Street Fighter IV Fightstick = Gold Dust

Many true Street Fighter fans, excited at the launch of Street Fighter IV also had their eyes on the Mad Catz range of Arcade fightsticks offering arcade like control of their favourite fighters.

Many were swallowed up on pre-orders and it seemed nobody expected the mass demand for these Street Fighter IV specific joysticks, especially retailing at £69.99 (Standard Edition) and £149.00 (Tournament Edition) which seemed a little expensive for a game accessory.

Order Instore?

So I missed out on the online pre-orders but thought to pop into a local store and put my name on the list for the launch of the Fightstick the following day. They told me they had some “out back” and that I was first on the list.  On the day of launch, I received no call to say I could pickup the stick but headed in assuming all would be good.  Once there I was told somebody else on the list, ahead of me, picked up the only available Fightstick. It was rumoured the staff members had infact taken a few back for themselves, maybe a perk for working instore.

Insane Ebay Prices

I had a quick venture onto Ebay only to find that you will pay WELL over the odds if you want to secure the very rare fightsticks. Sticks being “bid on” are reaching in excess of £200 and some Sticks labelled with “buy it now” are asking £379!! So it’s advised, unless you’re desperate to get one of these sticks, stay away from Ebay while demand is very high.

Where and When can we get a Fightstick?

It’s very hard to say when things will improve. Mad Catz have always stated they will struggle to match the UK demand for the official fightstick. Further they recommend you visit their official UK store to keep a an eye out for new stock appearing. We’re aware Mad Catz are working to output another batch of fightsticks but also stated they wouldn’t hurry themselves as to not impact their high standards for build quality.

So even though Street Fighter IV was launched nearly a month ago, if you aren’t the lucky own of a Fightstick, it looks like you may have to wait many weeks before the situation improves.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 15th, 2009 at 11:51 am and is filed under General Gaming. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.