Originally set to launch on August 6.

Edit: "Update: We wanted to share an update on the launch timing for FlexStrike wireless fight stick. Due to unexpected production delays, FlexStrike wireless fight stick will launch at a later date. We will share an update soon.

We’re working to ensure we deliver the best possible experience to our players with FlexStrike, so we’re taking extra time to put the finishing touches on the product. We apologize for this delay and look forward to bringing the FlexStrike experience to the community when it launches.

Players who have pre-ordered FlexStrike wireless fight stick from direct.playstation.com can check their order status through the website and will receive communications regarding their order. Players who pre-ordered through another retailer should look for updates directly from that retailer or contact them with any questions."

Specifically other 2D platformers/side scrollers? Besides fighting games I’ve been trying to use mine to play a bunch of 2D-ish metroidvania games like Ninja Gaiden Ragebound, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, Streets of Rage 4, Hollow Knight/Silksong etc and most recently Blazblue Entropy Effect and Slash Zero. Typical genre of games you’d find at the arcade but with a modern twist. And while I’ve found some success, I find the controls for most of them quite clunky to grasp initially. Is this just a case of these games not being designed with this control input in mind or should I just get good? I’ve tried them with controller and they’re obviously played better with controller or MnK. But I’ve also been wondering if I’m just making things difficult for myself unnecessarily or if you guys also use your arcade sticks for other genres.

I was 6 years old when I was introduced to video games. My older cousins took me to a little basement arcade with coin operated machines. I still have vivid memory of playing Street Fighter 2 at the local arcade where I would spend the day. (I grew up in Asia and later moved to North America).

Even though I went though countless home consoles growing up, my love for the Arcade never died out. The arcades unfortunately did.

FGC made a huge come back in the last decade and with it the surge of beautiful fight sticks and tons of communities around it. I would love looking at all the modded tech on Shoryuken and now here.

But it seems just like the Arcades, the fight stick is now a dying breed. The ones that kept it alive are all switching to lever-less and this make me sad.

I am however proud that I have been able to pass my love of FGC and fight sticks on to my 3 kids.

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Does any company make a controller with leverless style buttons on the d pad side and normal gamepad buttons and grip on the right side?

Yearly tradition at this point. It's EVO season so it's time to see which controllers were used for Top 8s at EVO 2025!

2019 List -https://www.reddit.com/r/fightsticks/comments/cmib8i/the_fightsticks_used_for_top_8s_at_evo_2019/

2022 List - https://www.reddit.com/r/fightsticks/comments/wjal01/the_controllers_used_for_top_8s_at_evo_2022/

2023 List - https://www.reddit.com/r/fightsticks/comments/15kbr9o/the_controllers_used_for_top_6s_at_evo_2023/

2024 List - https://www.reddit.com/r/fightsticks/comments/1e95w42/the_controllers_used_for_top_6s_at_evo_2024/

2020/2021 weren't tracked due to COVID and being online only.

Most of this list should be correct, however if you do see an error then please comment so I can fix it. There might be some errors with pads and stickless controllers.

PLEASE NOTE FOR PS5 DUALSENSE, a lot of them might be the "Edge" version of the controller. It's pretty hard to tell with the limited angles. For simplicity sake I'll just leave them as PS5 DualSense. If you really want to know if it's the Edge or not then please message the player or try to look at the videos and see for yourself. Same thing if these controllers were modded by companies like BattleBeaver or if an arcade stick/stickless controller was modded with different buttons, stick, PCB etc. The player using them will know more than I do.

Results: 34 Different Controllers Used

Game Pads

PS5 DualSense: 10

Hori Fighting Commander Octa: 4

PS4 Controller: 2

Victrix BFG: 2

Hori Wireless Commander Octa Pro: 1

Arcade Sticks

ASI VM6R: 5

Qanba Obsidian 2: 5

Razer Panthera: 4

PunkWorkshop Fightstick (PKB): 4

Qanba Obsidian: 2

Hori RAPN: 1

Qanba Pearl: 1

Hori Rap V3 Kai: 1

ArcadeShock Traveler (Stick Layout): 1

Mad Catz TE: 1

Mad Catz TE2+: 1

Street Fighter 15th Anniversary Arcade Stick: 1

Sega Virtual Stick High Grade (Astro City Mini Arcade Stick Version): 1

Vetash32 Model V (Stick Layout): 1

Sanwa MoNo Arcade Stick: 1

Nacon Daija: 1

Hori Fighting Alpha: 1

Stickless

PunkWorkshop Leverless M: 2

Razer Kitsune: 1

Haute42 M16 Plus: 1

Mavercade KeebFighter-02: 1

Mayflash F700 Flat: 1

AllFightSticks 16" Stickless: 1

AllFightSticks 14" Stickless: 1

Victrix Pro KO: 1

Hori RAPN (Stickless Panel): 1

IST Mall Makestick Pro (Keyboard Layout): 1

Zenaim Stickless: 1

Qanba Sapphire: 1

Most Winning Controller: PS5 DualSense (3)

Most Popular Game Pad: PS5 DualSense (10)

Most Popular Arcade Stick: ASI VM6R (5) & Qanba Obsidian 2 (5)

Most Popular Stickless Controller: PunkWorkshop Leverless M (2)

Fun Facts:

Mortal Kombat's streak of only pads being used in top 8s is over! MichaelCeraFan used a stickless controller.

Marvel vs Capcom 2 is the only top 8 (in the main game line up) to only use arcade sticks.

Each of the big three controller styles (arcade stick, pad, stickless) won an EVO this year.

This year was the most diverse in controller selection, over 30! Runner up was in 2023 with 29.

Some notable controller absents - Hitbox, JFA Snackbox Micro, Victrix Pro FS (both stick and stickless).

32 Arcade Sticks Used

19 Game Pads Used

13 Stickless Used

As showcased time after time, there is still plenty of success from each controller style. Don't think you have to use a certain controller to have success in fighting games. Use whichever controller you're most comfortable with.

With that being said, here's the results and what controller they used.

Mortal Kombat 1 (7 Pads, 1 Stickless)

1.) SonicFox - PS5 Dualsense

2.) Nicolas - PS5 Dualsense

3.) Kanimani - PS5 Dualsense

4.) Hourglass_of_rain - PS5 Dualsense

5.) MkJavierMk - PS5 Dualsense

5.) Onlinecale213 - PS5 Dualsense

7.) MichaelCeraFan - Razer Kitsune

7.) Grr - PS5 Dualsense

Under Night In-Birth II [Sys:Celes] (4 Stickless, 2 Pads, 2 Arcade Sticks)

1.) Defiant - Hori RAPN (Stickless Panel)

2.) BigBlack - PS4 Controller

3.) Knotts - Mayflash F700 Flat

4.) Mario - ASI VM6R (S30)

5.) Suteneko - Hori Rap V3 Kai

5.) Revert - Hori Fighting Commander Octa

7.) OmniDeag - AllFightSticks Stickless (16"?)

7.) Senaru - PunkWorkshop Leverless M (Type B)

Marvel vs Capcom 2 (8 Arcade Sticks)

1.) Khaos - ArcadeShock Traveler (Stick Layout)

2.) Vigga - Qanba Obisidan Pearl

3.) Servbot - Street Fighter 15th Anniversary Arcade Stick

4.) ComboFiend - Sega Virtual Stick High Grade (Astro City Mini Arcade Stick Version)

5.) PeruChamp - Razer Panthera (DBZ Edition)

5.) Clockw0rk - Mad Catz TE

7.) GConcepts - Razer Panthera

7.) Telly - Nacon Daija

Grandblue Fantasy Versus: Rising (4 Pads, 2 Stickless, 2 Arcade Sticks)

1.) Kojicoco - Hori Fighting Commander Octa

2.) Zane - AllFightsticks Stickless (14"?)

3.) Tororo - PunkWorkshop Leverless M (Type D)

4.) Fukunaga - Qanba Obsidian 2

5.) Zenith - Qanba Obsidian

5.) Monarch - PS5 DualSense

7.) Vermillion - Victrix Pro BFG (?)

7.) Ryazo - Hori Fighting Commander Octa (?)

Guilty Gear Strive (3 Arcade Sticks, 3 Stickless, 2 Pads)

1.) Kshuewhatdamoo - PS5 DualSense

2.) RedDitto - PS4 Controller

3.) Aboii - Victrix Pro KO

4.) Tatuma - Qanba Obsidian

5.) Jack - Haute42 M16 Plus (?)

5.) Daru_I-No - PunkWorkshop Fightstick (PKB)

7.) Percho - Mavercade KeebFighter-02

7.) Verix - Hori Fighting Alpha

Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves (7 Arcade Sticks, 1 Pad)

1.) G01 - PunkWorkshop Fightstick (PKB)

2.) ET - Vetash32 Model V (Stick Layout)

3.) fenritti - PunkWorkshop Fightstick (PKB)

4.) Poongko - Mad Catz TE2+

5.) KojiKOG - Hori Fighting Commander Octa

5.) Laggia9 - Sanwa MoNo Arcade Stick

7.) Kubo - Razer Panthera

7.) Xian - PunkWorkshop Fightstick (PKB)

Tekken 8 (7 Arcade Sticks, 1 Pad)

1.) Arslan Ash - Qanba Obsidian 2

2.) ATIF - Qanba Obsidian 2

3.) Chikurin - Hori Wireless Commander Octa Pro (Connected via wire)

4.) Mulgold - ASI VM6R (LH)

5.) LowHigh - ASI VM6R (LH)

5.) Nobi - ASI VM6R (S30)

7.) Meo-IL - ASI VM6R (Stick, but unsure on layout)

7.) JDCR - Qanba Obsidian 2

Street Fighter 6 (3 Arcade Sticks, 3 Stickless, 2 Pads)

1.) MenaRD - PS5 DualSense

2.) Kakeru - Zenaim Stickless (?)

3.) Micky - Qanba Sapphire

4.) Phenom - Victrix BFG

5.) Fuudo - Razer Panthera

5.) Xiaohai - Qanba Obsidian 2

7.) AngryBird - Hori RAP N (SC6 Edition)

7.) Leshar - IST Mall Makestick Pro (Keyboard Layout)

after some time now when i first bought a leverless and i upgraded the buttons to qanba gravity and it felt great and fun when playing tekken but when i got my first fight stick the qanba q4raf and upgraded the stick to a crown 302 i liked it more than the leverless. now the leverless is just collecting dust atm i use it from time to time but it doesn’t feel rewarding. i let my friends use it but when we all play together i always go to my fight stick the feel on the fightstick is just different idk if i should keep it for the collection or sell it to one of my friends one of them is considering buying it but not right now. but yeah mixed feelings

Don't let that stop you from using your favorite controller type! I got these wrist wraps for like 8 bucks and they help a lot. I oddly get pain in my right hand and not the one using the stick.

I forgot that sweat can corrode metal but I didn't realize it was this bad. I was cleaning my pad when I realized something was on the tissue paper. It was a gray type of colour. I guess I should've cleaned better after the sweaty session.

Im getting arm pain in my left hand playing street fighter 6. I think its because of my ring finger having to move much more than i usually move it around, i get arm and finger pain after pretty short play sessions. Is this something that will get better with time or should i be doing some kind of hand excersizes so i dont get a messed up arm and/or hand.

$57 for this brand new is a no brainer. Get it while you can.

Didn't go for vinyl cover, kinda went for a slap effects. Because I got the purple one I was going to go bison vibes but already have a bison stick. So joker it is.

Added qannba Gravity's

But also added WASD set up to try.

FYI - i know 8bitdo will likely not see this but if it happens to cross their gaze then all the better.

Of all the fightpads available currently, the 8bitdo M30 Xbox version comes the closest to being the definitive best fightpad on the market. It's so damn close to perfection that it irks me.

It has everything you want -

1) Responsive Saturn-style dpad with a light 'bump' on the cardinal directions where you can really feel if you've nailed your motion input ore not.

2) 6 face buttons and 4 bumpers that all can be re-mapped in their software.

3) A physical switch on the back of the controller that changes the dpad functionality to act as the dpad or the left stick. There's also another switch that changes the button layout of the bumpers so that they act as either LB/LT/RB/RT or L3/R3/LB/LT.

4) An on-the-fly profile switcher along with all the conveniences of a standard xbox controller including a headphone jack.

8bitdo - I realize that the purpose of this controller was more or less to emulate a sega saturn gamepad. However, if you made it slightly larger, added handles to the sides, made all the face buttons the same size and made the bumpers larger this would be an endgame fightpad. Hori has been dropping the ball with their attempts and there's very few other alternatives.

OP: https://xcancel.com/nyanpi55/status/2085306271767613683#m

Just a thought I had of a small fightstick (talking like HORI Fighting Stick Mini here) with a phone mount that can be swiveled horizontally (fighting games, beat em ups, etc) and vertically (bullet hells, classic Namco games, etc.)

Seriously, I don't understand what the designers were thinking.

I recently upgraded from a Haute42 model to the Sapphire. I want a more substantial, "premium" leverless that has a few more buttons, is still relatively slim, and most importantly has replaceable art.

I just don't get all the decisions they made.

• The stick has an acrylic top for art, but an ugly black border you can't remove, cutting any art up???
• You can reprogram buttons, but the original button mappings are painted onto the acrylic, so if you change them, you'll always have incorrect layout???
• You can't use the side LEDs and button LEDs at the same time???
• You can't map two buttons to the same control without a firmware update, so you can't even use both "up" buttons originally???
• If you use the button-caps on a button you don't want, you can't change the controls since it continuously pushes that button down???
• You can't change the colors of the button LEDs, despite them being able to be changed if you flash it with the Juri firmware???

Seriously. I want to love this stick, I got it for cheap on eBay but... ughhh, I'm very frustrated.

What's the best premium leverless with: - Acrylic Art Top (I don't want to do a sticker) - Extra Buttons - Slim Profile

EDIT: Okay, I know downvotes don't matter, but I don't understand why I'm being downvoted in the comments here. Is the Sapphire that popular? Is Haute42 that beloved?

I’d like to start making custom artwork for fightsticks/hitboxes. Is there a specific place where people usually look for this kind of work, or do most people who customize just find artists through general illustration subs (or even Google Images in some cases)?

I’ve always seen hitboxes with really cool designs/artworks, and I’d love to see someone using a custom piece made by me.

I've been using a fight stick for a month, and I'm at the point now where I can't ever go back to pad controller because I'm playing so much better (and my thumb doesn't hurt anymore, goodbye dpad!).

I have a question though. Is it normal for a learner, or maybe even veterans, to have an 'off' day where it's like you can't nail diagonals even though you were fine the day before? And then the next day you're perfectly fine again.

This week in particular, on random days, it's like I'm not finding down-back consistently and I feel like I'm going crazy. In Tekken I'm trying to do Azucena's launcher db1+2 in the middle of a match, but end up repeatedly doing a d1+2 grab instead lol.

I don't think there's anything wrong with the lever (JLX2), it still registers inputs properly in training mode.

So it just got me wondering if I'm still not fully accustomed to the stick, like maybe one day it will be on my lap at an imperceptibly different angle than it was the day before and maybe that's why I'm not finding the corners of the gate properly. Like a brain/hand coordination thing.

Anyway, just wanted some reassurances this is normal and it's happening because I'm still a noob. (side note: it's a Qanba Titan which uncharacteristically has a lever further away from the buttons than most sticks, so I'll be interested to compare my experience to a Victrix Pro FS which will be arriving soon)

I just bought this hitbox and it looks and feels waaaaaay too small is this normal? Also is it as good as having a normal size one?

The original 8bitdo leverless does not work with any wingmanfgc adapters. I bought this controller after my old one broke in a move and was planning on taking it to my new local. When there, this controller didn't work with any wingmanfgc adapters and I had to borrow some1 elses controller to play my sets.

The main reason why I bring this up as a failing of the 8bitdo controller, despite not having any PS5 support, is 1) it is an Xinput controller and should have no issue when working with the wingmanfgc and 2) 8bitdo advertises features, like a tournament switch, which are targeted towards tournament players despite not being usable in said environment.

Now I cannot speak to if 8bitdo has fixed whatever could be causing this in their newer leverless controllers, but in general I'd be careful buying one of these if u r planning on going to an IRL bracket.

Edit: I have updated both the controller and my wingmanfgc adapters (both gen 1 and 2) several times, and tried to use other ppl's wingmanfgc adapters. I think it's just my controller thats fucked. The only reason why i believed that the controller itself wasn't compatible was bc customer service basically told me to fuck off and that "there is no such compatibility". So yea, I guess its just a me problem ;w;

I don't play fighting games nearly as much as I used to when I was younger but I have my old Arcade Stick and Hitbox lying around. I was wondering if there is a way to play other games with them, sort of like using them as normal controllers. I get that they use way fewer buttons but has anyone tried using them as a replacement for normal gamepads?