Ever since I started playing video games, I’ve always played on a controller. The lovely Xbox 360 controller. The excellent PS4 controller. And now, the clunky and noisy PS5 controller. I’ve never owned an arcade stick. It wasn’t for lack of desire – even today, an arcade stick is a badge of gaming prestige, just like a Ferrari is a badge of driving. Imagine my shock when the Vitrix Pro FS showed up earlier this year and changed all that. At nearly 30, with no kids, no mortgage, an ever-increasing waistline and a receding hairline, I was theoretically the ideal market for such a product. It felt natural in my lap.
Vitrix is the esports/competitive brand of Performance Designed Products (PDP). While the company has various product lines aimed at different types of gaming enthusiasts, Vitrix makes no secret of targeting those who value high-performance, high-skill, and even professional gaming. At Evo earlier this month, Vitrix had a large booth, and you could see people wearing sponsored jerseys walking around with Vitrix sticks. Vitrix sticks are the kings of the competitive scene right now. This makes them a natural fit for the aspiring and esports-inspired. But how good are they for the passionate gamer in you?
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Before I get into the various features of this stick, I want to point out that this product is clearly aimed at fighting games, not other arcade games. It’s obviously for retro enthusiasts who like to play Pac-Man, and it might be very convenient, but this stick is clearly designed for playing fighting games at home and abroad. If you want a retro stick, you can buy a Vitrix Pro, but you can probably save a lot of money and buy a more suitable product elsewhere.
Let’s take a look at the stick itself! Inside the box is the Vitrix stick itself, a nice little carrying bag, a braided USB-C cable, and the joysticks wrapped separately. A spare joystick is also included inside the stick itself, and it snaps into place without wobbling. The stick also comes with a dust cap that covers the stick slot for easier packing and makes it harder to spill Monster Energy inside the stick. The joystick connects via a metal shaft on the outside that connects easily by simply lifting it up before inserting it, then releasing it. All in all, it takes only a few minutes at most to unpack and get the Vitrix ready to go.
As for compatible platforms, you can plug this thing into your PC, PS5, or PS4 and it will just work. Users simply open a hatch on the back of the Vitrix Pro and flip a small switch to their platform of choice. Then, it’s just plug and play. Easy peasy.
The stick itself is pretty heavy. It weighs about 3.5kg, so you can probably knock the hair out of someone with it and a big enough swing. It’s not too heavy to be easy to carry around, but heavy enough to stop it moving around while you play. That’s especially thanks to the foam knee pad built into its bottom hatch. You can play with this stick on your lap, on a table, on the floor or on a chair, and it won’t move unless you really want to toss it around. The foam plays a big role in comfort too – it’s not a cushion – but you can play with it on your bare legs for a long time without it getting uncomfortable.
Speaking of comfort, a lot of effort went into making this cane effortless for short or long periods of use. The material surrounding the shell is made from a single piece of aluminum, which means there are no gaps to pinch your fat and/or flabby fingers. This smooth material is angled to keep your hands in a comfortable resting position. I’m almost thirty and I can’t express enough how important it is to keep your wrists comfortable, and this cane makes that easy! Senior approved.
The stick itself measures about 41cm x 28cm x 6cm, so it’s pretty big. So you have to think about how to properly store a product like this. I’ve been leaving it on top of a pile of shirts in my closet for the past few weeks, but it would also be possible to tuck it under the bed or just leave it on the floor. The stick comes with plastic hooks on the front. These hooks are for wrapping cables around, but you could install a wall mount and show it off to your friends who have zero real life experience. Again, if you’re going to buy an expensive arcade stick, you’re probably already a grown-up with DIY skills. I’m not!
But most importantly, you can feel the quality when you put your hands on this joystick. And you should! For the price, the Vitrix Pro should be the best. It really looks good, with a smooth finish that almost gleams out of the box. I’m happy to report that the Vitrix Pro is a real joy to play with. Everything feels solid and smooth, there are no loose parts, and no loose components. The sound of the joystick and the bounce it has when it resets to neutral, the perfect crackle of the plastic of the Sanwa buttons. Everything about it is top quality. You can feel it in your heart, and this is the kind of product you want to show off to people. When you pull it out of the bag, you’re like, yeah, that’s right, I’m serious about this thing.
One of the great things about this stick is the customizability that’s heavily touted on its official store page, and that’s something to brag about as long as we’re talking about replacement parts. If you want to swap out the buttons or joysticks, that’s easy to do. All you need to do is grab a screwdriver, open the hatch on the bottom, and you can mix things up. However, for those who want to customize the look of the stick, hoping to swap out the shell for various memes and favorite characters, you’re basically out of luck. Instead, the Vitrix stick has alternate models featuring characters from Tekken 8, but if you were hoping to get Blazblue or the Art of Fighting Vitrix, good luck, you’re in for a long wait.
Durability is another key aspect of the Vitrix Pro, and as you’d expect for a product of this size, it’s designed for traveling gamers. I put it through the paces multiple times. I started small, slamming my fists into the buttons and the Vitrix case. I pushed it off a table onto the floor, dropped it face down and on its side with the hatch open. None of these left a mark, and there was no visible damage to the components. That being said, I’m not going to slam it (like Sanford Kelly The Freshmaker did), but for the common bumps and scrapes, the Vitrix Pro handles it just fine.
So, this stick is awesome. Okay, it’s cool, but it’s not only Is this an arcade stick? This is a top-of-the-line arcade stick, the best of the best. For traveling gamers, entering tournaments and winning them. It doesn’t get the best reviews when I’m sitting in my dark room playing online matches of Street Fighter 6 against unemployed Spaniards. To really test this, I have to take it on the road, which is why I’m taking it to Evo 2024.
The most obvious thing about the Vitrix Pro when taking it on tour is its size. At home, it’s nice to have such a large club. But when you’re traveling the world and walking around convention centers all day, some of its pros can turn into cons. First, it doesn’t fit in the backpack I usually use for short trips. If I want to carry it with me all day to tournaments, I’ll need a new bag, too. As for taking it on a plane, I threw it in my duffel bag and prayed that British Airways didn’t send it to Korea.
Thankfully, the club made it to Las Vegas with me and survived the trip unscathed. Normally for tech in a cargo bag, I would wrap it in a towel or pack it in a protective case, but with the Vitrix and its durability, I just threw it in the bag and it was fine. While a Starbucks gift cup would break into a million pieces, the Vitrix Pro would survive that. When it comes time to take it to a tournament, that’s where the Vitrix Pro’s built-in handles come into play. There’s plenty of room on either side of the club for you to use, allowing you to easily hold it in your hands. Even with all that, I’d still recommend carrying a backpack for anything but the shortest of hikes.
At Evo, I saw enough people with a real competitor to the Vitrix Pro in their hands that it’s worth bringing it up as a point of comparison. While the Vitrix Pro is a big box with a shiny joystick, the other major killer in the world of fighting game peripherals is the Hitbox, or rather the Snackbox from Junkfood Custom. They’re smaller, lighter, joystick-less competitors to the Vitrix, and they’re arguably more convenient for travel and tournaments. They’re easier to carry around, and easier to personalize with custom faceplates. Sure, you might break it with your knee, and an over-the-shoulder toss to the pavement might spell the end of your tiny little hitbox, but that’s a trade-off many are willing to accept.
It’s a compliment for me to say that the main competition for the Vitrix Pro isn’t other arcade sticks, but smaller hitboxes. It’s worth noting that there is a hitbox variant of the Vitrix Pro, but it retains the same size and look as the regular model. Ultimately, as a buyer, you have to make a decision based on preference and what’s most important to you. If you value premium feel, great looks, and the highest quality parts, then I highly recommend the Vitrix Pro fight stick. If you prefer ease of portability, keeping it light, and being able to stylize your controller, then you may want to look at other hitboxes on the market.
Personally, I love the Vitrix Pro Fight Stick. You have to drag me back to the PS5 controller to kick and scream when playing fighting games. The way it feels, the way it looks…it’s exactly what I imagined a top-of-the-line arcade stick would be like when I was a teenager. I would absolutely recommend it to any fighting game fan with some spare cash who wants to take their hobby to the next level.
You can buy the Vitrix Pro Fightstick now for $399 / £300 / $399.99
