Breaking Down the Stick - Madcatz TE3
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- Опубликовано: 24 авг 2024
- Breaking Down the Stick Episode 6: Madcatz TE3
I dive deep into the Madcatz TE3 and reveal the inner-workings, point out some mod points, and offer my opinions on what you can and can't do to upgrade this fight stick.
This is the first video featuring any latency testing on these sticks! You can learn about the testing method from InputLag.science - a great resource for objectively testing latency in your fight stick. They also have a great bit of data you can see for various sticks as well!
Learn more about this method here:
inputlag.scien...
This video recorded on my iPhone because all my camera gear is packed and ready for my move back to the US from Japan. Emi and Dozer both make cameos in this video doing what they do best - sleeping.
Check me out:
/ jasenscustoms
/ jasenscustoms
www.JasensCusto...
Links to media and articles within the video, Copyright belongs to them:
Madcatz TE3 Marketing Materials: www.madcatz.co...
Madcatz TE3 Product Listing: madcatz.shop/p...
Madcatz Returns from Bankruptcy: www.cnet.com/t...
Madcatz Files for Bankruptcy: gamerant.com/m...
It seems as though Madcatz realized $300 was a bit high for a mass produced stick that requires a passthrough for PS4 and XBOX compatibility. Is it worth it at $190 - I still think no.
I just bought this TE3 Arcade Stick before I saw this review. I ordered one for around 189 USD from Walmart. And saw your video where you got blocked by (New) Mad Catz company. I was going to buy the Hori Alpha Arcade Stick but never again I will make this mistake if I have personally. Thanks, you helped me a lot but I figured it's too late.
@@EX-Serieswhy not just return it?
The fact that a $300 stick needs weird loophole work-arounds to work on a console is BONKERS
I was waiting for a review of this thing finally. Thank you Jasen, you just saved me $300.
😂
we need him to do reviews of the new Qanba Series
It’s like they went backwards
@@stephenmiller5572more like the old MadCatz crew isn't around. They were purchased by a Chinese company.
There're actually $189@Walmart. Great deal!
"We're really just putting lipstick on a pig" had me 💀
Wow I was surprised to see that there's a TE3, but considering how it turned out I'm really glad I still have my Chun li TE2
Same here because I thought Madcatz went out of business
@@jasonmartinez5116 they came back WORSE!!!! I mean look at this Arcade Stick .. well beneath of what we expect from Madcatz
What a hidden gem of a channel for YT to recommend me. There's a niche for everything. I remember this stick's announcement and I almost immediately was scratching my head over the shape. It's like they didn't consider humans would be using it. All the internals and technical specs just make me even more confused. There's no kind of special gimmicks or whatever, but I use a Mayflash F500 Elite myself. I think it gets overlooked for not being a Qanba or Hori or whatever, but it's such a rock solid stick. Near-universal compatibility, some fun bells and whistles, and Sanwa parts out of the box for less than $200 is a steal in my opinion.
Thanks Jasen for this very honest and informative review.
It confirmed everything I was worried about.
The way the marketed this as a tournament grade controller was just a facade from the truth which itself should be a redflag as to why you couldn't buy this stick
Great video - unbiased and honest breakdown
I appreciate that!
Unbiased? He advertises his custom shop at the end.
@@Halibut86it’s self promotion; no different to MadCatz dishing out free gifts to people posting anything positive on Twitter. Nothing wrong with that, it’s business.
I personally found it a useful breakdown, spending $300 on a stick that requires a controller to be plugged in for platform compatibility doesn’t sit well with me. If you think otherwise, that’s good for you.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they do a firmware update for DualSense support but even then, a small select few who are willing to overspend on this will care enough.
Heat death of the TE line from the looks of it. I don’t see them ever returning to making sticks after this.
Agree with the FW update - seems silly to not have it out of the box. That being said, this still a hard pill to swallow from a corporation making thousands of these to sell.
Between this, and the victrix box, there seems to be a weird industry war against screw buttons. In an age of custom enclosure options this stick is just hilarious.
This is depressing.
Was hoping that the TE3 would honor its predecessors.
Great review! Thanks for your contribution! Your time, money and effort!
Thanks for watching!
Predecessors had issues too… like the debounce diodes causing the entire stick to stop working.
@emmettturner9452 im not sure which models were those. Only have TE, FS Pro, VS Silent and TE2+ (SFV Ryu and Black JP version).
None of them have any problems.
it's a spit in the face of the hard work that MarkMan has done to bring the TE1 and TE2 to the market, and even to this day, they main some of the most popular and beloved sticks people love to mod, but jesus this TE3, is just embarrassing as hell, it's so sad to see and i feel embarrassed for MCZ, because I really wanted them to do well when they came back, and developed a brand new stick that you can be proud to call it the TE3
@@flinttk5417 Mine is the TE2+ with Ryu. Got it from a thrift store and found that it bugs out when plugged in… which explains why it was donated to a thrift store (still wasn’t cheap!). It acts like certain directions are being held so you can’t even navigate the menus. Of course, this is only a problem with the stock control board. Researched the problem and found people were bypassing the debounce diodes to fix the issue… so it wasn’t just me.
Great breakdown! This is such a strange stick for the price point.
It really is!
I’m so glad I came across this review… I don’t know what got me thinking it was officially licensed..
Real sad what they have done to madcatz. Was slightly considering this to keep the collection going generation to generation. Makes me sad as the madcatz products have been there for as long as I've been following fgc. Still use my vs stick til this day.
Great vid jasen and good to see your still around. And still loving the panzer fs3!
LOVE the latency test, definitely would love to see more of that
players wondering why inputs are skipped and there is lag ... its horrible
great video, i was curious about this stick as a gift but I think i will pass on one of my old sticks instead. I still use the noir vlx panel I purchased from you maybe 6 years ago. I would love to get a hitbox style one if you ever decide to do them again. Thanks so much for the video again, much respect.
One thing that could have been mentioned in the review is the fact that the lever is much further away then regular vewlix layouts which imo is about the most interesting thing about the stick.
You're right! I didn't mention that. Honestly, I didn't even really think about it at the time of filming because I was just like ... "what is going on here" the entire thing. I should have done some scale shots to give you a good idea of how monstrous this thing is. Its like a pizza box size!
그것은 한국 배열입니다~
this stick probably costs the same to produce as a mayflash stick , but priced as if it was competing with victrix , etokki, and fightstick cases makers
I think they're just capitalizing on a name. You can get a mayflash at 70% discount and have it work fine on PS5, despite what the discourse is. My opponents can attest to this
Edit: came back to say badass video. Subbed
It seems that one person was able to force a screw in button in place; though it looks to be held on by a thread or two. Be careful folks; vibrations may loosen them over time of playing!
Upon further review; the nuts in this case were installed upside down and it looks like they were very much forced on. I stand by my previous thought, stick with snap in buttons if you want to change them.
All right! Good to see you again, hope you are well Sr.
Thanks, you too!
I have the dragonslay, another rebrand of the gamesir/ego the pcb does look the same and its the exact same plexi and countersunk screws aswell as the top l3r3 and home buttons, but atleast the gamesir/dragonslay can be picked up for under 100. its like they took the "ego" and just stretched the top and bottom and slapped a hinge on it to rely on people remembering the te2
nah, i just ordered the mayflash f500 elite, hopefully the f500 elite is a good one for many years to come
Good call, the Mayflash sticks are honestly not bad for what they are (I got the F300 for my niece). Also that particular model can use Mayflash's Magic Pro to work on the PS5, so if you're having a hard time finding a Wingman FGC, that'll do the trick (for that stick alone tho lol)
These plug a controller in arcade sticks are never worth it unless they are sub $200 since Hori and Qanba have offerings that work on PS consoles officially licensed (Hori also has one for the Xbox). Custom is definitely the way to go if you are willing to spend $300 on an arcade stick. I wish they sold the case empty for a reasonable price with the ability to mount whatever PCB you want. I think the Chinese company that has access to factories could make decent money selling just the cases (with some minor modifications).
This was exactly the review I was looking for, thank you so much @Jasen Hicks, I think I’ll keep looking for a different stick!
We are excited to see you soon breaking and deconstructing a Hori fightstick alpha.
Greetz from chile.
How can MatCatz be so out of touch with this product? Thanks for the breakdown Jasen.
MadCatz is no longer the one we met, the brand was purchased by a Chinese company.
Don't buy the TE3
Great breakdown. Auto pass when I saw it needed a dongle/controller. I'll mod one of my old Hori sticks when I need to.
Thank you
not much good to say huh, I got mine for $189 at walmart. I absolutely love this stick, very easy to mod and the top panel is more sturdy than the TE2. I'm up to platinum on SF6 with it.
How the mighty have fallen. Had the OG TE and TE2. Great sticks, but this...
This Is a cool channel. Its a shame I'm just discovering it, but glad I found it!!
Thanks! I hope to keep making more BDTS eps this coming year as I relocate to the US and have room to film again!
given how the underside has those cut outs just to fit the sanwa buttons, can you install Gamerfinger snap-in buttons? i just cannot understand why they went with those weird slots on the underside, where even taking off the Sanwa buttons is impossible without the flat head, like wtf were they smoking? also, do you think a flat collar Korean lever can be mounted on those lever mounts? I see it has those weird cut outs too on the underside, never seen anything like that before, most common one's ive seen are usually an S plate which allows various types of lever's to be mounted easily
Man sticks got to a weird place. Back when the obsidian first came out all sticks were great, now you have some over priced ones and a bunch of crap. Funny seeing mad catz return to what I remember them being before the fight stick days lol
apparently Markman left which explains how they fell off so hard after two successful prior hardware generations
man, I tried so hard to finish the video when you said it’s $300 but has no native PS5 connectivity. I finished the video cause you were nice enough to put a review on this fighting stick. I’ll probably wait for it to go on sale for $80 at most and use it to learn how to swap out parts on an arcade stick. 😅
I just dusted off my twin TE2 sticks for SF6 for xbsx and they are plug and play. Amazing.
wish Sony was this smart about accessories but alas, it's on both game devs and hardware makers to figure out workarounds to Sony's BS. sucks that they'll probably still be the tournament standard for this whole next console gen just because they had most of last gen's FGs. but maybe things will change with enough time, I think even in Japan they're realizing PC is the new ideal (and maybe even seeing Xbox as an acceptable substitute)
Just for clarification, that latency tests applicable to PS3 NS PC. The advertised PS4 & XB compatibility requiring tethered controllers will have higher latency, would make for a interesting followup video 😈
I’m not convinced that’s true; the thought is they are only stealing the encryption key from the original controller and passing it through Vs. Converting the signals. I’ll see if I can dongle a controller and have it work with the testing rig.
Thank you for this in-depth review!
I did not realize Matcatz has been back on business, saddened me quite a bit when they annouced they were folding back in 2017, i have the SFV edition TE2+, that thing is amazing.
This is actually not the same MadCatz we knew from the SF4 days when MarkMan was involved with making arcade sticks with them, but now with some of the personnel involved with the GameSir C2, which was rebranded into the Ego for the current MadCatz.
What we have now is practically MadCatz in name only.
Great stuff and enjoy retirement!
It's really difficult to input quarter circle forward/backward on this arcade stick ... Any tips on how to make this easier?
Oh I think this is the guy who modded the VS sticks and were being sold through PAS. Nice! Man I love Mad Catz and I don't mind the design but not being able to work with any of the current or last gen consoles, and PC only is a bummer. Although I play all my fighting games on PC but then you can't take this to a tournament. Huge bummer. How well does the Brook Wingman work on this?
Great vid. Thanks
Such a well edited video!
😬😬😬😬😬😬😬
I never see a review on Fight stick like that … AMAZING … what is that Overclock on input lag test ?? We can over clock our inputs lags ??
Yeah, sticking with my Etokki Omni..
I love that stick so much
I like this channel lotta in depth for sticks buttons ect pretty cool
if you keep going down the rabbit hole. you'll realize how easy it is to make one. All this provides is a basic stick setup, for people who do not know or want to do any sort of modding or maintenance.
Honestly, I think the should have made a hitbox/all button controller. TE2+ works on my PS5 for SFV. People can just use that for a stick. Most people are switching to all button controllers and having this will keep them in the game.
Personally speaking, if any commercial fightstick retails at $300, you're better off with a custom build. This is why I think Qanba is bonkers with their PS5 lineup.
Also any layout that exceeds the Namco Noir's distance in the middle is committing a sin like the TE3 and Qanba TItan...must be what the Chinese thinks is "luxurious" with all that space in between the lever and buttons.
It didn't really register to me when reading "TE3" - I saw the stick and something about it made me immediately just assume it was an old MC product based on how it looks..
I'll stick with my F500 V2 and maybe get a Fighting Stick α.
just crazy to release a 3 when its a direct downgrade from the 2, some extra context, the te2 was made by markman, a fgc figure who worked at madcats at the time. he no longer works there, so madcats just winged it without any actual fgc input
My favorite part is that it's a "Tournament Edition" stick, but it has built-in Macro support so it's automatically banned from Tournaments.
Very good vid. I recall the te2+ latency was better for ps4
the layout looks so weird. why is the joystick so far left to the stick. it’s supposed to be a bit closer to the buttons with that layout style.
Could you recommend a Happ bat top for this fight stick? Perhaps through Amazon or Aliexpress? I’m personally enjoying at the moment. I think from the bottom, hold it with a screw driver it while I unscrew the ball top
The hype around the TE2 was too high to begin with. And Mad Catz knew that odd hype would help sell this new stick even if it’s really bad.
Honestly this looks like a badly designed $100 stick.
I’m mostly horrified how impossible they made any modding of top plate and layouts.
This is low key sad... i wanted a madcatz stick forever ago
This is the info I was looking for. I have 4 Mad Catz TE's, two for x-box, two for PS3. Am I better off buying a couple of these or upgrading all of the original TEs with Brooks Fighting Boards to bring them up to date? Both options seem pricey, but I get the feeling I'll be better off with the second option.
Get EZ MODS from JasensCustoms.com and upgrade them. Far better than this new “Madcatz” stuff.
@@JasenHicksFGC ok man, I will! Thanks for the quick reply!
@@JasenHicksFGC I apologize, I'm new to all this and I just want to make sure, but I have two more questions.
First, the Brook UFB Fusion, is that the same as having the Brook UFB combined with the UFB-UP5? It's both combined into the same board?
And second, if I do go with the Fusion, is the TE EZ Mod compatible with that?
I was hoping this would replace the Te2 which had issues with the closing mechanism. I’ve paid over $300 for sticks before so I know what I’m looking for in one and the compatibility issues are laughable considering the Te2 was close to perfect except for that closing mechanism. I have yet to find a stick better than the Qanba Pearl.
Awesome video. I'm a Mad Catz brand loyalist and I got my EGO stick for this generation so I'm good. I really don't feel the need to get an TE3.
All these fighting games are coming to xbox, that's stupid.Thanks for the review.
I literally just built a stick using a Silent Qanba lever and nice screw in silent buttons, all of which are more expensive than Sanwa stuff, and a custom enclosure with a Sega 2P button layout. Adding up the pcb, wires, passthrough and cables, it still came out less expensive than this plastic thing.
If a company is going to make an arcade stick, either make it really nice and premium to justify the higher price, like Victrix and Qanba, for the enthusiast and more hardcore crowd, or make something more budget oriented for the more budget conscious, beginner, or non-enthusiast crowd, like what 8bitdo and Mayflash have put out. Don't make a cheap product that does absolutely nothing special and try to sell it as premium.
Wow, you can just buy an F500 Elite for less then half the price and not only does it have native PS3 PS4 360 ONE and switch support. but it has USB for PS5 And Series X.
The build quality is really good the whole inner shell is made from steel. and it's modable.
Glad to see a review up for this, and I must say, I'm glad this helped me save $300 that I could spend on other things instead of this pile of garbage.
Massive input lag, no native PS5 support, and the fact you have to tether an official controller for this to work on PS4 and Xbox consoles? No fucking thanks.
Is input lag better than te2+? Stock vs stock
Jasen? At some point in this video, you should've just came and flat out said "this is a shitty fightstick!". No one would hold it against you.😅
😛
I'm naming myself "Don't buy the MadCatz TE3" in some arcade stick discords, and after this video... I can see myself not changing my name anytime soon.
This thing is almost the same price as the Daija, but with 4 times less quality, this is just a laughable product
MadCatz is no longer there, it's just a Chinese company trying to sell garbage products with the MadCatz logo slapped in
no ps5 support on the edge of a new street fighter release? mad catz back at it again i guess.
What were they thinking?
I wonder if The Knee Lever is compatible with TE3?
Probably - but are you seriously considering this as a daily driver?
Mad Catz is not the same anymore! I think I bought the EGO when operations closed up in the US and now it's not worth above $99 - best to go 8bitdo or Mayflash for a cheaper one or Hori/Qanba/Victrix for the high priced
I just opened up mine last night - it's definitely a repurposed Gamesir C2/ EGO / Dragonslay board
Not only do I suspect it's using the same laggy chip as the EGO, but I suspect it's the same plexi as well. 😂
Meanwhile, my TE2+ doesn’t even work because of the failed debounce diodes. Good thing it was a Goodwill find for me but it still wasn’t cheap.
there is a fix where you scrap off certain bits off the board causing the failure
@@coronavirusboogieman3568 If the PCB were manufactured with quality components to begin with, you shouldn't have to "scrape off" bits!
It's sad to read of people buying TE2+'s, brand new/unopened in the box, and hearing the PCB's go bad in well under a year! I guess I was lucky to get a "good" Round 1 TE/PS3 joystick (original Street Fighter IV) and lose that stick's PCB earlier this year because of static shock. 14 years must be a record for an original Mad Catz TE release (granted, it was in storage and not used for 4 years!) because many of those joysticks are gone or already had a PCB replacement like my original release fight stick eventually will get. Many of them were dying within 2 years of the original release. It'll be the second Rd 1/TE that I own that will get a PCB replacement (Brook Fighting Board + Jasen's Custome TE EZ PCB).
**
The PCB appears to be the weakness of every Mad Catz TE fight stick since the original TE Round 1! There have been reported failures of the PCB for virtually every major release of the Mad Catz TE lines. That's why there's such a huge third party PCB replacement market for Mad Catz joysticks!
Meanwhile, there are plenty of other third party joysticks from Hori, Sega, and Ascii/Agetech from the 1990s and early 2000s that didn't have PCB issues. You can still play them to this day with the original PCBs. You only need to find a compatible adapter for them!
1:06 But it says Playstation 4, XBox One / Series X & S, Switch and PC so not only being compatible with the Switch.
There is a big asterisk with that… you have to connect a controller to the stick to make that work. It’s not natively compatible with them.
@@JasenHicksFGC
Yeah right, I know what you are saying but still you can use it. The part where you have to connect the controller on the arcade stick was almost a big no to me but it is still compatible.
@@awakenedsoul2638 I think I did say “native support” - requiring another controller is contrary to that statement, in my opinion.
@@JasenHicksFGC
Whatever word you use fully compatible, native support, half compatible it is still compatible. If it is not then you cannot use it on those consoles. But lets not argue. It is still compatible but it is a bad idea why they designed it this way that you need to connect the controller on the stick before you can use it. I suppose connecting this stick on PC does not require you a USB PC controller before you can use it.
Release date ?
Hey! I got this as a gift recently and was wondering how you got the input lag so low, did you use usb C over the usb A port ? Thank you for the video :)
Low?! That’s wicked high ;)
@@JasenHicksFGC hahaha I know but how did you manage to get 1.6 ms
@@SciFiSciFi I just used the cable they included. If i recall correctly it’s the USB C to A
Dies work for ps5
Brook adapter
What electric screwdriver are you using?
It’s a Japanese brand, SK.
Random question. Is there anyway that I would be able to replace a plexi for the panzer 3 hitbox or cables? I bought one from one right before you stopped making the arcade sticks and moved to Japan, and was hoping you could help me out
Yes, I am moving back to the US as we speak! I have some spares that I can list this summer :)
Dam that sucks.... Should have just updated the TE2 and released that again. Im passing on this mess.
They don't own the rights to the TE2 any more. PXN's X9 stick uses that shell now
$300 its OVERPRICED!!!
why doesn't it say ps4/ps5?
Has anybody tried upgrading TE3? To support PS5 games 🙏
Get a hori alpha stick. Much better value. ☮️
my 8 year obsidian is still going strong
The hori alpha is more of a successor to the te2 than this thing.
Wtf my street fighter TE stick works on ps5,4 and pc lol … this is backwards
its a cashgrab
The TE3 and the Obsidian 2 just really don’t seem worth it at all
ffffffffffffffffff unlicensed PS3 PC controller is deal killer ...
Thanks for uploading this
All they had to do was take the te2 and make it ps5 compatible. Wtf were they thinking here?
What the hell happened to Madcatz this looks like a 80 bucks fight stick looks to "cheaply" in comparisson with the Madcatz TE2 that one was build like a tank. And looks so much better! Guess times are changing or humans changing. 300 you say? What good stuff are they smoking i wanna piece of that to :)
I literally can't find a video on here, with someone actually using the stick sigh! 🤦♂️
what a massive plastic SUV of a stick.
i thought madcatz had gone under, i mean thats the only reason i'd get the stick, for collecting purposes.
I'm sure it will probably appreciate in value over time, since i dont see anyone buying one. Also the fact that its unlicensed 🤣
Great review as always
Mad catz is still in business?🤨
Name was bought by the factory in china that made their sticks in the past. I doubt anyone from old Madcatz is there.
@@JasenHicksFGC
Gotcha... I do miss the old madcatz. I actually enjoyed some of their products.
-$300 for a toolbox with buttons
facts
As someone who's making an Arcade Stick out of a $14 toolbox for < $100, even THAT is insulting.
At least you can repurpose the extra compartments to hold spare parts lmao
$300? I got my for $190 this week.
Seems as though they realized their pricing was out of line and fixed it. Despite this, it did launch at $300.
looks like garbage compared to my old $200 SF5 Madcatz TE2+
we all thought it was an upgrade , sadly its not
You call that a TE3?!? what a sick joke!
TE3 has to be one of the worst sticks of this generation
its MADCATZ so everyone go buy