Well, I finally caved and did it.  I bought a fight stick.  I have officially bid farewell to the fightpad.  This is a major move.  Things are going to change forever.  Gulp.

A few observations thus far:

1.  That GameStop 50% extra trade-in sale realy isn’t too shabby.  The stick itself (the Marvel vs. Capcom tournament edition) was hugely expensive at $140, but if you’ve been wanting to make the plunge and you’ve got a pile of games sitting around, consider heading over to your local GameStop.  The bonus trade-in credit brings the values to almost bearable and you should be able to take a monster chunk out of the asking price.

2.  Er, it’s not easy making the jump from pad to stick.   I played virtually all of my Street Fighter back in the day on home consoles, so didn’t get much practice with the arcade sticks.   If that’s you and you’re looking ot upgrade your fighting game peripherals, know this: there’s a steep learing curve.  I’m a Zangief guy and while it’s a lot easier to piledrive someone, I get harassed by quicker characters because I’m still working out button location and stick reaction.  Hopefully in a few weeks or so I’ll have committed much of this stuff to muscle memory.  They key is, I suppose, not to get frustrated.   Which isn’t easy when some Cammy player won’t leave you alone.

3.  The stick really is cool.  The tournament edition I scored is huge and weighty and responds well to my inputs.    Any lack of winning is completely on the user end.   

4.  I can not wait for Super Street Fighter IV.  I was wavering a bit here because I felt I had maxed out what I could do on the fightpad, but the stick offers new opportunities to raise my game.  Hopefully.  Anyway, look it’s Dudley!