Nacon Daija Arcade Stick (Hardware)
Official GBAtemp Review

Name: Nacon Daija Arcade Stick
Item: Nacon Daija Arcade Stick
Rating: 9.4
Author: KiiWii

Product Information:

Official Store: https://www.nacongaming.com/en-GB/arcade-stick-playstation

As a fan of Street Fighter and Tekken: I want to know what sticks kick ass

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With Street Fighter 6 blowing open the world of fighting games for this generation of hardware and the imminent release of Tekken 8 just around the corner, now is the time for peripheral manufacturers to bring some fresh fight sticks to current-gen players.

Designed in collaboration with Kayane, a world record-holding eSports competitor, the Daija is built around performance, quality, stability and precision. With a retail price of €279.90, is it a worthy investment?

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Solidly Built, Designed To Perform

Having used my personal Mad Catz Fight Stick Alphas to near death over the last few years on mostly Batocera-based endeavours, I have to say I need an upgrade. When the Daija arrived my jaw was aghast, the utter scale of this beast was unbelievable with a form factor of 38 x 26.1 x 7 cm, it was a serious piece of kit!

Nacon's PS4/PS5/PC edition Daija comprises a simple plastic box frame construction that opens up via two push-in side clips, much like a briefcase, and this holds the parts and cable. Externally it is padded with antislip foam padding on the bottom, has three interchangeable face plates (held down with 8 Allen bolts), 8 main face buttons + profile/lock and PS buttons, a generous 6 x 37.5 cm textured palm rest on the top, and comes complete with bat-top and ball-top stick heads for that main eight-way gated stick.

Running around the unit are a slew of buttons and features, but clearly takes direction from a clean "less is more" approach to the aesthetic that pays off in dividends. The left side is devoid of anything other than one of the two clips required to open it up. The back edge merely has a USB-C socket to connect it to your chosen system, be it a PlayStation or a Windows PC, via the included 3-meter cable. The front side only has a 3.5mm headphone socket, it's minimal. The right side is where the magic happens: it has the L3 and R3 buttons, the Create and Options buttons, a full-sized touch-sensitive pad with an integrated touchpad button, it also has switches for the mode selection (PS4/PS5/PC) and the D-Pad/R/L analogue stick mapping selector.

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Incredibly Responsive, Massively Customisable

I began with the tutorial section from the Street Fighter 6 Demo as a starting point for my review and delved back into USF4 for a more in-depth look at the handling of this fight stick. The first thing I felt, was the scale of this device versus the compact nature of my old sticks. The button spacing forces my resting hand span to have to stretch a little, it took a little getting used and it's only around 2 cm difference to my limp hand span, but the muscle memory has to be built from here upwards to reach L1 & L2 confidently.

When slapped, the buttons are extremely responsive and I have to say there is very little travel required to make the Sanwa buttons function, making small flicks of the wrist across multiple buttons was delightfully easy, and spamming E Honda's hundred-hand-slaps or Blanka's electricity moves was a doddle to hammer out quickly when in a bind.

The buttons themselves can be easily removed, replaced and even rewired thanks to the included legend written on the inside. if you wish to simply swap the face buttons around into new positions you can unclip the button, and within the span of the wire loom, move it to another socket with a pop and a twist. Alternatively, you can disconnect the wires altogether, even from the stick, and replace the stick, or buttons as you wish. The buttons are not backlit, so it's just two wires per connection so its a really straightforward plug-and-play affair to make any last-minute changes, you could see how this would be incredibly handy for eSports participants to hot-swap their own buttons or customise the layouts quickly.

Cupping the ball-top stick head with my hand, the gated stick is exceptionally smooth and very responsive regardless of the directions you're going from and to. Performing fireballs was exceptionally easy, and repetitiously fluid after just a few rounds with Ken and Sagat in SF6 and USF4.

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Retro Feel, Modern Twists

In recent years I have had very little experience with bat-top sticks at home, so I quickly swapped it out to this to give it a run for its money, and I have to say that it feels way more like I remember it when I used to feed the arcades my pocket money back in the '90s. There was a very nostalgic memory unlocked here, and I really enjoyed the difference it gave me for flicking out sonic booms with Guile, and cannon-balling/Swan-diving the AI to oblivion with Blanka and Vega (Balrog).

Swapping it out is as simple as inserting the flat screwdriver tool into the bottom of the stick, holding that end tight and unscrewing the ball top at the other end. A quick swap over and turning the bat-top piece righty-tighty meant that I was swapped and done in approximately 90 seconds, with is mightily impressive. The screwdriver/tools/cable and spare stick tops are all secured neatly inside the body of the stick for easy storage.

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The Nacon Daija is a heavy unit with 3.5kg of mass behind it, which I can only assume comes from some sort of weight secreted inside the body of it because it is very spacious inside, but the weight is a good thing. There is little chance of you lifting it off of yourself, little chance of you scooting it to one side or the other accidentally: it's firm and immovable in the heat of battle, and I really learned to love that after the initial shock of its heft.

The addition of profiles (4 of which are preinstalled: Nacon Classic, Nacon Soul Calibur VI, Nacon Guilty Gear Strive & Nacon DRAGONBALL Fighter Z) that can be downloaded from the Daija companion app for Windows and Mac, really makes the device personalizable. Just select a slot, alter your button layout, and save it to your device for use later on. Its a shame there is no way to do this without a PC or Mac though, perhaps a clever Bluetooth/OTC mobile phone companion app or on-console app could be used to update and configure it without the need for another device, for those only with no PC's.

Great For Retro Gaming As Well As Fighters

Because of the Daija's wired compatibility, I was also able to use it easily with retro Recal Box, Batocera, and other HID-accepting frontends. This means that the sheer scale of games you can actually use this stick with, out of the box, is phenomenal. With minor remapping per system, you can be playing Streets of Rage, Alien Versus Predator, Street Fighter 2 and 3 easily if you're wanting to veer away from PlayStation altogether, though I have to say that compilations such as Capcom Arcade Stadium are a captivating example to use this stick to get your retro gaming fix on current platforms with zero set up and fuss.

I heartily recommend the Daija as undoubtedly the best arcade stick I have experienced in my home to date, however, with a big retail price I can see how many may overlook this in order to try to save some pennies, but this would be a mistake IMHO.

For anyone serious about their arcade/fighting games, Nacon really does deliver a premium quality product, that performs at an eSports level, with excellent levels of pertinent customisation, and you absolutely get what you pay for; an outstanding gaming creation!

Verdict

What We Liked ...

Substantial construction, premium materials
Amazingly comfortable to use
4 individual profiles via PC/Mac app
Customisable hardware (instructions in manual)
Perfect for beginners or pros
Wired for zero lag
"Micro-software" updatable via PC/Mac app

What We Didn't Like ...

Pricepoint may be a barrier to entry
Heavy at 3.5kg
No console app for profiles or updates

9.4

out of 10

Overall

As fight sticks go this is quite simply the crème de la crème. Configurable, reliable and extremely user-friendly it's hard not to recommend, though the price may be a little off-putting unless you're a serious player.

Reactions: Hank_Gamer, Xzi, Deleted member 194275 and 3 others

the weight is listed as a con on the summary but as positive on the review. I think it is indeed positive because unlike controllers, you are not holding it, so heavier it gets less prone to slide on the table, lap or wherever the thing will be resting in while you play.

Reactions: SonyUSA

KiiWii
Aug 23, 2023

lokomelo said:
the weight is listed as a con on the summary but as positive on the review. I think it is indeed positive because unlike controllers, you are not holding it, so heavier it gets less prone to slide on the table, lap or wherever the thing will be resting in while you play.

I was on the fence about this for a while, I agree that the weight is beneficial for stability, but wow it’s heavy to transport, or have pressing down on your legs for a long period of time.

It’s both a pro and a con, but definitely worth mentioning as it’s considerably heavier than any stick I have used before.

Reactions: elm, Deleted member 388531, Kevbo and 1 other person

impeeza
Aug 24, 2023

For 280 you can get lot better options

KiiWii
Aug 25, 2023

Hank_Gamer said:
may I know the price and where to buy

Link right at the top:

https://www.nacongaming.com/en-GB/arcade-stick-playstation

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Product Information:

Solidly Built, Designed To Perform

Incredibly Responsive, Massively Customisable

Retro Feel, Modern Twists

Great For Retro Gaming As Well As Fighters

Verdict

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