X-arcade Dual Joystick?

Thread in 'Hardware' started by LANAsiDOOG, 17 Jul 2008.

  1. LANAsiDOOG

    LANAsiDOOG Unregistered

    Does anyone know if X-arcade's $130 dual joystick works well with mame & TGM?

    http://www.xgaming.com/two-player.shtml

    I'm currently making a ghetto arcade machine and I already ordered it because of the good reviews other people gave it...

    thanks! [​IMG]
     
  2. cdsboy

    cdsboy Unregistered

    It has a crappy joystick. Your money would be much better spent on something with a sanwa or seimitsu joystick in it.
     
  3. Can it be modded into a 4-way stick? If not it's pretty worthless even for casual tetris. Aside from that it's an American style stick, which means it'll be stiff and bat shaped. I wouldn't want to play like that, but as long as you can get 4-way movement I guess it would be ok for casual play.
     
  4. LANAsiDOOG

    LANAsiDOOG Unregistered

    what's crappy about it?

    if it's not good for tetris... is it good for mortal kombat? (the main reason i got it for)

    btw: it's an 8 way joystick, so i have a feeling the 8 way directional might get stuck in the diagonals while trying to go left/right etc....

    but i think you can just map mame to have the diagnals act as one way, for example, map the left joystick along with the down+left diagonal to equal just left, so when you press down+left diagonal it would go left... would that be good to do? and make tetris playable? (since you mainly just need to go left and right)


    update: on their website it says this:

    "The X-Arcade was pre-shipped with modified controls to support both simultaneous 4 or 8 way play. You can switch the X-Arcade to 4-way easily as well."

    so i'm wondering if it will be ok for casual tetris? (I'm not hardcore, but i'm still pretty good)

    what do you mean by "bat shaped"? [​IMG]
     
  5. bat means this
    [​IMG]

    as opposed to this

    [​IMG]

    notice the difference in stick shape.
     
  6. Muf

    Muf

    [​IMG][​IMG]
    Spot the difference [​IMG]
     
  7. LANAsiDOOG

    LANAsiDOOG Unregistered

    thanks., being the american noob that i am, i think i prefer bat shaped.. hehe, although i'd have to try out both to see which one i like more...

    so does anyone know about the 4-way mode on the xarcade dual joystick? if it works good? [​IMG]
     
  8. Well, if you bought it for Mortal Kombat, then you made an excellent choice. [​IMG]
     
  9. K

    K

    True.

    To have tested this joystick it is good if you want to use it in a versatile brutal play way.
    but if i remember well the joystick is a proprietary "cheap material" stuff, and i don't know about the replacement possibilities.

    if you want to play seriously so you should turn to another more "serious" solution.
    what is bugging me the most with this joystick is it is only designed for PC. you can't use it for "real arcade" (without DIY throw all shit inside), witch is a little bit ironic.

    Personnaly i use a the http://www.xgaming.com/byoarcade.shtml kit.
    witch is probably the best part of this joystick :
    i have a Hori Real arcade Pro (for psx). Throwed away all the playstation shit that was inside and rewired the stuff for my "Super Gun", and the X-Arcade BYO Printed Circuit Board allow me to play with the same Arcade stick on my laptop.
    useful, but need some DIY skill and motivations.

    you should choose an arcade stick with reliable part inside, at least for the stick (Sanwa or Seimitsu). for the rest, it's just a question of taste. But at any cost try to avoid any Playtation USB adaptator interface (if you choose a playstation 1or2 old arcade stick model) : eg : playstation arcade stick > USB adaptator > PC.

    if you search on the forum some user are using a Sega "i don't remember the reference arcade stick", probably the best alternative. buying 2 will cost you probably more than the X-Arcade, but no doubt you will keep them for LIFE. and still more practical than this big cheap wood box.
     
  10. jujube

    jujube Unregistered

    i have an x-arcade tankstick, which i guess is the same as the 2-player stick except mine has a trackball in the center. it can be converted to 4-way pretty easily, but like jago said the parts are cheap. the sensors seem worn out in mine, so sometimes i need to slam the stick in a direction to make sure it registers, and i've only used it for 15-20 hours. your inputs are sent like keystrokes to your pc, so setting it up to work with a game is straightforward enough.

    like others here have said, get a good quality stick. if you're willing to spend $130 right now you can get a much better single stick, then add a second stick later to your cabinet as the money becomes available.
     
  11. Zaphod77

    Zaphod77 Resident Misinformer

    You CAN replace the parts with real american arcade parts, if you want.

    So if a button or stick dies, just buy a real one to replace it.
     
  12. You have an American style button layout too (straight lines, instead of curves - see the pictures DDRKirby posted), but that's more personal preference.
     
  13. LANAsiDOOG

    LANAsiDOOG Unregistered

    Thanks for all your replies guys. As for the controller wearing down, I think it's covered by their life time warranty? so if it starts breaking down you can send it back? And i mainly wanted a joystick for the 2 player aspect of gaming, and It just seems that buying 2 really good individual sticks would not only be more money, but not built together on the same gameboard, which i wanted...

    well, i just got the arcade dual stick in the mail today, havn't opened it yet, but am going to very soon... thanks for all your help guys!
     
  14. Muf

    Muf

    If you want dual player joysticks, but prefer Japanese sticks/button layout, you could try the Virtua Stick Pro. It's pretty rare and expensive though.

    [​IMG]

    Ideal for that arcade feeling and easily converts to USB use or supergun use with minor soldering.
     
  15. LANAsiDOOG

    LANAsiDOOG Unregistered

    hmmm, i was aiming for a black dual joystick, and although the game play might be better on that Virtua Stick Pro, i'd rather go the cheaper route...

    by the way i tested the x-arcade dual joystick and it's really good for ultimate mortal kombat, so i'm happy with it... as for tetris, it's decent, a little stiff like someone mentioned, but i found that i never really had to put it in 4-way mode, the default was 8-way mode and it worked fine with tetris... so i'm pretty happy with the joystick considering the price and all... it completed my arcade and it looks nice [​IMG]
     
  16. Muf

    Muf

    Well, you could of course paint it black and put in a New Net City CP... [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  17. hmmm missed this thread. what a lot of people do is just buy the blank box from xarcade because they are so cheap and put in happ parts and their own pcb which comes out to about the same price or a little cheaper than buying an xarcade stick with their crappy parts. some people are daunted at the thought of soldering a joypad but most people find that it's actually easier then it seems.
     
  18. cdsboy

    cdsboy Unregistered

    Unless you try to do it with a official xbox 360 controller... Then it is just pure hell.
     
  19. cdsboy

    cdsboy Unregistered

    yah. i heard about that controller about a week after i did my hack.
     

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