Reddit mentions of PS4 Real Arcade Pro 4 Kai

Sure but then your total cost would be around 100-110gbp when a proper stick costs the same or less:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/PS4-Real-Arcade-Pro-Kai/dp/B00RZ7T8N6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1536613381&sr=8-2&keywords=hori+pro

https://www.amazon.co.uk/HORI-Arcade-Hayabusa-Fight-Stick/dp/B07895D3XF/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1536613381&sr=8-3&keywords=hori+pro

I use the Pro N and it's great.

"Beginner" myself, learning on this

Hori Real Arcade Pro 4 Kai

edit: oops, missed the note about xbox1 (I guess this would be the equivalent?)

The Hori Real Arcade Pro 4 Kai was £80 on Amazon recently and is currently £90.

Amazon has this up

Damn good, especially for the price. If you REALLY want Sanwa or Seimitsu parts (though Hori's own aren't terrible by any means) it's a 5 minute swap job.

It does work on PC as well as PS3/4.

The only thing it's missing, in fact, is a headphone port, but that's not massive.

I don't live in the UK but a quick search turned this up:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00RZ7T8N6/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&psc=1

A RAP 4 Kai for 88.92 pounds including free shipping to UK. Wouldn't this be better? Literally a better stick for the same price.

Also my thoughts are that unless you're looking for some very specific modifications that even better off-the-shelf sticks (Rap 4 Kai, Razer Panthera, Qanba Obsidian etc) don't come with, modding a stick overall doesn't seem to be worth it. Most of the money you save from the initial price difference is re-invested into the modding process, and what little left of the remaining savings doesn't seem to be worth the extra effort and time needed to learn and complete the modding process. Not to mention the fact that cheaper fightsticks often feature lower quality casings as well.

Think about it this way: good fightsticks are already so expensive for the average gamer so like any other manufacturer of products, they'd want to strike a good balance between profits for themselves and affordability for consumers in other to increase the Return-On-Investment for their IP (which is essentially coming up with the design of the fightsticks).

If it was economically feasible to sell it for that much cheaper, they'd have done it already.

The new models of the Hori RAP 4 Kai should all have Hayabusa stick & Hayabusa buttons with their updated PCBs which has an XInput mode in addition to PS3/PS4 mode and reduced input lag. I ordered one off Amazon last week and it's all there.

Personally I prefer the Hayabusa lever + buttons to Sanwas. The stick movements feel smoother to me than my Sanwa sticks, the difference in resistance is noticeable and I find it easier to instant air dash and whatnot.

The Hayabusa buttons have noticeably shorter travel distance compared to the Sanwas, it's kinda like comparing Cherry Red MX to Speed switches.

I also very much like that the stick + buttons are slightly further spaced from each other, it makes the whole experience feel less cramped.

Looking at the listing on https://www.amazon.de/Real-Arcade-Pro-Kai-PlayStation/dp/B00RZ7T8N6/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1526897111&sr=1-1&keywords=hori+4+kai - it looks identical to the listing on the UK site (notice how on the last 3 pictures the stick has a little grey strip along the right hand side with a legend of what buttons are under that right hand side ledge, my RAP 4 Kai has this and is the updated model!).

I'd pull the trigger on a RAP 4 Kai, if you got a PS3/PS4/PC switch & matte finish buttons you're good to go.

In regards to warranty - https://www.engadget.com/2018/04/11/ftc-warranty-warning/ I thought it was illegal for companies to refuse warranty because of stickers?

Edit - Forgot to mention the gate:

I would say stick with stock parts as long as you can before trying out things like different gates, be patient with getting used to the controller. Building muscle memory will take time!

I remember when I first started out I tried all sorts of nonsense like stiffer springs, octo gates, bigger actuators, hitbox etc. but in the end I wound up on a stock RAP 4 Kai and all I really needed to do was find a comfortable setup and git gud.

On the plus side I can now switch between pad/stick/hitbox/keyboard at will and it'll take only a few minutes to get combos down haha. I'm still tempted by the hitbox dark side but for now unless I can get a specific style of custom hitbox made I'll probably just use this stick now.

I don't have much expercience with fight sticks either but I have bought this one just for Tekken 7 (and because playing with a pad for a while hurts my hands a lot). The fight stick got a really good reputation and it's also compatible with PC if you plan to get T7 on Steam. I also made this thread a few weeks ago where I asked for fighting stick recommendations. Hopefully it will help you with your decision :)

i've heard nothing but good things about the hori real arcade pro 4 kai (EU139.39) (link below).
i did the same and learned with a hori fight stick mini which was an awesome experience, although awkward to get used to the position at first, still using it to this day but got a pro 4 kai on the way.
the mini fight stick did require some 3rd party software (joy2key) to run, but very easy to set up, and very responsive.

hope this helps!

hori fight stick mini
https://www.amazon.de/PS4-Fighting-Stick-Mini-PlayStation/dp/B019MMN94A/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1492436675&sr=1-1&keywords=hori+mini

hori real arcade pro 4 kai:
https://www.amazon.de/Real-Arcade-Pro-Kai-PlayStation/dp/B00RZ7T8N6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492436488&sr=8-1&keywords=hori+pro+4+kai

what platform? there's no reason to go custom or spend a grip on your first stick.

buy used - check CL or ebay or the trading subforum that /u/narcowski linked
or get this hori stick. i have one it's fine. - https://www.amazon.co.uk/PS4-Real-Arcade-Pro-Kai/dp/B00RZ7T8N6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492739825&sr=8-1&keywords=hori+rap+4

I used a MCZ SE for most of SF4 so upgraded to a Hori RAP4 for SFV, I love it, no issues so far, works great on PS4 and PC, parts are good (though I replaced the hayabusa joystick with a sanwa due to preference) and it's a reasonable price compared to the TEs.

Just a warning though, it has less room below the buttons for your hands, I personally like this, but for people who have used TEs it might seem restrictive

I bought HRAP 4 Kai and I don't see myself switching anytime soon (it's considered low-mid range price, there are also more expensive). It was on discount on amazon.fr only 2 days ago for 99 euros.

Arcade world uk sell decent sticks and parts, generally Qanba are a pretty good way to go. There's a good deal on the Q4 which is a a little over budget but honestly its not a bad deal for a new stick.

Here's a Qanba if you're only looking to use it only on pc Be careful as it doesn't use Sanwa or Seimitsu parts, so the reliability of the controls may be a cause for concern.

Here's a Hori stick thats a little over budget but very much will suffice. Just be sure to use it in PS3 mode if you're on PC.

Otherwise look on ebay for second hand sticks, look for Hori and some Madcatz TEs.

If you're just getting into it there's a few budget minded sticks that you can go for like the fightstick alpha or the Hori mini. I wouldn't recommend them if you really want to get into fighting games, but if you get the for under £40 its not a bad thing to invest in to see if you're interested.

Is this a good choice for a first fight stick?

I heard it's high end and has a price reduction in Europe so it's very manageable for me.

Weirdly enough the mayflash was in the list when I searched that. Though on that list is this which I might go for

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00RZ7T8N6/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1504276102&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=hori+real+arcade+pro+4+kai+for+playstation+4+playstation+3+and+pc&dpPl=1&dpID=51rmo6JK49L&ref=plSrch

Also there is a 30€ reduction (120 instead of 150) in Europe :
https://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B00RZ7T8N6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Alright based on your answers and the stuff available on amazon.co.uk my suggestions would be:

1. Venom Official PS4 FightStick
   It is cheap (65£, free delivery), but unlike the HORI Fightstick Mini, or the MadCatz Fightstick Alpha it has the size of a proper fightstick (though it is on the smaller side of things when compared to behemoths like the Razer Panthera, or the QanBa Dragon), actually it being a bit smaller makes it a good travel stick to take to offline events with you. It also is build like a tank. It weights at least 2kg, and is made out of thick plastic and metal, so you don't have to worry if you drop it once or twice by accident, or vent your anger over that stupid DP-mashing Ken in Ranked. Also because it is so sturdy it sits very well on your lap or the table (it practically doesn't move no matter how much you are churning the butter as Zangief). It is also lends itself very well to customization. All you have to do is unscrew the bottom plate and you have access to all the parts inside of it and you also can take off the plexi on top of it really easily as it is only held in place by six magnets (imo, changing the artwork on a Venom is as easy as it can get, unlike some other pricier fightsticks, I'm looking at you Razer Panthera).
   The only negative aspect of this stick are the actual parts used in it. The stick-unit itself is actually halfway decent, a little bit more stiff than a Sanwa JLF unit (the most commonly used for playing FGs), but it is still good, especially for beginners. The buttons on the other hand are quite bad, they are ok for your first couple of weeks or months learning to play on a stick, but afterwards you probably want to replace them with genuine Sanwa, Seimitsu, or HORI parts (which, as explained above, is pretty easy and doesn't take any soldering whatsoever). So in the end you get a brilliant beginner stick, that will last you for ages, is really good for traveling with and customizing. The only downside is, that you will probably have to spend another ~16-40£ on genuine Sanwa parts down the line (making the whole stick cost somewhere between 82£ and 105£ after modding it).
   
   
2. HORI RAP 4 KAI
   Now this is where we get into the realm of sticks aimed at enthusiasts and serious players. At 91.71£ the RAP 4 Kai is probably your cheapest option to get a really good, brand new stick where you will have to do little to nothing to get the best experience out of it. It is build very sturdily, except for the cable-compartment cover, which a lot of people claim to be very flimsy on all HORI sticks. Though, I think most of these people are just morons who don't know how to handle their belongings with proper care, as I haven't managed to break the cover on my HORI RAP 5 that I used while staying in Japan, despite using it pretty much every day and taking it to several offline events with me. It has HORI's own Hayabusa Stick and depending on the model, KURO or Hayabusa buttons. They are very good hardware, though some people still prefer to to mod their stick with Sanwa parts, but I honestly think that is just down to preference as both HORI and Sanwa parts preform exceptionally well (FYI most of the arcade cabinets in Japan's Taito-station chain of arcades use Hayabusa Sticks and Kuro buttons right now, instead of Sanwa JLF sticks and OBSF buttons). If you do want to change the parts of the stick the procedure to do so is pretty much the same as with the Venom, though, you won't be able to customize the artwork on the RAP 4 Kai as easily because it actually does not have a plexi-cover on its top side at all, instead the artwork is a sticker glued onto the actual case. Overall this is you safest bet at getting a complete, top-level fightstick in the UK. The models I mention next are pretty much overpriced versions of the Kai with some quality of life improvements aimed at people who are really into fighting games and are ok with spending a lot of money on their stick.
   
   
3. Razer Panthera/HORI Premium VLX
   Both of these sticks are great. Both of them have genuine arcade parts in them (Panthera has Sanwa parts, VLX has HORI Hayabusa/Kuro parts). Both of them are really great when it comes to customizing/maintenance. Just flip open the top-part of the stick and you get to the insides without even unscrewing things. Both of them are also build like absolute tanks. Sturdy plastic, really heavy. But, both of them are terrible when it comes to customizing your stick with custom artwork and both are insanely overpriced (199.99£ for the Panthera and 259.99£ for the VLX), so if you do not think that you are in for the long haul with fighting games, don't waste your money on things that are just marginally better than the two recommendations mentioned before but cost twice or even four times as much.
   
   With that being said I do want to warn you. Getting a fight-stick after playing for some time with a pad is a commitment to relearning a lot of the things you have learned thus far with little to no benefit when it comes to comfort, in some cases even a decrease in comfort (dashing on a stick is mostly considered to be more strenuous and doing advanced movements like Korean backdashing in 3D fighting games is a nightmare on stick compared to pad). At this point in time fighting games are usually created with pad players in mind so the controls on a pad are usually laid out in a very ergonomic way (and if they still don't fit you, you can remap buttons easily to fit your preference). These days using a stick does not really have any tangible benefits to using a pad, other than it looks cooler and is considered by some to be the "true way of playing fighting games". This can be proven easily by looking at the top SFV players right now, out of the current Top 32 players in CPT eight use a pad to play and two of them are currently ranked 1st and 3rd respectively on the global leader-board (though, Punk does use stick from time to time).

I got this instead.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Real-Arcade-Pro-Kai-PS4/dp/B00RZ7T8N6

Yes the pcb tend to be faulty at some point. Mine still good after 1 year+. There is no rma with mad catz.

But for this price you can still replace the dead pcb with a brook or w/e else and it's still a good deal tbh.

Or you can maybe try to get the Hori Arcade Pro 4 Kai
It's cheaper but no sanwa and still a great stick

The panthera is 180+ £ and don't seem to be found on amazon.uk

But for me the tier list would be :

Razer panthera; Quanba obsidian; TE2+ and then Hori

I got one of these compatible with PS3, PS4 and PC and at a good price.

Thanks ill look into it, what about this? https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00RZ7T8N6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_fFCZDb9MBCYRF .Is that a good stick?

That stick looks almost identical to my first stick, and here's the best way to look at it;

Are you wanting a stick to see if you like/want to use arcade sticks over controllers? Not a bad deal

Are you wanting a stick to actually play stuff with? This stick is trash (the parts are so cheap that it'll break within weeks, not to mention no weight to it so it'll slide around constantly). If you end up liking how a stick feels and plays, you'll pretty quickly wish you had a better one.

The cheapest stick out there that's solid for the long term would be the HORI RAP 4. It's a great stick that I used for a long while, and would still be using if I didn't want a heavier stick and grabbed the Madcatz TE2 stick.

If you wanted a Hori RAP 4 Kai, it's ~ $210 aud including shipping off amazon uk, pretty cheap considering EB sells it for $237

https://www.amazon.co.uk/PS4-Real-Arcade-Pro-Kai/dp/B00RZ7T8N6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501512185&sr=8-1&keywords=Hori+rap

You can also grab a razer panthera for ~ $280 on ebay using discount code 'PLAYER' which provides 20% off ($70); also use cashrewards for an additional $5 off.

However, this offer expires on the 31st.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Razer-Panthera-Fight-Stick-PS4-PS3-PC-PS4-/292159685386?epid=721232054&hash=item440613030a:g:LbIAAOSwjvJZS4Xc

thanks for the replys, I`ll think i go for a stick because i dont have any controller skills anyway. Thanks for the help, what about this stick? http://www.amazon.fr/Manette-Arcade-Real-Fighting-Stick/dp/B00RZ7T8N6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1457362167&sr=8-1&keywords=fightstick or should I wait till SF5 support Directinput?

its realy hard to find xinput fightsticks here in Germany and if I order one in USA/Japan the fees are really high.
Edit: Iam very sorry about my bad english

The Venom posted below is alright if you're not sure, but most people will tell you to upgrade to Sanwa parts anyway, which creates a false economy. Unfortunately, in the UK we're actually pretty limited in terms of fight sticks available for purchase (for reasonable amounts of money).

I bought my RAP4 for about £120 and it's got a decent amount of heft, so it won't shift around like a Mayflash. Adjusting from pad to stick took a bit of getting used to (you'll get worse before you get better!) but it does save a lot of strain on your thumbs and IMO certain actions become way easier to pull off.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/PS4-Real-Arcade-Pro-Kai-x/dp/B00RZ7T8N6/

As far as the other discussion of Sanwa vs Hori goes, I wouldn't worry about it at this point. I've used both and prefer Hori, but I can't say that my performance would be affected if I had to play on anything else.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/HORI-Arcade-Hayabusa-Fight-Stick/dp/B07895D3XF/

This is pretty much the same thing as the RAP4, but I think the layout is *slightly different. Around about the same on Amazon Prime though.

Well, at that budget, you have two options: Either get the F500, or get a Brook Converter, either XB1 to PS4 or PS3/PS4 to XB1.

The F500 would require that you plug in a controller whenever you're using it. The Brook Converter would let you buy a higher quality stick like a Mad Catz TES+ or Hori RAP 4 Kai instead and not have to worry about the parts being low quality or dying on you.

In this subreddit, you're probably going to get people telling you to save up and buy a custom enclosure with a Brook UFB instead, but that route has costs in the 200€+ range easily.

The HORI RAP 4 is a solid choice.

If you really want to go cheap the HORI Mini works well enough. If you stick with fightticks you will almost certainly replace it, which I did with the RAP 4. That said, the Mini still serves as my spare if anyone is over.

I think everyone's pretty united on this: you don't need a stick to be good at fighting games or to get the whole experience. I'm a kb/m guy who's been playing PC for over 20 years so controllers feel weird to me. I got a stick the day after I picked up SFV and decided to get serious about it. No handheld controller was going to work for me. I also remember having issues with blisters on my thumb and the like that I didn't want to get into again (this was back in Alpha 3). Hence the choice for a stick.

The first stick I got was this one:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00NOAWLBE/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I don't know where you're from but either this brand (Mayflash) or an equivalent will be available. It's moddable, easily, and the construction is very good. Quality stuff. Art is replaceable as the plexiglass top is only held in by some magnets. This thing was built as an awesome first stick with great customization options. The alternative one is this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Official-PlayStation-Licensed-8-Button-Arcade/dp/B00NHDSINS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468837173&sr=8-1&keywords=licensed+stick

They're the same thing but I don't know if the bottom one works on PC. The Mayflash one definitely does. Same chassis, much the same internals but compatibility might be slightly different.

I have since moved on to a Hori RAP4 Kai:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00RZ7T8N6/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Again, using that on PC with no issues. Just need to drop x360ce into the SFV folder and run it once to detect the stick. Works like a dream from that point forward. If I ever buy a PS4 I know it'll work fine as well.

Hope this was helpful :)

This is what I use https://www.amazon.co.uk/PS4-Real-Arcade-Pro-Kai/dp/B00RZ7T8N6/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=hori+rap+4&qid=1556421599&s=gateway&sr=8-1

I've had it for about a year and half and it's working as good as the day I got it. Pretty solid stick if you want a nice one but don't want to regret it later haha

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I will say that,minus Falke seeing requires remapping for a pad,nobody really needs a stick.