Daija Arcade Stick – The first of its kind for Tekken 8 and Street Fighter 6

Nacon unveiled a new version of the Daija Arcade Stick during a preview of its upcoming games and hardware last week, which this edition will be the first of its kind to be fully PS5 compatible. That’s right: This also applies to all current sticks – but it’s a concession that will supposedly no longer exist in the future. Because, as Nacon has announced, brawlers like Tekken 8 and Street Fighter 6 should only work with dedicated PlayStation 5 hardware.

Was it a lapse that it was said at the press conference in this context that both games could come out in 2023? So far, there have been no official announcements about release periods from either Capcom or Bandai Namco. And maybe the year was only speculated optimistically in order to create a certain urgency for the purchase of the new stick. The comment was interesting nonetheless.

The successor to the PS4 controller, also called Daija, should come out in or around September. In contrast to the predecessor, this time there will also be an Xbox version, with Microsoft known to work with all input devices on both Series boxes and One consoles. All editions of the Daija are also PC-compatible.

Because details play a major role with this type of hardware, I had it shown to me in a little more detail. At first glance, the differences are hardly noticeable. The case is essentially the same, the cable will again be three meters long and Sanwa buttons and sticks will be used again.

This is where the differences start, however, because with the future model it should be easier to swap the stick for that of another manufacturer. Apart from that, the cable will be detachable in the future and no longer has to be stowed under a small flap on the back, but can be found in the main part of the interior. The buttons for opening then no longer protrude, but are recessed so far that the housing does not open by itself when transporting.

It also makes sense that the respective system button for activating the main menu or registering the controller is no longer on the right side, but on the top edge – where there is also a brand new button. For each mode (PC, PS4 and PS5 in the case of the PS5 stick) you can create four profiles in order to freely adapt the assignment of the buttons to different games. This requires using software that will only run on PC, Mac, and Xbox, but that should be a manageable compromise.

Last but not least, there is a clever switch that deactivates the functionality of all buttons that are not used for playing. So even aggressive button mashers don’t have to worry about accidentally bringing up the console menu. I also like the revised arrangement of the buttons on the right side of the stick better at first glance, because you should be able to feel more quickly which button your fingers are on.

It’s just not clear what price the Daija Arcade Stick will have. I was only told that it will be “slightly more expensive” than its predecessor. I’m curious if it’s worth the higher price. The small improvements definitely sound promising.