B001GDQRZM
• Product Dimensions: 17 x 6 x 10 inches ; 7 pounds
• Media: Accessory
• Release Date: December 29, 2008
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,562 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #12 in Video Games > PlayStation 3 > Hardware > Controllers > Joysticks
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

*Hi-end next generation arcade style controller. *Turbo (20times/sec) function can be set up on all buttons. *With toggle switch, the stick control can be directed to PS3 controller's directional pad, left stick, or right stick controls. *The 8 main buttonds are designed and placed on same layout as the arcades. *Recommended for fighting, action, shooting, FPS, and other games that are available through PlayStation Network.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

81 of 82 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best so far., February 17, 2009

By 

Matthew Warner (California, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Playstation 3 Real Arcade Pro. 3 Fighting Stick (Accessory)

For serious fighting game fans, a decent stick is a key part of your arsenal. However, the parts and construction generally used to make up consumer-grade sticks, especially in the US where Arcades are more or less dead, have almost universally been of sub-par quality when compared to the real thing you find attached to arcade cabinets.

This makes sense, of course. Arcade components are designed to withstand full-scale assaults every day all day; it's a safe assumption that something bought for home use isn't going to go through the kind of abuse you'd expect an arcade machine to go through. On top of that, constructing something out of industrial-strength arcade parts ain't cheap. Who's going to pay over $100 for a game controller?

Well, as it turns out, a lot of people. Left with no other solution, fighter fans who want the genuine article have traditionally turned to simply making their own sticks. You buy the parts from a japanese manufacturer like Sanwa or Seimitsu, plot out where the holes are going to go on a chunk of wood, and drill and solder and screw your way to perfection. This approach, however, is expensive, time consuming, and requires some level of expertise to pull off correctly.

The other approach was to wait for a Japanese company to produce one of their factory sticks (usually in extremely limited numbers), put them up for sale in Japan, and pay through the nose to import. While this was a lot easier than buying your own parts, you always wound up paying some kind of premium. $200+ was not uncommon to own one of these things.

We're at the point now, however, where the industry has gotten large enough that you can just up and buy these things on Amazon.com now. My sincere recommendation, if you're at all interested in owning a stick, is that you bite the bullet and shell out the money for a good one. Once you pass a certain threshold in quality with these sticks, you enter the realm of specialized consumer electronics that are made to specifications without regard to your average user.

The HRAP3 is one such stick. This thing is designed from the ground up with the assumption that the only people who are going to buy it are serious connoisseurs, so damn the price, let's make it properly.

If you're not a SERIOUS serious stick person and are just getting into the swing of things, here's all you need to know: This is one of the best high-end sticks money can buy, and it will last you a decade or more. These are extremely durable, very responsive, and have a very well-defined functionality about them that you won't get from cheaper products. Yeah, they're expensive, but honestly? You're getting your money's worth and that will become apparent the instant you use this stick. Buy it, be happy.

As an aside, this stick has a USB lead and will also work with your PC out of the box (just hold the HOME button for 5 straight seconds upon plugging it in). This is absolutely perfect for emulators like MAME, or any other PC game you wish to play with an arcade stick.

That out of the way...

Okay, let's assume you're a serious stick person. Here's a more in-depth rundown:

The stick itself is a Sanwa with a square gate, and the buttons are all Hori. This isn't bad, but the good news is that they're all attached with a quick-detach lead and can be popped loose with a screwdriver easily, no solder required. If you want to go the serious route and swap the buttons for Sanwa and the stick for Seimitsu, this stick will let you do it pretty easily. Google has many picture tutorials to do this.

I replaced the gate with a Sanwa Octagon (I like Sanwa sticks but a lot of people prefer Seimitsu) and all the buttons with Sanwa. It took about 10 minutes and was completely painless.

If you do this, you have a stick that is officially on par with the Street Fighter IV TE stick (also made with all Sanwa parts) and the special import-only editions of the HRAP, but it is much cheaper to buy this one and do a little surgery than buy the factory-stock ones that come with Sanwa. This is a lovely medium ground between building your own and buying a factory made one; you get some level of customization, you're saving a little money, and you're still getting full-on arcade quality. Go for it.

I hope this review helped!

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stick with Hori..., December 29, 2008

By 

Gaijin "on the rock that spews lava.." (Hilo, HI United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Playstation 3 Real Arcade Pro. 3 Fighting Stick (Accessory)

Street Fighter II HD Remix, and Street Fighter IV have fueled the fire for fighting games again and people are once again looking for a good quality stick. For the money, you can't beat this stick. All of you searching for an arcade quality joystick without breaking the bank can look here. The Hori Real Arcade Pros were easily over $120 in Japan so this is a bargain. It uses a Sanwa joystick which is one of the best if not the best quality joystick around. It uses buttons which are made by Hori which are a tad spongy to me, but the beauty of this stick id that you can easily swap them out for Sanwa or Seimetsu buttons if you want a true arcade unit in your home. Sanwas can take millions of presses.

For the average person, this stick will be more than fine, for the hardcore fighter, this stick will serve as a base for upgrading. Being a Japan stick, you get the ball type stick rather than the typical US baseball bat. WHen I first tried the ball type years ago, I didn't like it. Then I got used to it and it offers a bit more speed and control when playing fighters. I refuse to use anything but the ball type now. Buttons are arranged in the Japan curved arcade cabinet style which again, I prefer now compared to the straight button layout. Add turbo functions for shmups and you've got yourself a fine stick for the price. I personally also have the Sega Virtua Stick High Grades (available only through Japan imported) and those are all Sanwa with a 6 instead of 8 button layout. SImply the best. Second is the Hori here, and about $50 cheaper.

THose looking at the upcoming Street Fighter IV Mad Catz ones...I'm a little weary as Mad Catz doesn't exactly scream quality but supposedly they are all Sanwa Parts as well. I'd hold off until they are out. That and they are sixty dollars more than this. Avoid the cheaper SF IV ones, those are not made with arcade parts and your stick will most likely fail at some point.

Pros:
Curved button layout
Sanwa Japan style ball stick and convex style buttons
Hori quality
Upgradeable buttons
Price

Cons:
Hori Buttons (not a bad thing except for the most hardcore)
Limited availability

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My first Arcade Stick!, January 10, 2009

By 

Christopher J. Ramos "AgentOtaku" (Ramstein AB, GER) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Playstation 3 Real Arcade Pro. 3 Fighting Stick (Accessory)

So Hori has finally made the Real Arcade Pro 3 available stateside, so no more costly importing!

Believe it or not, this is my first real Arcade Stick. I'm 25 years old and am just now getting into fighters properly. Street Fighter IV was a factor but It's also a genre I've always wanted to get into but never had enough confidence with my skill level nor had the neccessary tools.
So I've finally started to commit myself to develop the skill and understanding the rules for different titles as well as purchasing said tools!
This Arcade Stick is highly regarded for it's build and quality. True as others have stated, it doesn't have the infamous Sanwa Buttons that the special Japan Amazon Edition had or the upcoming (now sold out) SFIV Tournament Stick have, but this is irrelevant at this point to me. I'm just learning and the buttons here are more than good enough.
As listed, it's is USB corded (not wireless), which is about 10ft in length. It's fine for my household though I had to buy an additional USB extension cord for like $3 as I sit about 13ft away from my Tele.
The great thing about it is that it double as a PC stick, so you MAME enthusiasts out there are good to go! I've gone back and started playing the Street Fighter Alpha series as well as SFIII: 3rd Strike. Not to mention it's fun to go and play around with ol' Neo Geo classics like Metal Slug (it's got a turbo function), KoF, Samurai Showdown, etc...
Whether it's in your lap or sitting on a counter or table, it's fantastic and comes highly recommended!