Slashdot Mirror
X-Arcade MAME Dual Controller Rated
VL writes "Keyboards and mice are great for gaming, but sometimes you need something old school... especially when playing those MAME classics - here's ViperLair's review of the X-Arcade dual controller." X-Arcade also makes a single-player version, and a sturdy-looking trackball.
How will kids of today handle the trach ball controller. Many of the ones I know say they are just to simple. I see something like this only holding for us old school gamers and not the mass market.
Evolution or ID?
The old arcade go a long with the games. Playing pong and other classics arn't the same. It would be like Window's without can crashes, or Linux without Tux...
Anyways, the made a controler for soul cabibor (sp) 2, one universal for all consoles...
Why don't see see more of this stuff popuarlized for the computer? I know very few people who have a joystick or joypad.
x86, oh yes, I'm pro.
its been out for a year now, actually i think longer, how is this headline news, it seems more like a ad to me. now if the guy MADE them himself like i know a lot of people have and posted how, then i would be impressed
"Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."
cowabunga man! totally tubular..!
I would love to have one of these that would work with my Linux computer that doubles as a Mame arcade, I currently am using these controllers for gaming on my Windows computer and they are great. There are several different styles of controllers for PC now that are great and that easily compare to anything available in the console arena.
I love mine, personally. I bought all the adaptors except for the one I really need: usb. apparently, my keyboard port doesn't output nearly enough electricity to power the thing, and performance on pc is sluggish at best. works great on my xbox, and the gamecube version of soul calibur 2, while great with a standard wavebird, shines with the x-arcade.
Mirror (faster) Here .
You can tell the reviewer has spent a lot more time playing videogames than learning how to punctuate and spell.
Proofreading: The Anti-Suck
You are in error. No-one is screaming. Thank you for your cooperation.
using this -> http://www.ultimarc.com/ipac1.html
It's loading a little slow for me, so here's a mirror.
if they make the trackball one for xbox (i see the joystick one is...) i'd buy that in a heartbeat. it'd be great for tiger woods golf... the single and dual joystick... i dunno, they just seem like they're for kiddies... but perhaps i'm wrong... i could see how gamers would like them for fighting games...
the x-arcade trackball has been in "preorder" status for over a year now... maybe it'll see light of day before half-life 2... *Shrug*
there's been plenty of x-arcade reviews before, I'm not sure what's "new" about this one...
e.
Build Your Own PVR/HTPC news, reviews, &
Does this work in Linux? Last time I tried to get a joystick working in Linux it was a nightmare.
Kevin Steele did a review comparing x-arcade, hotrod, slick stick (custom mondo arcade control panel), and one other...
retroblast has the review (even has a video review with some cheeky production value) =)
e.
Build Your Own PVR/HTPC news, reviews, &
The one complaint I'd have with the x-arcade is that it's a little tough for two adults to stand side by side and play a game without feeling "crowded"... although they are close enough to play a nice game of robotron... but you can take your friends teeth out if while performing zangief moves in 2player street fighter II =)
I actually used x-arcade joystick and buttons (from an ebay auction... like 20 bucks for 2 happs super clone joysticks and 20 buttons) on my taito mame cabinet conversion
The buttons are made a little bit cheaper/thinner plastic than happs/etc and use cheaper zippy microswitches (as opposed to cherry brand switches) but pretty solid overall... they've survived numerous track and field poundings =)
e.
Build Your Own PVR/HTPC news, reviews, &
A rotary knob would be nice on one of these for:
Major Havoc
Tempest
Tron (and DoT)
and maybe others...
eleven plus two / twelve plus one
all you need is some joysticks and buttons.. (happ controls)http://www.happcontrols.com/
a M$ usb gamepad a soldering gun and some wood
and time.
you just solder onto the sidewinder pcb.. so that your pc thinks it's a sidewinder but the buttons and joysticks are old skool arcade ones.
actually I am happy to see you, however that is in fact a banana in my pocket.
I wrote a tutorial a while back on building one of these control panels, and also building a cabinet to go with it. It's really very easy to wire up, you can see the buttons on the page linked in the story.
Please check it out, because it's a great project to do, and it's very simple, these X-Arcade and Hotrod guys are just raping people; you can build one of these dual sticks for about 20 dollars, and it's a lot of fun.
it's gonna have to emulate: ...
- the "clunk" of a controller that's been bashed slightly beyond its designated left/right/up/down extremes by a million users overdosed on Jolt and Mountain Dew
- the strange sticky feel that comes from having Coke dribbled into the controller drop by drop over several years
- the strange smell that comes from the carpets and walls of old video arcades. Male sweat + flatulence + cigarettes + dope +
- the smeared screen that's been touched by 1000 "helpers" trying to tell the game player what to do next
When it does all this, count me in!
A word of warning to people. These type of control panels do not have analog sticks _or_ buttons. And most games for modern consoles _require_ them. These sticks are only for a few fighting games on next gen consoles, and not to be used instead of a controller. You cannot play halo on these.. however, at Software Etc we get these back all the time with that same complaint.
is a dial for playing Tempest.
Using the keyboard is just not the same.
"Trademarks are the heraldry of the new feudalism."
Like a baseball and a bat?
http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/klee/misc/slash dot.html
What I am really interested in for my mame emulator is more games. There used to be a couple fast mame sites which you can download ROMs for. All of them have been pulled offline.
Why get a controller if you can't even find games anymore??
I purchased a Hanaho HotRod-SE around Christmas. Similar idea; Hanaho is a huge arcade cabinet producer, and gradually got into this as a side business. The controllers have a PS/2 passthrough, and do nothing more than emulate keypresses while using a microcontroller to allow many buttons to be pressed simultaneously. The controller runs $99 rather than the $150 here. The only downsides I can see:
-The controls on both units are spaced too closely. This makes it a little smaller overall than an arcade cabinet's control area, and forces you to get a bit too friendly with your neighbor. The 1-player X-Arcade's would solve this, but they're $99 each instead of the $150 for the dual unit, and with two one-player controls you lose the "feel" of that arcade machine.
-When using a USB->PS/2 adapter, the Hotrod's signal would get "jammed up". If a button or direction was pressed for about two seconds, it would stop responding, unless another button was pressed in there somewhere. Not a big problem with shooters where you're frequently mashing the fire button, but Street Fighter pained me sometimes. I had to abandon my idea of using iton my home theater computer through a USB hub wired in the rear of my livingroom (to minimize wiring), and instead had to run a big-ass PS/2 extension.
-The keys are all hard-wired equivalents of various buttons on the keyboard ('r', 6, etc.). One of these keys is, for no logical reason, 'alt', which MAME ignores but some emulators have an issue with.
-Shipping was $20 for ground, which was pretty damned irritating, as it represented 1/5 the cost of the controller. To be fair, I have no idea what the X-Arcade's shipping costs.
If I had a choice again, I would probably still stick with the Hanaho unit, though. For $50 the USB complaint is extremely minor, and the 'alt' problem can be worked around. I do lust after those adapters that would let me throw down some XBox soul caliber, though.
1: I follow your tutorial. I buy a soldering iron and solder stuff. I have wires everywhere (and my wife is growing increasingly annoyed with my "project"). It takes me at least a couple days working after work on it. Crap, I messed something up. I solder some more. OK, I'm finished. Tada, working controller, albeit not very pretty because I'm not good at making things look nice. A couple months go by, it breaks after heavy use. Go back to the beginning.
2: I order the X-Arcade off the net. It arrives. I plug it in and play. A couple months go by and it breaks. I ship it back, they fix it for free. Repeat.
Sorry, but scenario 2 seems better to me. Maybe it's because I bought a mac, but I personally just want something that works and works now. I don't want to build my own. It's great that it can be done and that you did it. I'm sure you do (and should) take great pride in your accomplishment. But that's not what I'm looking for. I'll pony up the money if I don't have to dick around with making it myself. But that's just me.
-truth
I had a steady B+ in my AI class until I failed the Turing test...
The 49-way joystick (12 gradations in four directions plus center) to me would've made it worth the price along with a rotary knob and trackball. As it stands, Sinistar had one of the most complicated joystick arrangements in terms of control points.
Really, folks, this is $150 we're talking about here. That's not chump change. I honestly expected more.
Well, if you're limiting yourself to the genres where these input devices really shine (FPS, RTS, RPGs) then you can say they're great.
:p). Perhaps I'm missing something, but I don't see the point of playing an action or fighting game with a device not designed to let you press more than one key at once. And don't get me started on offline multiplayer or when trying to play while in any other place but an office desk.
But a control pad is definitely not "old school" it has seen more innovations in the last decade in terms of responsiveness, force feedback, analog control, durability and ergonomics than any other input device in history. Just look at the PS2 controller in its third generation, look at the N64's, Gamecube and even the SNES pads, they ooze polishness and innovation at the beginning of each console's life-cycle.
Compare that to keyboards, which are not really designed for games and that haven't changed at all for how long? Twenty-something years? And what about the mouse? The middle button is not even standard! The scroll wheel seems to be achieving that status faster (but ooooh, we have optic mice now *drools*
Really, the "old school" devices here are the keyboard and mouse. They may work great with some games that are _designed_ around the limitations and advantages of those input devices, but if you want to see the future, look at the advances in HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) on game consoles, especially the upcoming portable ones.
Things like X-Arcade controllers will always have a market because they are input devices designed for games, not the other way around.
- Otaku no naka no otaku, otaking da!!!
As someone who regularly competes in arcade environments, I can say with enough authority that no one looking for anything more than nostalgia should buy an X-Arcade. The parts are really, really cheap quality compared to those used in decent arcades these days (http://www.happcontrols.com), the stick spring is ridiculously loose, and the buttons are rather unresponsive. Either make your own or grab a MAS (http://www.massystems.com).
I once worked out that my notebook could recieve at least 10 or 12 keypresses simulatanously, while the ps/2 keyboard could only do 5 or so..
I had some program that lit up the key you were pressing or something...
What's the difference there?
Live in your skin. Keep changing the scenery.
The X-Arcade controller is pretty old now. I build a Mame Arcade cabinet with it build in. Check out http://www.mame-arcade.com
30% off web hosting. Coupon code "SLASHDOT".
I used to play MAME using a PS2 controller, but I quickly knew I had to buy a X-Arcade in order to properly play fighting games or shooters. The article mentions that the devide is heavy, but I found it not heavy enough when two players are caught up in the game and frantically shake the joystick in all directions. I guess I should fill mine with concrete or something like that.
--JC
I had an "OzStick" custom made. (Australian company).
It works in Linux and Windows as a keyboard - usb and ps2 and configurable with an I-PAQ controller inside. I don't need to configure anything in either OS whatsoever, it just works straight away.
I consider it to be a much more authentic and usable controller.
Site at http://home.iprimus.com.au/ozstick/
I bought one of these months ago , and I live in South Africa , so this is hardly New news , well to me at least. They are great joysticks I got it with the additional USB converter, for shits and giggles with it that way it's easier to move this huge thing around , my converted dinninng room table is not big enough to keep it next to my computer permantly, so usb is a better bet than plugging it into the back of my machine in the keyboard slot. You just jack it in and it works, it's great I get a kick out of the coin buttons on the side in mame, and the same side buttons as flipper buttons in my pinball simulator. It's better than a real arcade cause i keep it clean , i rember as a kid all the aracdes around here where sticky or grimy, chances are if I miss that i can always put some food over the controler
Whats really sureal , is plugging my duel x aracde into my 14 inch mac iBook, the controller is bigger than the machine.
I Guess if I had a Nokia N-gage and plugged it into that it might be even more sureal, maybe it's just becasue I rember the aracdes being so big, who did the hole in the coin with fishing gut " old skool hack/theft" back in the day , you know 1989
I would love to see this type of controller with the games built right in like they are doing with the old atari controllers with the 10 in 1 games. This is something I would certainly pick up. Perhaps having a flash card reader for adding more games. Certainly, it would end up being another console but what a great way to get all your classic arcade games right on the tv.
As a person who is building their own Control Panel, I took a bit of advice from the 'masters' and went over to http://www.arcadecontrols.com . They have this book called "Project Arcade" (http://www.projectarcade.com/) and it's a great book on taking 3 sheets of MDF boards and building your own full blown 7' tall arcade machine and shoving all sorts of buttons, spinners, trackballs, and even a StarWars yoke into it! Me? I built one with 27 buttons (1P,2P, coins, 7 button per players, etc) trackball and spinner. It took me quite some time to do it but with the proper layout, the right tools, and some good equipment it's turned out beautiful. So for those of you that just want to THINK that you are getting the real thing are not getting anything farther from the truth. If you want the real thing, BUILD the real thing, everything else uses cheaper buttons and joysticks that won't give you the long lasting effect that one you can build and design from the ground up.
Wheel of Time: Book by Book and Sumview (summary review) Bigdady92 style: http://bigdady92.blogspot.com/
X-Arcade is about $150 and I-Pac is about $40 or $42 with USB last I looked. With the I-Pac you still need to buy your own wire, arcade components, and connectors. Instead of buying an I-Pac, just buy two cheapo USB digital joypads, and solder the connections. I did that and here is the pricelist for my arcade-quality USB joystick.
.188 crimp-on female flag connectors (for easy microswitch replacement on buttons and joystick)
$20 - 2 x 8-button USB joypads
$20 - 2 x 8-way joysticks from Happ Controls (on sale)
$16 - 16 x pushbuttons bought off the RGVAC newsgroup (I actually bought 20 for $20 but I used the other four on something else)
$2 - 14 gauge stranded wire
$2 - 16 x
$15 - 4'x8'x3/4" MDF plywood for base
$1.50 - 1 1/4" drill bit
$? - screws of nails to assemble base (I already had some)
Grand Total $76.50
That's all the parts you need to build your own. I needed a circular saw, a boxcutter, a drill, and a soldering iron for tools. YMMV. All you need to do is wire the positives to their respective place on the joypad circuit board and wire the grounds to a common ground on the joypad circuit board. Then you'll have to build a box for it all. I made a prototype out of some scrap 1/4" particle board before cutting on the MDF. I use the standard SF2 layout with two extra buttons on each player for coin and start. It took me 4 hours to wire the joypad and build a suitable box the first time I did it. Last time I did it in an hour, but I had a drill press at my disposal.
Oscar Controls makes spinners (even a Disc of Tron push/pull spinner!) for MAME cabinet purposes.
All high quality stuff, and Oscar has been a great contributor to the Build Your Own Arcade Controls community (msg board) All the above links are great for info on making mame cabinet, desktop controller or otherwise interfacing "real" arcade controls with your PC.
e.
Build Your Own PVR/HTPC news, reviews, &
$5 / month hosted VPS on linux = awesome!
I bought one of these a while ago, and I liked it a lot. The components are greate, but I found it was a little too small and cozy for playing SF2 with a bunch of other guys. I ended up rebuilding the case from scratch, and moving all the components over. I also put in a base that was reversible, with heavey duty suction cups on one side, for my glass coffee table.
Can you tell me which classics 'MAME' made back in the day?
PowerMate is okay, looks cool, but doesn't spin freely, so it feels different than it should.
My other first post is car post.
One thing most of you may have missed is:
:D ---Just digging a bit deeper into the main site
It comes with a 30-day Money back Quarentee, it has a "Lifetime Warranty", break a Button they send you a new one no charge. It also has "3-Modes" the user can use to program the buttons the way they want them to be.
...and I agree with you. All the blood, sweat and tears is not worth $150. By the way, you won't break it. It's totally solid.
My other first post is car post.
Rampart had the finest trackball of all. Weird game too: you built a castle out of tetris bricks, then defended it from pirates using your trackball guided cannonballs.
Vino, gyno, and techno -Bruce Sterling
OK, I haven't bothered to get MAME working in Linux yet, but in the MAME program I'm using in Windows it seems to only acknowledge 4 brands of joysticks/controllers, and will not recognize the cheap joystick I already own.
Is there a way around this?
Playing on the keyboard is OK, and the X-Arcade controller looks really kewl, but I just can't afford it right now.
Howdy Doodly Doo!
Anybody want some Toast?