New Street Fighter-Themed Fight Pads Have Unique, Tournament-Grade Features

If you prefer to use a controller instead of a fight stick for your fighting games, then you should take a close look at the upcoming Street Fighter editions of th Hori Fighting Commander Octa. It's available in two cool Street Fighter designs, shown below, and is a nice alternative to the many (and pricier) fight sticks available on the market. Preorders are now available ahead of its August 16 release, so consider reserving a unit if you want to get your hands on it as soon as possible. This isn't the first Fighting Commander controller for PC based on a recent fighting game. A Tekken 8-themed model released earlier this year.

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These wired PC gamepads are available with artwork featuring either Cammy or Juri. Regardless of which you pick, you're getting a controller built for quick button and bumper inputs, a D-pad designed for precise directional inputs, and a unique analog slide pad to help you navigate in-game menus. It comes with six face buttons instead of the usual four, plus four additional bumpers on the top of the controller.

The gamepad is officially licensed by Capcom and is built to be a competition-grade fight pad. So if you're looking for a way to up your game but don't want to worry about using a fight stick, this is a great alternative. You'll even get access to the Hori Device Manager companion app to help you manage button assignments and adjust your D-pad. That's a lot of value for $60.

If you're a console player, the Fighting Commander Octa is also available for PlayStation and Xbox, but in plain black color schemes. The PlayStation version is available for $55 (was $60) at Amazon, while the Xbox version is $43 (was $50). Both of these controllers also work with PC.

Of course, if you do prefer fight sticks, there are plenty of options to choose from--and many are currently on sale at Amazon ahead of Prime Day. One of the best budget fight sticks is the 8BitDo Wireless Arcade Stick for Xbox (and PC), which is officially licensed and offers eight large buttons and a responsive arcade stick. Usually sold for $120, it's just $96 right now for Prime members. You'll find even more great deals below.

And if you need a copy of Street Fighter 6 to pair with your new controller, you can grab it for only $25 at GameSpot sister site Fanatical.

Best Fight Stick Deals

• 8BitDo Wireless Arcade Stick for Xbox -- $96 ($120)
• Mayflash F300 Arcade Fight Stick -- $60 ($80)
• Victrix Pro FS Fight Stick -- $350 ($400)
• Qanba N3 Drone 2 Wired Joystick -- $110 ($145)
• Qanba B1 Titan Wired Joystick -- $180 ($240)
• Hori PS5 Fighting Stick Alpha - Tekken 8 Edition -- $198 ($230)