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Classic Games (Games) PC Games (Games) Entertainment Games Hardware

X-Arcade MAME Dual Controller Rated 146

Posted by timothy from the how-about-a-nice-weighted-optical-trackball dept.
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.
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X-Arcade MAME Dual Controller Rated More

X-Arcade MAME Dual Controller Rated

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  • 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.

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Sunday May 23, 2004 @09:20PM (#9234349)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • I agree, but maybe /. (Slashdot) is just a bit slow on the uptake.

      But when you think of it, controllers and the likes have been around for a long time, and there has been very little innovation (except for them biofeedback ones i saw a while back, that was kind cool, Click Here for more [slashdot.org]).

      What else can we expect?
      • Worse yet this VL (submitter for the article) is ViperLair. It is just to generate traffic to his website... all of VL's story submitions are just post on his website.
        (User vl has never even made a post)
        It is either sad that slashdot editors don't pick up on this or worse they know and are intentionally supporting it...



        • This article is clearly paid placement. The VL website is nothing more than a faux review website. These are ads that companies are paying for masquerading as content.
      • I agree, but maybe /. (Slashdot) is just a bit slow on the uptake.

        If you're going to explain an abbreviation you use only once, is it really worth it?

    • Re:this is headline news? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by badasscat ( 563442 ) <basscadet75@@@yahoo...com> on Sunday May 23, 2004 @09:43PM (#9234459)
      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 [google.com] 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.
      • If you want a trackball, check out the HotRod [hanaho.com] by Hanaho Games [hanaho.com].

        The pictures they have are of the older model, but you look at the Arcade PC, you can see the one with Track Ball.

        I own both the X-Arcade controller and the Hot Rod and the Hot Rod is a better product overall than the X-Arcade.

        Not only that, you get a lot of the original Capcom games with the controller.
        • HotRod looks nice, though it looks almost exactly like the X-Arcade, only with fewer buttons and different key mappings. It does look sturdier than the X-Arcade, though the X-Arcade is sturdy enough for most abuse. I like the X-Arcade because it you can just buy console (PS/2, Dreamcast, XBox, etc) adapters for it. Since I probably play more fighting games on consoles than MAME games, that's a big deal to me.

          BTW, I built my own arcade stick and several adapters (Dreamcast, PS/2, and PC). I probably spe
    • I agree, the news here is that they're selling this thing for $150/US. And there's probably someone buying it.

      • 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.

        • arcade machines (and, presumably, the X-arcade) use microswitches designed to be hammered upon by excited and frustrated kids.

          I'm sure the X-arcade uses microswitches like the modern arcade machines, but REAL arcade machines use leaf switches.
          • you mean like, Sanwa style sticks?

            if you do, YOU ARE THE MAN.
          • If you prefer leaf-switch buttons I would suggest the "official" Dreamcast arcade stick and a suitable adapter. It has only six buttons (plus start) but that's enough for the majority of games.

            Personally I use an Asciiware Playstation stick, which has eight buttons plus start and select. The buttons use pretty nasty bubble switches, but I prefer it over the Dreamcast one because the stick has a longer shaft and a slightly smaller ball that fits better into my small, girlish hands.

        • Actually I am in the process of making my own and am using cherry microswitched buttons from Happs. But I think the old skool machines all used leafspring switches, which don't click when you press them.

        • Re:this is headline news? (Score:3, Interesting)

          by bwy ( 726112 )
          arcade machines (and, presumably, the X-arcade) use microswitches designed to be hammered upon by excited and frustrated kids.

          While this may be true today (I haven't played a game in an arcade in years) it wasn't true 20 years ago. I have a Ms Pac cocktail in my dining room, an original Midway (not some brand new copy like they're now selling.) The original joysticks used leaf switches as opposed to micro switches. The difference in game play is pretty big IMHO. There is nothing like flying around t

        • Re:this is headline news? (Score:4, Interesting)

          by mdielmann ( 514750 ) on Monday May 24, 2004 @12:57AM (#9235232) Homepage Journal
          You're sorely lacking in research. Old games used leaf spring switches, newer used microswitches (sometimes). Leaf springs need maintenance to use for full lifetime, micros will probably work fine until complete failure (like most electronic hardware). And the price for each button (either kind, last time I checked) were measured in dollars (one or two per). Either hooks up the same way. Piecework may have a bearing on the price (and bet that it is still pretty high), but the type/quality of switches has little bearing on the cost. As said before, Happ [happcontrols.com] is a good reference to find out more. My prices might be off somewhat, but I won't be looking too much more until I can afford to build my own.
          • I built my own control panel a few years back, and it costs some serious money and time to do it right.

            Let's see:

            2 8-way joysticks : 30
            18 push buttons : 32
            1 1/8" drill bit : 7
            1/2 sheet melamine: 12
            Melamine edging : 5
            Melamine saw blade: 8
            iPac kybd encoder : 43
            Piano hinge : 2
            Wire : free
            Misc. hardware : 1
            -----------------------
            Total : $140

            $140. If I were to do it again, I would just buy one of the pre-made units that pretty much use the exact same components that
            • I never said it was cheap. I said the price difference in button types wasn't going to to be a large amount. I also said I was waiting until I could afford to do it. I want to add the trackball when I do it - it costs as much as the pre-built controllers cost (~$150 last time I checked). The benefit of doing it yourself is you get something that is just the way you want it.
        • Well, "feeling" is one thing, but another is practicality. Personally, I use a SNES joypad (which I consider the pinnacle of controller evolution) hooked up to my parallel port via Psxpad [psxpad.com]. Cheaper too, and you can just put it in a drawer when you're not playing.

  • old school? (Score:4, Funny)

    by F13 ( 9091 ) on Sunday May 23, 2004 @09:23PM (#9234363)
    shouldn't that be old skool!?

    cowabunga man! totally tubular..!

  • Looks great! (Score:2, Interesting)

    by edoc ( 772148 )
    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 [nyko.com] 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.
    • Try Mas' [massystems.com] Super Pro Stick. It should work with anything that supports PS/2 keyboards. It's a bit pricey, but quite good; I own one.
    • They do work with Linux, they emulate a PS/2 keyboard, and have a pass-thru where you plug in a real keyboard. Using xmame, you just run it with -hotrod or -hotrodse and it remaps the input so the buttons work like you'd expect (e.g. l/r coin inputs, 1/2 player buttons, and street fighter-esque high/med/low punch and kick). The only drawback is that you seem to have to have a keyboard plugged in even if you don't use it, and the keys sometimes get jammed (not physically, but xmame thinks they're still pre
    • My biggest complaint about Pacman in MAME is not responding to diagonal inputs correctly. E.g. if I'm going right and want to go up at the next corner I'll push the stick diagonally up and right, but it doesn't read the up input and keeps going right. It seems to mess up more on digital joysticks and less on analog joysticks. Anyone else noticed this?

      • Re:Looks great! (Score:2, Informative)

        by operagost ( 62405 )
        You're supposed to just push straight up if you want to turn at the next corner. I know, that's not the answer you're looking for but I can't see why you're pushing diagonally when pushing straight in the four compass directions is the only input the game expects.
        • I guess your habit is to return the stick to center when you're moving in one direction then push the stick in the direction you want to go at a corner. My habit was to hold the stick in the direction I'm moving e.g. right then transition diagonally to up. It wasn't a problem in the arcades, but it gets stuck in MAME.
          • The answer is to use a four way joystick. There are a lot of four way games in Mame that don't like eight way joys (Donkey Kong comes to mind, you can get Mario stuck on a ladder).
      • The original game had a 4-way joystick and you could NOT hit diagonal.

        In order to play it "right" (read classic machine feel) you'd need a 4 way leaf joystick... failing that you could use an 8 way joystick with a restrictor that doesn't allow you to move diagonal.

        It's not MAME's/software issue, it's a hardware issue. Saying PacMan won't let you use diagonal on the corners is like saying defender won't let me go left or right on the joystick(yes you can remap it in mame, i meant in the arcade) or Space I

  • wonderful. (Score:3, Informative)

    by Allison Geode ( 598914 ) on Sunday May 23, 2004 @09:25PM (#9234378)
    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.

  • IANAET (English teacher) but I'm mortified (Score:5, Funny)

    by The I Shing ( 700142 ) * on Sunday May 23, 2004 @09:29PM (#9234394) Journal
    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 (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 23, 2004 @09:30PM (#9234398)
    using this -> http://www.ultimarc.com/ipac1.html [slashdot.org]

  • trackball for xbox? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by chaos421 ( 531619 )
    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.. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by enrico_suave ( 179651 ) on Sunday May 23, 2004 @09:37PM (#9234433) Homepage
    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.

  • kevin steele's retroblast review (Score:3, Interesting)

    by enrico_suave ( 179651 ) on Sunday May 23, 2004 @09:39PM (#9234447) Homepage
    Kevin Steele did a review comparing x-arcade, hotrod, slick stick (custom mondo arcade control panel), and one other...

    retroblast [retroblast.com] has the review (even has a video review with some cheeky production value) =)

    e.
    • 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 [randomdrivel.com]

      The buttons a

  • Rotary knob? (Score:3, Informative)

    by diesel66 ( 254283 ) on Sunday May 23, 2004 @09:52PM (#9234493)
    A rotary knob would be nice on one of these for:
    Major Havoc
    Tempest
    Tron (and DoT)
    and maybe others...

  • that things ok..but you can build your own too (Score:3, Interesting)

    by atarione ( 601740 ) on Sunday May 23, 2004 @09:56PM (#9234507)
    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.
    • I looked into this, from what i can gather the price of the 2 joysticks and 21 buttons, the x-arcade is cheaper, that's not including the price of the actual sidewinder pad

    • Re:that things ok..but you can build your own too (Score:3, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I've built a few of these things, long before there was 'X-arcade'.

      Originally they were for the PSX. You take the PSX controller apart, and simply solder wires from the arcade buttons to the PSX controllers contacts. Very minimal electronics experience is necessary. You just need to know how to solder really.

      Happ competition stick ~ $14 x 2
      Happ competition button - $1.75 x 20
      2 usb/gravis game pad/etc game pads for the guts ~$20 x 2
      Wood/plastic/etc to make box out of ~ $10

      If you want to roll your own,
      • I just did this very thing. Target has a classic PSX controller for $4.99 you can take apart. All you need to do is drill holes near the copper test points and wire it up. PSX controllers are perfect because they'll work on a PSX, PS2, XBOX, PC, and Gamecube (with adapters). One tip: Hot glue the wires to the PSX controller after you solder them so they don't get ripped off when tugged.

  • Just build your own, it's very simple. (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anubis333 ( 103791 ) on Sunday May 23, 2004 @09:56PM (#9234510) Homepage
    I wrote a tutorial [chrisevans3d.com] 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.

    • Re:Just build your own, it's very simple. (Score:1, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      You know I'm sure your just trying to be helpful and actually the post is informative. But your project is NOT "very simple". Simple for an EE major? Yes. Simple for anyone else including advanced comptuer users? No way. I agree the price is a little steep but compared to an expert DYI job like yours $150 is a bargin. Your way just isn't an option for 99% of people and certainly would not be fun project to take on unless you have a lot of experience with micro electronics and modding.
      • I had no experience, I am sorry I can understand that it looks complicated. The complicated part of the page is where I am making an Xbox JAMMA converter box. The actual connecting the buttons/controls to a PSX of DC or Xbox controller was so simple I only talk about it (where I explain how buttons work and how to connect them etc) and it is not pictured in the tutorial, I will add more pictures to clear that up. Sorry.

        There are also more FAQs just about building a control panel at www.ArcadeControls.c
        • sweet. you've got a nice site. I've been meaning to do exactly this for sometime for a little sf2 action. shoryueppa, bay-bee.

          Further modifications: I suppose a clever EE could come along with a way to use one joystick rig and have one chip (?fpga) storing all the various pinouts/timing/configurations for different systems. Just flip the switch at boottime. would save on the cost of buying the scrap controllers.

          (The linked site isn't any more elegant in their solution; they seem to have a variation

    • To be fair, I only skimmed your tutorial... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by TheHonestTruth ( 759975 ) on Sunday May 23, 2004 @11:01PM (#9234763) Journal
      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

    • The parent, by the way, has either a bizarre sense of humour or a bizarre sense of "simple"; this can be much more easily done with a PC, MAME and a keyboard encoder [ultimarc.com]. Just wire the buttons up to the terminals on the keyboard encoder, use the programming software (for Windows, Mac and Linux, on the I-PAC, Windows only on the one I use [groovygamegear.com]) and you're set! Much more customizable, although it does cost more than $20.

    • 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.

      There are also lots of examples to follow on Build Your Own Arcade Controls [arcadecontrols.com]. The pages linked from here run the gamut from throwing a joystick and a few buttons into an old 1970's speakerbox to elaborate 4-player setups with plexiglass and full-color artwork that look like they were hand-crafted by the

  • For the full experience... (Score:5, Funny)

    by darnok ( 650458 ) on Sunday May 23, 2004 @10:03PM (#9234532)
    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!

  • Sticks like these are _not_ analog. (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anubis333 ( 103791 ) on Sunday May 23, 2004 @10:09PM (#9234552) Homepage
    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.
    • You sell these at Software, Etc.?! I know what they're for (MAME, in my case), and would have bought one locally in a heartbeat if I had ever seen it. I ended up getting a HotRod instead, though.
    • Many modern console games require them, but most fighting games do not.

      yea I wouldn't try to play halo on one, but that's a game designed with the Xbox controller in mind.

      I've had one of these Xarcade setups for a couple years now, and I love it. It's relegated to PC only now, as I Have a Pelican stick that I use for the consoles. MIght ebay the Xarcade when I finish my cabinet...

  • What they really need... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Black Art ( 3335 ) on Sunday May 23, 2004 @10:15PM (#9234576)
    is a dial for playing Tempest.

    Using the keyboard is just not the same.
    • Concur. The Logitech Wingman Warrior (check eBay) spinner doesn't work badly at all for that purpose--but there are no drivers for Windows 2000/XP; only 9x. Haven't had sufficient ambition to get it working in Linux as of yet. BTW, nice .sig!
      • I would suggest trying to set it up 'custom', if it's an old-fashioned analog joystick. Choose one of the 'flight yoke with throttle' options. If it's digital, in XP there's a Logitech Wingman Digital auto-detect option that should work.
    • You use the keyboard!?
      That would be the most awful way to play Tempest. I use the mouse. You just move the mouse left or right to spin. Still not close to the good old Tempest spin knob, but better than using a keyboard.
      Speaking of Tempest, Tempest 2000 was my favorite game for the Atari Jaguar. Still pull that out every once and a while. Great soundtrack, too.
    • Or just go find a Tempest of your own.

      I've never, ever, seen any controller that makes Tempest playable (other than the original, which comes preassembled with the rest of the game attached).

      - JD
      • Not only is the controller an issue, but it's impossible to get the visual effect of the color vector monitor on a PC. Well, not really impossible - there is a company called Zektor that sells a vector generator that plugs into a parallel port and can be wired into a vector arcade monitor. But, that gizmo plus a working vector monitor are about as expensive as a used working Tempest machine.
    • ... is a dial for playing Tempest.

      Perhaps this [griffintechnology.com] could do the job?

    • Re:What they really need... (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      What you want is a Vortex Spinner from Oscar Controls [oscarcontrols.com].

  • something like... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by abscondment ( 672321 )
    sometimes you need something old school...

    Like a baseball and a bat?

  • 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??

    • Some alternative ways to find ROMS:

      StarROMs [starroms.com]
      alt.binaries.emulators.* Usenet groups
      eMule [emule-project.net]

      I'm sure there are many more.

    • It's worth mentioning that the HotRod SE comes with a set of Capcom ROMs intended to be used with MAME. The disc I received had 14 games, including Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting, Strider, Ghouls'N Ghosts, Magic Sword and 1941. It's supposedly "Series 1", I'm not sure if they've issued any further discs. The controller is quite durable as well, I've had it for 4 years and it's still working perfectly.

    • http://www.freemameroms.com/ [freemameroms.com] is how I got my 4GBs worth of ROMs (a complete merged set) with over 3000 working roms.

      Just USPSed a guy 7 discs, and a SASE about a week later I got my 7 discs back full of piping hot MAME goodness. Also, the set the guy that burned my set also sent almost all the flyers/marquee art, a bunch of wallpapers, etc. all kinds of neat stuff.

      I guess it could be hit or miss on who you get to burn for you, but it worked for me, and what do you lose out if they don't return the discs,

  • Hanaho Hotrod-SE (Score:5, Informative)

    by UserChrisCanter4 ( 464072 ) * on Sunday May 23, 2004 @10:23PM (#9234626)
    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.

  • Does this have a 49-way joystick for Sinistar? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by StandardCell ( 589682 ) on Sunday May 23, 2004 @11:25PM (#9234860)
    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.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
      Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • 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.

      Trust me, if they had one of those on the X-arcade, you'd be paying a lot more. I have one of these, and it does fine for most games. Sure, there are going to be some exceptions. Heck, there is no Tron joystick or Star Wars flight yoke. But I know people w

    • Does Mame even support 49 inputs for a directional pad? If it does, I've got some spare Arch Rivals 49-ways that would be SWEET for Sinistar on MAME.

  • Keyboards and mice great for gaming? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Rolman ( 120909 ) on Sunday May 23, 2004 @11:47PM (#9234937)
    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.

    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* :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.

    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.
    • 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.

      I thought Nintendo was a Japanese company, not Polish.

  • Not that great... (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 24, 2004 @12:24AM (#9235106)
    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?

  • X-Arcade Cabinet (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Solokron ( 198043 )
    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 [mame-arcade.com]

  • Better Australian alternative (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    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/ [iprimus.com.au]
  • 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
  • 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.
  • 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.

    $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 u
  • Can you tell me which classics 'MAME' made back in the day?

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