Cosmox Gaming is best known for its leverless arcade controllers, and although it experimented with a modular joystick in its Hautepad X model, it has yet to fully embrace the more traditional arcade stick. Until now, that is.
The Hautepad C-AS is a dedicated fight stick with a couple of neat tricks up its sleeve. The first is that it takes inspiration from Cosmox’s own C-AT controller by including adjustable buttons, meaning you can raise or lower the height of each input to suit your preferences. The second is that it includes modular ‘LS’ and ‘RS’ buttons that can be swapped out for analogue sticks. So, much like the SWORL or the Hautepad X, you can use the C-AS for more than just fighting games – if you can get used to the setup, of course.
The RRP is around $250, but shop around a bit and you could easily find one for significantly less – possibly closer to the $130-140 mark.
Aesthetically, the C-AS is perhaps Cosmox’s boldest design to date. The metallic plate is a shining gold colour, covered with a subtle yet striking pattern made up of the company’s logo. Sounds garish on paper, sure, but it genuinely looks lovely in person. I received the gold version for review, but it’s also available in grey and purple. You've also got the usual LCD screen in the top left and some neat RGB lighting around the buttons and main body.
The stick itself feels good, but it needs a bit of work for future iterations. Cosmox has endeavoured to keep the C-AS as thin as possible, which means the stick isn’t made in the same way as industry-standard levers like Sanwa. It utilises microswitches for directional inputs, and while these certainly provide some nice, clicky feedback, it’s not quite on par with the arcade sticks from, say, Punk Workshop or Qanba.
The other, perhaps more pressing, issue is the lever's height. Coming out at 64mm (shaft and ball top included), it’s a smidge too high for me. It’s still perfectly usable, and you might personally find it perfect for your tastes, but I prefer a lever that sits a little lower.
The good news is that you can whip out the magnetic lever and swap it for another compatible option, if you have one available. I replaced mine with the lever from the Hautepad X (57mm high) and found this much more comfortable.
The main inputs contain Wind Engine switches, which feel nice and responsive while staying reasonably quiet (though you’re obviously going to get some auditory feedback when you’re whacking them at speed during a match in Street Fighter 6). You’ve got your standard eight action inputs along with an extra M1 input above and the two modular inputs at the bottom.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/hautepad-c-as-arcade-stick-for-switch-1-and-2-unique-and-eye-catching-but-improvements-are-needed
