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.

Comments

this is headline news?

[falcon5768]

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

Re:this is headline news?

[badasscat]

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

Not only has the damn thing been out for more than a year, there are already dozens of reviews posted, many from more reputable sources. As you can see, pretty easy to find them too.

I've just learned to expect that every day or so a story like this will slip through. It'd be one thing to announced that the trackball has actually shipped (something a lot of people have been waiting for for a long time!) - that'd be news, honestly. But a new review of their base controller that those who need already have? No, this is not news. I was disappointed when I clicked through; I thought this must be a new product.

Re:this is headline news?

[PurpleFloyd]

Have you ever actually played an arcade game (and I don't mean via MAME, I mean played a real game in a real cabinet)? The controls have a certain "feel" to them that simply cannot be easily replicated. This is mostly due to the fact that while almost all keyboards, joypads and the like on the market use rubber dome switches, arcade machines (and, presumably, the X-arcade) use microswitches designed to be hammered upon by excited and frustrated kids.

Obviously, the parts in this thing aren't cheap, and since it's a fairly small-run item, each customer has to bear a significant portion of the manufacturing costs. Still, there are a lot of kids who cut their teeth on '80s arcade games who are just now becoming sucessful in the corporate world. These people have money to spend, and are willing to spend it to create a nostalgic experience.

Basically, it's a hobby item. You might not spend $5000 on an elaborate model train setup, but there are enough model train fanatics in the world to support a small industry. The situation with the X-arcade is similar - while the customer base certainly isn't mainstream or huge, it is dedicated, has money, and is large enough to support an (apparently) successful business producing replica arcade controllers for the PC.

old school?

[F13]

shouldn't that be old skool!?

cowabunga man! totally tubular..!

IANAET (English teacher) but I'm mortified

[The I Shing]

You can tell the reviewer has spent a lot more time playing videogames than learning how to punctuate and spell.

Proofreading: The Anti-Suck

build your own

[Anonymous Coward]

using this -> http://www.ultimarc.com/ipac1.html

Just build your own, it's very simple.

[Anubis333]

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.

For the full experience...

[darnok]

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!

Re:Linux drivers

[cyrax777]

Xarcade doesnt need drives it plugs in thru the ps2 slot the buttons emulatate keyboard keys.

Sticks like these are _not_ analog.

[Anubis333]

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.

Hanaho Hotrod-SE

[UserChrisCanter4]

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.

To be fair, I only skimmed your tutorial...

[TheHonestTruth]

Here's two scenarios:

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