Joystick Vs. D-PAD... What's your choice?

Most definitely d-pad, as long as 2D is concerned... in 3D, analog joystick comes in handy

I vote D-Pad, only because it's practical.

I prefer sticks when playing Pre-NES games.
I mean, I wasn't fond of the Intellivision's disc compared to Atari sticks.

Traditional sticks are only good for Arcade games. On PSP I use the D-Pad more often because I fucking hate the nub. I don't know.

Definitely D-pad, it suits best for gaming. I have a stick of joy I use for other things :P.

I see what you did there.

I personally prefer the D-Pad due to the easier and more precise control I have over it. All I have to do is slide my thumb across it and I get a perfect response.

A joystick feels like I'm trying to change gear with a jammed gearstick in a Moke with a broken gearbox.

I'd have to say D-Pad. The pads of the 6-button controllers from
Sega are very precise quick and overall best. Maybe games like
Mortal Kombat can be played a bit better with a joystick, but it is
not like the D-Pad is a very noticeable handicap.

But obviously there are some games where the joystick wins, like
Flightsimulators or racing games about MotoGP etc.

Dpad all the way.

You really only use a joystick for the big ass buttons...pianoing is important, and controllers can't really do it.

Apart from pianoing, you can also hit hard/complicated to hit button combinations, like HP+LK/MK for stupid fighting games that have stuff like that.

The dpad is actually easier to use, and more precise than the joysticks are.

Pianoing is the big defining difference.

Joystick for everything but RPGs and button clenchers where the shoulders are constantly needed. Preferably of the all american bat variety.

It really depends on the game. There is no one perfect controller for everything.

Try to pull a "Taunt jet Upper" in Tekken with a d-pad, or try to execute perfect EWGF's with kazuya, that will tell wich one is the better control for fighting games, but I can play almost any type of game with an arcade stick without problems.

There's also some games for the Genesis that are better suited for a joystick: Jewel Master, Kid Chamaleon, Mega Turrican, Ghostbusters, Ghouls'n Ghosts and Rolling Thunder 2 & 3.

D-Pad for me, but only because I've never had a chance to get used to an arcade stick.

Depends on the D-pad. After a while most like to dig into my thumb (I'm looking at you NES controller!) and really on a while I like arcade joysticks the best, even for simple 2D games like Ms. Pac-Man. They just feel better.

To me, it really depends on the exact joystick and pad that is being compared. The Genesis 6 button and Saturn pads are the finest digital pads ever made, and I would take those over pretty much any joystick not made of actual arcade parts. Also, many people say the stick isn't as precise as the d pad, but that is due to the fact that most sticks are pretty loose and sloppy. A Seimitsu ls-32 is extremely precise and my preferred stick for shooters. A stock Sanwa JLF is sloppy, but a tighter spring makes it awesome.

The game type makes a difference as well. For fighters, definately a stick, there are simply things I can't do with a pad. Side scrolling beat em ups I prefer the stick, but have no problems with pads (although stick must be stiff for double taps.) Platformers are pad only for me. Run and gun games vary, if it uses just a few buttons I prefer the stick, but I couldn't imagine trying to play Contra 3 with anything but a pad.

I used joystick only few times in order to make myself feel like I was time warped into 1990's days of arcade madness that I really never got a chance to be there since I was too young but did play some real arcade games back in late 1990's which I suck at it as a younger child. I used Joystick for NES a LOT at someone's house back than.

But MOST of time I rather be using D-pad instead.

LOL, I just had one of my flashback that show me as a kid being afraid of that Area 51 demo gameplay in arcades, I always stool in fear watching it and run away from it. But now I want that game for PS1.

Edit: This is making feel like I really want to start using joystick for some arcade style games.

I prefer D-Pads for most games, but I attempt to use a Joystick when I play my Atari 2600. As for arcade Joysticks, I can't comment on them, as I have no idea what they feel like.