(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Alright, as much as I wanted to make this a tutorial to solder directly to the controllers, I couldn't, or at least I can't at the moment.
This way is cheaper and falls into place just fine.. Anyways, enjoy it and I hope it helps you! I am not responsible for any mishaps you may have!


What is a fightstick? A fightstick is basically an arcade style controller. These are good for fighting games and all around bring a different experience to any game. They are a lot of fun!
Prebuilt and custom fightsticks can be very expensive. So if you would like to get creative on a cheaper alternative you can do yourself, this may be the next project for you! This should work for all consoles and PC , but for this I am demonstrating use with a Ps3.




You will need:
Joystick(optional)
Buttons
Wiring
encoder board(1 encoder per controller needed)
microswitches
usb cable
Basically any full pc arcade kit. You can find these online, on sites such as ebay.
(Altogether these materials will run you anywhere from $30 to over $100 depending on brand, style, leds, etc)

Dremel and/or Router
Maybe some hot glue
Material or box of some sort




Order your kit. You can use any style, sanwa, happ, etc. Just make sure the kit includes, or you also order:

Joystick( I mentioned "optional" because some people use buttons for left,right,up,down. So, maybe you prefer that)
buttons w/ microswitches
wiring
encoder (this is important and acts as a controller!)
encoder to usb cable

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Im not going to go into building the box because the size and shape is up to your imagination. Your fightstick should be made of a strong sturdy material, typically wood, metal, plastic or plexiglass. Although, you could go as low as using a shoe box
For mine, I built an open bottom box out of wood that measures 8.5cm x 37cm x 68cm and it is a two player setup.




Once you have built the box you will need to decide a layout that fits you.

Some examples of joystick/button layouts:

Street fighter style
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Mortal Kombat style
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etc etc

Determine how many buttons you will need or want to use.
For mine, I didn't include every button (yet), but for a home use ps3, ideally you would want buttons for:

Up
Down
Left
Right
start
select
L1
L2
L3
R1
R2
R3
triangle
square
X
O

These are also all the buttons these encoders support, or at least the one I am using. There is no PSN home button, but you can use another ps3 controller as a sort of "admin access" to your ps3 XMB, thinking as if this were in an arcade machine.




Now that you have an idea about how you want your layout to be,

The holes for the buttons should be roughly 3-3.2cm, some buttons are different. You may have to determine that as you go.
The joystick hole should be slightly bigger, just to avoid your joystick taking damage from hitting the sides while in use.

Do your best to draw the layout on your material. By drawing it out, you should be able to look at it and determine if it is all lined up, or you can find your own measures to make sure it is perfect.

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When you feel comfortable about your layout, cut the holes using either a dremel or a router.

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Run over your holes and make sure all buttons fit nicely. Your fightstick is yours to design of course, but afterwards install your buttons and joystick into your box.

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You can now install the encoder(s) into your box. I have hot glued mine in reach of the buttons and joystick, with the exception of the start button, etc having needed extended wiring.
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Plug the included usb cable into the encoder and to your ps3.
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Now, I don't have a pinout for every encoder out there, but basically it is just about mapping the buttons. Connect a button to the encoder and see which button it activates in game or on the XMB. You do not need to map buttons for PC.
Here is an example with the one that I used.

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*NOTE* The mode button is to switch your joystick between DPAD function and LEFT ANALOG function. For ex. Games like Tekken don't have analog support, so it is needed to switch the joystick into DPAD "mode".

Install the microswitches into each button and connect each button to the encoder in a layout that you prefer. Mine is like so:

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Once you are finished mapping the buttons, you are good to finish final designing.


If you decided to install leds, you can power them off the encoder, using the plug to the USB.
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This way will power on with the console.


If you are wanting to go four players and don't have a 4 usb port Ps3, you can use a usb hub.
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All ps3s can register more than 2 usb drives


That's pretty much it! Plug it in and enjoy your new ps3 fightstick!
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I have a couple of the og PS versions of these You must login or register to view this content.

Very nice tutorial. This would be amazing to set up for ps3

haha cool! and thank you sir!

I suck at fighting games, but damn is it a lot of fun playing with a fightstick! There are lot of other games where only left analog or dpad support is needed as well.

A lot of work put into this tutorial, great job! This is really unique.

I'm not very good either but dam it was fun mashing away on these. Not many people have even heard of them, In saying that though I didn't know you could get the button kits. Awesome to see some of the older stuff bought back to life.

Btw You could probably make a bit of coin selling these!

Most definitely. The 2 player kit I used for this setup costed over $100..Plexiglass, leds and custom artwork always bring more life as well

This deserves a bump !! hard work dedication !

Yoooo this is really cool and unique!! thanks !