Joystick Types

Competition - The Competition joystick is most common found joystick in united states arcades in the late eighties and early nineties.  It's a microswitch based joystick with a smooth 360 degree circular motion, meaning you can't feel any "corners" as you move it 360 degrees.

This joystick comes in 5 different colors: Black, Red, Blue, Green and Yellow.

Perfect 360 - The Perfect 360 from Happ Controls uses an optical sensor to sense which direction you are  moving the joystick rather than microswitches.  It's a very quiet and precise joystick with smooth 360 degrees of motion.  The only draw back with this joystick, besides the price, is it comes stock with a fairly tight spring making it tiresome to use for long periods for some people.  This joystick only comes in black.

Sanwa JLF - The Sanwa JLF Joystick offers quick response and a ball top.  This is the preferred joystick in Japan and many U.S. players have adopted this joystick because of it's precise movement and quick reaction time.  The default joystick comes with a square gate that really lets you know when you are at a diaganol.  The optional Octogon gate makes the joystick more fluid in a 360 degree motion.