I remember a time when hardware ‘modding’ was the domain of the PC gamer but nowadays people seem to be painting, tweaking and enhancing all sorts of gaming gear. I’ve dabbled in the past, I fitted a viewing window and some neon in my PC case before you could get all that kit off the shelf in PC World. That was a long time ago now, in another life you might say, but the urge has never left me.
When the Ready Up crew covered Neo Empire’s Battle of Destiny we got our hands on some awesome Xbox 360 Hori arcade sticks. As soon as I found one in stock I got my own Soul Calibur 4 branded stick, not by choice though. I have nothing against Soul Calibur 4, in fact I really love the game but the branding on this stick was a little bit… shite. This was my chance to mod once again, I would transform this stick and do it right. Days of research later and I had a plan and not just a plan for a visual mod, I was going to pimp my stick with a few hardware mods too. This was my plan:
Starting with this…
- All the buttons have to go, I want classic red and blue.
- That green stick top was outta here, something more awesome was in order.
- A new Street Fighter vinyl sticker was needed to replace the Soul Calibur one.
- And lastly, a ‘gate’ mod so the stick moves in a more natural octagon pattern rather than the default square pattern.
The ‘gate’ mod & all the parts laid out
A few Google searches and I found gremlinsolutions.co.uk, your one stop shop for arcade spares. After that I finished my artwork layout and ordered a custom vinyl sticker from a car modding website. Once I had it all I set about my stick with a dremel rotary tool and soldering iron. I’m happy to say I emerged victorious with the results you see below and it plays like a dream. It’s just a shame that my skills don’t do it justice. Let’s face it though, this was never about having a better stick, I didn’t need a better stick – I just wanted to see if I could do it, turns out I could and I’m already planning my next one!
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