Mortal Kombat TE Joystick is the Real Deal.

[twistedsymphony]

Kotaku recently posted up a good article detailing the Joystick included in the upcoming Mortal Kombat Tournament Edition. While not manufactured by the usual accessory makers instead it was designed by design firm PDP who wanted to make a fight stick more geared towards American arcade goers as opposed to the other available sticks that are more Japanese style.

"MadCatz did some good work with the Tournament Edition (Street Fighter IV) sticks, but those are Japanese style sticks for a Japanese game. We thought it would be a lot of fun to respond with an American style stick for an American fighting franchise."

Many of you might not realize this but I worked in arcade repair for a good number of years. I also am the proud owner of an actual Mortal Kombat Arcade machine that I pieced together myself from several other machines. I can tell you that the electronics shown in the product images are in-fact THE REAL DEAL. Both the buttons and joysticks are those made by Happ Controls with Cherry micro-switches and slide-on spade connectors. This is essentially the defacto for any real arcade machine with a stick and buttons made during Mortal Komat's heyday in the arcade.

As can be seen from the photos the stick opens to store it's own cable, a copy of the game and other things, it opens with a nice looking piano hinge and a sturdy latch. What might not be so obvious are the features on the underside of the stick

The bottom of the stick is overlaid with memory foam wrapped in velvet, making it a bit more comfortable to play with on your lap. There are also little feet jutting from the sides of the stick that won't touch your lap while playing, but will prevent the stick from sliding around when it's on a table.

As a fighting game fan, a Mortal Kombat fan, an arcade fan, and fan of well built controls, I'm super excited for this release. Coupled with the fact that the TE will only be released in limited capacity (20,000 units) this is looking like it could be one of the best CE's of 2011.

... View this article on the HomePage.

[Mandingo]

a nice looking piano hinge and a sturdy latch.

OK, this eases my fears about this arcade stick being sturdy. Good news.

And yeah, I agree about this being one of the best CE's of 2011. Having a replica stick that fans of MK easily recognize and get nostalgic over shows a real understanding of the fanbase, which is something game companies lack these days -- Understanding what fans want.

[twistedsymphony]

If anyone has any doubts as to how "legit" this arcade stick is... I just snapped some pics of the actual UMK3 control panel from the arcade machine I have in my game room:

[Mandingo]

Some more pics of this TE stick for viewing pleasure :