Mortal Kombat Arcade1Up Joystick MOD! EASY Octagon Gate Install

[@Chad_Hart]

I did this mod to my mk arcade1up a few weeks ago. The octagon restrictor plates were $5 a piece but what a huge difference they make. I was able to beat Mk1 after mod. The moves are smooth to perform, it does make sense to put an 8 way restrictor on an 8 way joystick

[@SPEEDFREAK6988]

Would the octagon base work on the SF2 legacy arcade? I've noticed it doesn't feel right and now I have to look and see.if it also has the square base plates.

[@Chad_Hart]

@@SPEEDFREAK6988 they should work fine

[@geraldwalshjr694]

It feels even better with a 4 lb spring in the joysticks.

[@8-BitEric]

nice

[@stevedoughja1034]

Def add the 4lb springs, was this the Sanwa GT-Y plate?

[@brianharrisharris859]

I put 8 way gates and 4lb springs in, and it is night and day. Feels great

[@PizzaProphet]

apparently the pros prefer square gates, but octagonal gates just made more sense when i first got into arcade sticks.

[@8-BitEric]

Yeah people give me shit about them lol

[@IronBuddha80]

Even though it's still cheaply made, the joysticks and buttons on the MK cab are definitely slightly better quality than the first wave of cabinets. The new joysticks are more of a sanwa clone since you can switch the plate out with an octagonal plate. Also, the buttons have better wiring and quick disconnects. The first wave everything was cheaply soldered together no quick disconnects, and the joysticks were super cheap junk with no options to switch out the plates. So I'm glad to see some improvements.

[@Bobbypinker]

"It's like peeing. Ya know, when you hold your pee." 😂😂

[@METALHEADNYC]

Thanks bro for the advice, I was able to add in the 4 lb spring and the octagon base, feels a lot better.

[@Mentally_Hilarious]

Octogonal and circle gates are less accurate in my opinion. The great thing about the square gate is that you know for sure you are hitting diagonals. With circle or octagonal gates you are far more likely to make a mistake when trying to crouch backwards or jumping forward or backwards. Notice how he was jumping straight up instead of forward a few times. It is more difficult to master circle and octagonal gates. I will say this is probably more important for a fighting game like Street Fighter where knowing you are hitting diagonals is critical to block. It also turns the dragon punch motion into a Z which leaves less room for error.

[@8-BitEric]

Mentally Hilarious I think it feels better

[@jameshumphrey7463]

Square is the only way

[@jaselrico3475]

Its noobs like him that don’t know anything about joysticks and suck at the game are making videos spreading false information to all the other noobs who end up copying without understanding

[@CollaborationNation]

You can still crouch and block with an octagon gate much easier than a circle gate on Street Fighter. Square gate is great for charge characters, but never liked it for shoto characters. For MK2, the octagonal gate is great.

[@bkrich]

I have the 8 way gate on my sanwa’s for my bartop and its much better, I also did oversized actuators to shorten the throw

[@P0IZEN]

Good job Eric, I might do the same for my mk cab. You actually have more movement and accuracy with square gates, they are standard on Japanese sticks. The octagonal gates are easier for most people to use since people tend to push the stick all the way to the gate. Square gate requires more finesse and muscle memory.

[@dumpsterfire7916]

Changed out mine with the springs today... Appreciate the vid 👍

[@8-BitEric]

Nice!

[@vmcinerneyvm]

8BENATION! love that 1up cab my dude!

[@312DOZIER]

A must have if you got the Mortal Kombat cabinet 👍🏾

[@crbquist]

Just put the octo gates on and I'm not sure how I feel about them... feels like it's much harder now to jump flip forward/backward. I'll give them some time but may end up putting the stock 4 way back on. Thanks for the video

[@ekahnoman7331]

The original square ones have rounded corners, so it's similar to an octagon. Not that restrictive. Whereas the replacement octagon ones look smaller, possibly giving less range of motion.

[@JoyVisionStudio]

I noticed the stock ones are very rounded. When I put the octagon ones in it felt nicer initially but soon I found that some inputs were not working well so I quickly put the stock ones back in and the game controls great. I literally thought my cabinet might be defective at first, but it was just the replacement gates.

[@jeremyhuang13]

Nice video and good content. I bought this game for Nostalgic reasons... as a kid playing this at the local Walmart and spending a ton of quarters to beat the game over and over each and every week. I bought the A1U out of excitement. 2 weeks into it, I realized the sound is crap, joysticks are ok and the buttons that came with it cannot take any serious beating. 1.5 months later, I gutted the entire internal and changed out all the buttons to LED and better JS. A1U is made out of cheap MDF material that can't last long and marquees will turn GREEN on you after a year. They sell a minor dream that said "OMG, a mini arcade that reminded me of my childhood." But after spending $299 on it, you build it with excitement and realized after 2 weeks that this thing is trash. You might as well download an emulator and buy a $100 Joystick/6 buttons pad and play it on your large 75" TV screen. For nostalgic reasons, yeah... they sell a small pipe dream. I wouldn't buy another A1U... without modding it with a RaspberryPi.

[@amoshumphrey1136]

Excuse me sir but where do you buy the octagon things at ??? And thx for the video

[@8-BitEric]

Link below

[@randomgamer-st1ie]

Dumb question. For a game like MK, all the special moves are single taps (back,forward) (down,down). Why would you need an octagon gate? I get with Street Fighter the moves are quarter turn and half turn, and an octagon would help. And for the record you still have 8 way controls with the square gate on MK, or you wouldnt be able to jump forward or backward. I will however be getting 2 lb tension springs to tighten up the joysticks.

[@TumoFiji]

Very strongly considering doing this but was hoping you or someone could confirm that these joystick upgrades with these exact parts are compatible with the MK 12in1 (MIDWAY CLASSICS) model? Thanks!

[@greenlantern223]

Awesome upgrade my man

[@AmosHumphrey-d7x]

Will this work for the cocktail head to head cabinet

[@mikestein1024]

Thanks for the video man I gotta get this cab it'll be 3 of em

[@jameshumphrey7463]

Japanese use square gate way more accurate

[@CollaborationNation]

Not accurate in the sense that you have to cut the corners to pull off special moves.

[@Cybo-Man]

Japanese fighting cabinets use octo/circle gates. American fighting cabinets generally used HAPP sticks which is closer to square gate than an octo/circle gate.

[@jameshumphrey7463]

Happ style stick don't really have a gate more of a free floating micro switch setup which is why most American novice players feel more comfortable with the modded octo gates

[@randomgamer-st1ie]

@@CollaborationNation name one move on mk1, 2, or 3 that requires a sweep movement.

[@johnnycompton5374]

I have not opened the control deck on street fighter cab yet but from the video's I have seen it looks like those gates just pop off too is this not correct?

[@patrickryan256]

My back direction on p1 joystick doesn't work anyone have a clue as to why it wouldn't work

[@jsonk8340]

Thanks man. I replaced the springs as well and it feels completely different.

[@8-BitEric]

Nice!

[@darkempire2022]

Thanks I just ordered these after watching your video. Hope they help!

[@DeMoNFLiP84]

I appreciate the video! I just installed and tried playing on a Octagon Gate and I find that doing the Dragonpunch motion more inconsistent then when it had it on Stock Square Gate. Although I do recommend the Octagon Gates on a Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat 1up Machines I really believe that the Stock Joysticks are trash in general. Save future frustrations by reading this comment. Replace the Stock Joystick with a Sanwa Joystick. Also make sure you buy one with the correct pin connector specifically for your 1up Machine. There are 2 different boards! www.diyretroarcade.com/index.php/genuine-sanwa-jlf-tp-8yt-5-pin-joystick-1.html Thanks for reading!

[@JoyVisionStudio]

Not a flawless mod. It caused input issues when I installed them. Took them out and the game performs perfectly with the stock gates.

[@thefordracingaddict9643]

Are they a bit stiffer? And how it change the game? It is better?

[@wesbeebub]

So would a octagonal gate be good for the Final Fight cab also or is it just good for fighting games like mortal kombat?

[@8-BitEric]

i would say youre fine with what it comes with

[@JSunBurns]

As long as the stock restrictor plate allows two switches to become engaged at once, you should have eight-way controls. Maybe it's just me, but from the video footage, the stock plate looks as if it would allow this. I don't own one of these Arcade1Up cabinets but I have a lot of experience with arcade controls.

[@AvnerRosenstein-ULTRA-LXV]

The Square plate does allow for 8 but it's awkward. The square plate is more for very old school cabs like Pac-man which did not use diagonal movements. The Octagonal ones were the ones used for most fighting games for complete and easy movement into diagonal zones. Octagonal is more authentic to the originals and it does help in play.

[@johnnycompton5374]

so I don't see why this wont work on street fighter cab does anyone know for sure ?

[@killerklown79]

I added some octagon gates as well. I also threw in some generic sanwas that i added 4 pound springs too. They feel closer to happ competitions but not quite as tight. You can buy plug and play parts from diyretroarcade.com

[@rolandoflores9986]

killerklown79 do the 4lb springs make ur hand hurt?

[@killerklown79]

@@rolandoflores9986 Not at all. I actually bought 6 pound ones to upgrade them but i havent had a chance to install them. The 4 pound ones feel about the same as a happ stick just a bit looser.

[@shaneferreira007]

Thanks for the quick cheep mod going to order these

[@kato771]

Have you found an Octagonal gate that works for the street fighter cabinet? I've changed my MK squares out, which is so much better. I would love to change my street fighter squares, it is much needed.

[@defjosh8097]

Were you able to upgrade the street fighter ones?

[@kato771]

@@defjosh8097 No, I switched them out with some extra MK sticks that I had. The gen 1 sticks for the street fighter to small, not compatible with the any of the gates I've found online.

[@jgibbons510]

Way to go. Great video.

[@snowboardman420]

I was watching a video on the original mk cab and in the video it mentioned using the 8 way.

[@8-BitEric]

oh nice. i definitely changed mine

[@squaretops1]

can you mod the crappy speakers with better ones

[@bryanmoore2785]

Y'all is a good player

[@dbnpoldermans4120]

didn't mk have round gates? I prefer octa gates too for almost all game types tho.

[@thatoff-roaddude9515]

I'm having issues with down on the joystick with my mk and final fight cabinet.

[@patrickryan256]

Did you ever figure out what it was

[@thatoff-roaddude9515]

@@patrickryan256 yes what I did was to open it up blown air in the cables and attached it tighter...I believe it comes loose with play or hitting it hard.

[@patrickryan256]

@@thatoff-roaddude9515 i will give it a try my back direction doesn't work on my player 1 and its driving me crazy cause I just put a 4lb spring in it

[@thatoff-roaddude9515]

@@patrickryan256 oh to be honest I wouldn't trust that I did my pac man and it hasn't been right since it literally stops moving and I misplaced the original spring I would say u'd probably get better results changing to sanwa joysticks I'm gonna eventually do that to pac man to get it up in running...lol my family be highly upset when I tell them it's still out or order 🤣🤣

[@patrickryan256]

@@thatoff-roaddude9515 i did it to my ms.pacman and it makes a huge difference but my mk cab has been messed up before I replaced the springs

[@aharonfernandez6359]

bro if you could only move in for directions how would you jump foward....think about it.

[@AgentZero07]

I tried that $12 hack. And it ain't worth the toilet paper a wipe my ass on. You want the true arcade experience. Get Sanwa joystick in button switches. Unbeatable!!!!

[@fastminivan]

I plan on swapping mine out as well 🤓 . Also is one of your white washers missing on the top right corner of your control board underneath the protector?

[@JsLaval]

The best is just change all of the joystick for sangwa

[@dwarfer2309]

I’ve don the same thing shout out to cool toy on KZbin for letting us know about this upgrade

[@Metalpug79]

Something had to be swapped out for a better part on an Arcade1UP cabinet?? Shocking. lol 🕹

[@8-BitEric]

Metalpug79 no one said it was shocking

[@Metalpug79]

8-Bit Eric haha, it wasn’t a slight against you, more their products. I think it was a nice upgrade that I’m sure made it much better. Just saying how there’s been so many videos put out from so many different channels where you guys had to swap out a part to make it much better, or even in some situations, playable. Hopefully they eventually get to the point where these machines have to be fixed far less frequently.

[@killerklown79]

@@Metalpug79 Your not entirely wrong. The wave one cabinets were plagued with issues. Arcade 1up has addressed those issues and stand behind there games. They now include plexiglsss control panel covers and better sticks and buttons. The new ninja turtles and starwars cabs have better monitors from e3 reports. I had issues with my pacman monitor having lightbleed. They replaced it for free. I think for the price there great as they are and for modding. I think if they continue to grow as a company we'll see even better products.

[@retroamusementsnl4780]

Happ 8 way competition joysticks 🕹 are the best!

[@aharonfernandez6359]

then how would you jump foward...think abou what you wrote

[@robertevans1343]

I Need To Buy A Mortal Kombat Arcade in 2023

[@evilash570]

I need those for the street fighter cab

[@mr.nuna916]

It's impossible to remove that fucking ribbon cable

[@ComicJabroni]

#8BENATION Awesome vid bruh! Gotta get me an Arcade 1up

[@hmdj2240]

Nice

[@sibusky7554]

I went to that ebay link fricken $100 for a peice of plastic hell nah

[@8-BitEric]

ohkay

[@bkrich]

If the sticks are sanwa clones you should also try oversized actuators to shorten the throw, I did it to my sanwas and it’s great www.focusattack.com/kowal-1mm-oversize-actuator-for-sanwa-jlf-series-joystick/

[@JSunBurns]

Philips Wrench? lol

[@kingzfull3701]

Lots of misinformation in this video.

[@8-BitEric]

yeah? well since you know it all please inform. how was me actually changing the gates misinformation?

[@Cybo-Man]

Kingz Full Agreed

[@Cybo-Man]

8-Bit Eric Octagonal gates and square gates are both 8-way. The difference is the amount of throw in each direction. Square gates have deeper diagonals and tighter vertical and horizontal which makes it easier to pull off the moveset that games like MK require. MK uses less diagonals, while SF2 uses diagonals more often for many moves, this is why an octagonal gate is better for SF2. But really it comes down to preference. Imo octagonal gates are kind of like training wheels anyway. It's meant for riding the edge, but there's much more throw. Square gates give you a much closer gap which allows for faster inputs to the switches for horizontal and vertical moves and resets back to the center faster.

[@gfunk8629]

Agee with 👑 z

[@evanrune1]

@@Cybo-Man ^^^^ Ultimo's sooo right I was thinking the same thing. Glad I wasn't the only one thinking this.