More than any other kind of controller, arcade sticks connect gaming’s past with the present. Resoundingly tactile, hefty, and often expensive, they’ve left the confines of dingy sticky-floored arcades and are now resoundingly part of the fighting game and esports scene. The original Nacon Daija was one of the arcade stick highlights of the last generation, and Nacon, with help from fighting scene star Kayane, have reworked it for the new era.
The new Nacon Daija comes in PS5 and Xbox flavours, with white and black colour schemes to match. Both are wired via a detachable USB-A cable and will also work with PC alongside the chosen console version. We reviewed the PS5 version, with this one boasting a large PlayStation logo on the front and a nice colour scheme to match Sony’s latest and greatest – though personally I’d probably prefer it in black. The body of the Daija looks, at first glance, more or less identical to the original version, but there’s been a number of tweaks to the formula to ensure that this is absolutely amongst the best sticks out there.
The Nacon Daija is weighty, just as it should be. That heft, combined with the large rubberised plate on the bottom of the unit means that it won’t go anywhere when placed on a table. That said, it’s not uncomfortable if you prefer to play with the stick in your lap, its weight simply stops it from shifting around at the wrong moment.
For fans of tinkering, you can access all of the innards of the Daija, opening up the case to reveal a cubby hole for your cable, the alternative bat top for the stick, and a hex screwdriver and metal coin for taking off the faceplate and tightening the stick. From here you can also fiddle with the wiring and swap out any of the components that you need to.
That customisation extends to the swappable art, with three options included in the box and the ability to easily make your own. The access switches for the internals are now recessed – a huge improvement over the original Daija which would pop open at the lightest touch. The old ones were also bright red and cheap-feeling, and in the long run really reduced the look of the stick. The new version looks far sleaker and premium without them.
The stick and main face buttons are all Sanwa stock, with the micro switches of the stick itself feeling crisp and responsive out of the box. The lever did initially produce a discernible squeaking, but this lessened in the first few days with it. The Sanwa face buttons do have a little wiggle to them, but they’re swift and sensitive in use. They’re also relatively quiet, which is a big bonus if your partner or housemates have to put up with you playing games, even if I prefer a more definite click like you get from Hayabusas. You can of course pop in whichever buttons you prefer.
The touchpad, Options, Share and L3/R3 are situated on the right-hand side of the case and they’re easy enough to locate once you’ve got used to their positioning, though I’d have preferred both Options and Share to be larger for the sake of ease. There’s a lock switch on the front panel at the top, making sure you’re not going to knock something when you’re about to take home the trophy, as well as a Profile button for quickly shifting between different setups you’ve created in the accompanying software. It’s a shame that there isn’t a PS5 app for this, relying on the fact you’ve got a PC or Mac available to make any changes, but that’s not really something that console manufacturers tend to allow for third parties.
Nacon have made the sensible choice to retain the 3.5mm headphone socket too, which so many sticks lack. You can’t underestimate how important this little feature can be, ensuring that you’re connected to chat while gaining low audio latency to accompany the stick’s swift wired response.
The original Nacon Daija had one failing that kept it from the hearts and minds of many pro fighters, and that was the mildest hint of input lag. This was addressed with firmware updates during the Daija’s life, and they’ve made it clear that this has been a major focus for the new model, with the PC version polling as low as 4ms while the PS5’s poll rate is 6ms. In use with the SF6 Beta, movements and attacks felt absolutely responsive, and the only whiffing that happened was due to my own ineptitude. Following up with Guilty Gear Strive and a spot of Granblue Fantasy I felt wholly in control; there’s immediacy to every button press and its resulting action.
Coming in at an RRP of £279 the Nacon Daija is a major investment, but then you get what you pay for with arcade sticks. It’s also actually available to buy, and given that arcade stick manufacturers seem to make far fewer units than there are fighting game players, that’s a serious thing to consider. Of the alternatives, the Mad Catz EGO is cheaper and multiplatform, but you have to connect external controllers to bring it into whichever console ecosystem you’re playing on. The Hori Fighting Stick is also a step cheaper, with a similar level of easy customisation, but has Hayabusa parts rather than the Sanwa stock in the Daija. If money is no object the Victrix Pro FS remains the Ferrari of the fight stick garage, but its availability also remains non-existent.