I used to play in the cades a lot when I was much younger, then for years all I did was play at home. A while back I played SF with an arcade stick for the first time in over 11 years against K'Dash. He owned me pretty bad. But I have been practicing lately now I can't go back to a pad for the life of me. I can only use Vega with an arcade stick now. VF on the other hand is virtually IMPOSSIBLE to play without a joy stick. Seriously. I can do moves now with the stick that I was NEVER able to do with a pad, like Akira's knee. Honestly, nothing beats playing a fighting game with an arcade stick. IT may take some adjusting at first but in the end you will feel the difference, and the difference is HUGE. It's SOOOOO much easier to pull off moves now. I don't think I can ever play another fighting game seriously with a pad ever again.