X-Arcade Dual Joystick USB On Sale - $80 shipped

[roflmao]

X-Arcade Dual Joystick USB :
http://www.xgaming.com/store/promo/product/x-arcade-dual-kit/

I just stumbled across this deal and thought some of you might be interested.  It's a 2-player arcade controller (USB) made from arcade cabinet parts for $80 shipped.

I've wanted one of these for ages but could never justify the cost.  But I finally bit the bullet and got one along with adapters for the PS1/2, Gamecube and Dreamcast for about $100.  Woo hoo!

They have one with a trackball for an additional $80:
http://www.xgaming.com/store/promo/product/xgaming-two-player-trackball-arcade/

[SignOfZeta]

I...really hate these sticks.

[Frank_fjs]

They're pretty sucky, very low quality components. I don't know anyone who's bought one and kept it.

[esteban]

Since everyone is pissing on ROFLTP's parade:

The only thing the X-Arcade is good for involves squatting and lubricant.

 

[SignOfZeta]

When these sticks came out they looked like a good buy for fans of Amercan style arcade stuff (ie: bat handles, concave buttons, copious amounts of MDF). Unfortunately the components are some no-name garbage making the things kind of a rip off.

However, at this new price (what is it, half off maybe?) you can easily just replace the crappy Happ clone sticks and buttons with the genuine articles. Also, Hori don't make jack shit with a track ball in it.

So, it has its place, but for me personally, as shipped, the stuff is garbage. X Arcade lead the movement for proper arcade controllers in the US, but there is a reason they were completely blown out of the water by Hori and Madcatz as soon as they got into it for real. The only people who seem to stick up for X Arcade are MAME people...and MAME people, most of the time, are a bunch of middle aged button mashers who suck bad at video games and just want to have a box with everything in it.

[CrackTiger]

I've been very happy with mine that I bought for my mame cabinet so long ago, that they use a keyboard connection instead of usb. Mame knows what it is and it's very noob friendly. Works great with all the console emulators I also put in. If you aren't using them for a real arcade, they are more than good enough. Speaking as someone who has owned real arcade machines for much longer than X-Arcade sticks.

[SignOfZeta]

"Real arcades" in this country use the cheapest garbage available when and if they bother to repair anything (which they rarely do). I hold my own stuff to a much higher standard.

[CrackTiger]

"Real arcades" in this country use the cheapest garbage available when and if they bother to repair anything (which they rarely do). I hold my own stuff to a much higher standard.

Wow, the 80's and 90's must have sucked for you. Arcades here were heavy duty and the decades old machines I've had worked perfectly. Excpet for games I bought cheap in misc working order (like Daytona USA).

[SignOfZeta]

In the 80s it wasn't so much a problem. The machines were new and profitable so they usually worked and were repaired when they broke.

By the mid 90s though...walk up to any Street Fighter conversion in a mall arcade and the odds of all six buttons and all eight directions working on both sides of the machine were about %60 or so.

I don't know where the hell you live, but "broken machines" is a very common complaint pretty much everywhere outside of Japan and the few boutique arcades left in America (ie: Galloping Ghost). In my town we have Pinball Pete's, which was once considered one of the top ten arcades in America, and lots and lots of shit is broken. The Super GT machines are pretty terrible since a lot of the replacement parts cost more than the machines bring in in a year.

[NightWolve]

Damn, I bought the Hanaho Hotrod joystick for $200 ages ago... =

http://www.retroblast.com/reviews/controller2.html

This model right here:


And I had a chance to choose between PS/2 or USB, but I thought keeping it PS/2 would be better for compatibility in the case of booting to DOS for speed and using the DOS version of the MAME arcade emulator (which is what I bought the thing for, MAME). Well, computers got fast enough to where booting back to DOS and running emulators on it offered no worthwhile speed gains, and those days of sometimes having to go back to DOS in general are long gone, so bad decision I guess. Although, I mean, it seems to still work fine any time I've tried it via a PS/2 keyboard in-between connection (been a long while, but yeah)... I'd occasionally play some Street Fighter with it and check out other old arcade games of my youth with it.

[roflmao]

I just wanted to give an update for those interested in picking one up.

When it initially arrived, the right directional switch for the P1 joystick was a bit out of place and would sometimes stick.  It was easy to open up (six philips head screws on the base) and adjust the switch.  About a week after I received the joystick I got an email from the pres. of the company asking if everything was good with the joystick.  I replied telling him that I had to adjust one of the switches but it'd had been great so far.  He thanked me for my response and sent me out a couple extra joystick and button switches free of charge in case I ever had any other issues.  Nice!

Out of the box it slid around on my wood coffee table some during frantic button-mashing sessions, but I removed the four rubber feet and placed 8 non-slip circular pads on the base ($2.50 from Home Depot) and now it sticks like glue to my table.

It was relatively easy to set up with MAME (there's a controller config file you can download from their site which makes it pretty effortless) and I recently reprogrammed one of its 4 custom program settings to work with mednafen.  All I can say is wow!  TG/PCE shooties are sooo precise with this stick.

Also, I've recently discovered Future Pinball and this thing has buttons on this side just for pinball games.  Really nice.

I've currently got this hooked up to an old P4 running Windows XP hooked up in my living room to a 47" LCD and 5.1 Surround system and it's really been a blast.  Even my 4 yr old son has joined in on some 2-player arcade fun.  

It feels solid and looks well built and is easy to repair/modify.  I'd love to figure out how to build a custom adapter for the Duo/TG-16.  I have adapters for PS1/2, Dreamcast, GameCube/Wii so it's probably not impossible.

[SignOfZeta]

Buttons on the side for pinball? That's pretty clever.

[NightWolve]

Huh, I didn't realize those side buttons were meant for pinball games. When it comes to MAME and Hotrod, by default, they're configured to add credits: left side adds a credit for player 1, right side player 2. Looks like you got two per side with this X-Arcade model:



Here's how it is for the old Hotrod. I dunno why his are green though, mine are all white. The other thing is placement; they're towards the back of the controller in this case:



Personally, it just doesn't strike me as something I'd wanna use for pinball. Having to rest this big, hunky piece of wood on your lap just for 2 buttons mainly, not really ideal... It's not heavy mind you, but it's not light either. I'd just settle for a USB controller with a PS1/2 design in that case.

[roflmao]

I've never thought of trying to rest this thing on my lap - it's huge and heavy.   It sits on a coffee table, but I'd like to find something taller to rest it on (TV dinner trays are too wobbly).  It's about the same width as a pinball table so it feels natural to use the buttons (they're at the front on mine).

Also I forgot to mention that it includes instructions on how to convert the controller to 4-way rather than the default 8-way for older arcade games.  I've been meaning to make that update to the player 2 controller (I love playing Ms Pac Man) but haven't yet.