Over the weekend at Gamescom, Retro-Bit showed off a brand new arcade stick for not only the SEGA Saturn, but for the SEGA Genesis/MegaDrive as well.
Alongside the Dreamcast wireless controller announced previously at Portland Retro Gaming Expo in 2023, Retro-Bit has shown off a brand new product for the Saturn, an actual fight stick.
While I was not able to try it out, the stick looked pretty sizable, about the same size as the original SEGA Saturn Fight Stick. While nothing has been 100% confirmed, as the designs are only a work in progress at the time of this article’s publishing, each stick should be able to support both the MegaDrive/Genesis and the Saturn depending on what adapter you connect it with, making picking the stick you want being an aesthetic choice rather than a usable one.
Proposed designs provided by Retro-Bit (Note: Will not be the final designs)
The Arcade Stick will feature:
- Support for both 2.4 GHz Wireless, via USB and Saturn Adapter, and Bluetooth connection.
- A 10ft USB Cable for charging the controller, on top of an option for Wired play.
- Stowaway slot for USB cable and receiver.
- Selector for use on Apple, Android, DInput, XInput, Nintendo Switch, SEGA Saturn (Or Genesis), SEGA Mini, and a “Retro” option.
- Easy swappable artwork for customization.
Retro-Bit touted this stick as ideal for both retro gamers who want to play on older consoles, as well as competitive players who want that classic arcade style of controller. The fight stick manufacturer has received some criticism however, due to the Astro City themed fight stick using a Taito Vewlix button layout:
Retro Bit, we need to talk.
— Mark Julio 『マークマン』 (@MarkMan23) August 25, 2024
You can’t do the Astro themed arcade stick with a Vewlix layout. Theres still time to do Astro proper.
More options are great. Struggling with this design. If you're going to do an Astro inspiration, do it right.https://t.co/ZeeT8edIVV
— F. Eiji Marinas (@hyp36rmax) August 25, 2024
For those of you not familiar with arcade button layouts, the original Astro City arcade machine buttons layout used an arch shaped button layout, which follows the length of your fingers to better rest on each of them.
The Vewlix layout, as the name implies, was used on the Taito Vewlix arcade machines. This button layout instead shifts the last three columns of buttons up slightly. This layout has been widely adopted by fight stick manufacturers in recent times, but both Hori and SEGA themselves have been adopting the SEGA layout on their recently released fight sticks.
Retro-Bit has responded to the criticism, saying the stick is a 3D printed prototype, and work will continue to be done:
Hey Markman,
— Retro-Bit Gaming (@RetroBitGaming) August 25, 2024
It js an early 3D printed prototype. We have more work to do. 🫡
Whether it switches to a SEGA button layout will remain to be seen, but if released, this will be a great alternative to the either expensive Japanese Saturn fight sticks, or an upgrade to the woeful Saturn US fight stick.
