X-arcade


mattmagoo posted on Sep 21 2004 at 08:16 PM said:
DONT GET ONE
Why not? At least give a reason, I havent read a bad review of it yet.

P.S. when is the next issue of pintsized coming out? thought the first issue was great!
 
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a.) they dont use real arcade parts (they are cheap and sticky)
b.) they dont give the same sorta life as real controls
c.) If you built one using real controls and an I-pac board it will slightly cheaper
d.) You cant customize the button layout
e.) The joysticks are nasty
f.) it is massive

if u know anything about wiring make your own, you wont need to solder a thing, but you can customize your controls, make it look how you want and have better buttons

and Pintsized 2 prolly wont exist

(if you arent a big arcade nut you wont notice the diffrence, but i spend a lot of time playing on em, and Xarcade just feels cheap and sickly)
 
mattmagoo posted on Sep 21 2004 at 09:04 PM said:
a.) they dont use real arcade parts (they are cheap and sticky)
b.) they dont give the same sorta life as real controls
c.) If you built one using real controls and an I-pac board it will slightly cheaper
d.) You cant customize the button layout
e.) The joysticks are nasty
f.) it is massive

if u know anything about wiring make your own, you wont need to solder a thing, but you can customize your controls, make it look how you want and have better buttons

and Pintsized 2 prolly wont exist

(if you arent a big arcade nut you wont notice the diffrence, but i spend a lot of time playing on em, and Xarcade just feels cheap and sickly)
Before I start this reply I should probably point out that im a huge fan of MAME and use it all the time.

OK just to go over your points:

a) according to the numerous reviews ive read they use authentic arcade buttons and joysticks.
B) They have a lifetime guarantee.
c) cheaper dosent always = better.
d) the button layout is based on all the clasic coin ops so why change it?.
e) not acording to the reviews ive read.
f) surely thats the whole point for the true arcade experience?!.

Oh and I grew up & still live in a seaside town with 4 arcades where I spent most of my youth racking up high scores on games like Rastan Saga, Shinobi, Ghosts & Goblins etc, etc, so I think I qualify as a Arcade Nut!

Shame about pintsized I liked it.
 
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they have a bundle available of their site

2 joysticks
20 buttons for $19.95

the [ spam ] i can find for real arcade buttons are £1.20 to UK
and joystick are at least £10 each for a real arcade control

these are mimic controls, they do not have the build quality of real arcades

cheaper = better if the goods are superior

mopst reviewers havent played on a real arcade hom system

I have played my friend X-Arcade stick he bought for £100, and his brothers self built controls (with the same amount of buttons) for £80

the differences:

A.) the hommade one was clamped to the desk so it didnt move
B.) the homemad one was more comfratble to use
C.) the homemade one wasnt sticky
D.) the X-arcade took up way too much space
E.) the buttons on the xarcade were arkward for anything other than CAPCOM games (ie NEOGEO)
F.) the homemade one looked nicer coz it was multicoloured
 
GET ONE!

a.) they use customised parts that are very good for the price
b.) it has lasted me a year so far without a problem (and you can easily adjust the contacts if it ever does get less sensitive
c.) If you built one using real controls it would DEFINATELY cost more (do the maths realistically) for 20 buttons, 2 sticks, i-pac, switches, cables, wood with a nice surface finish, hardware tools, delivery for electronics etc etc etc. It will probably weigh a lot more, it would also take you a loooong time to make and unless you give it 100% care, it won't be as durable.
d.) You CAN customize the button layout - with 4 switchable settings of your choice
e.) The joysticks are fine, the type you usually get on streetfighter cabs. If you fix the contacts you can convert it to 4-way also for games like pacman etc, Or you can adjust it somewhere inbetween - basically spend a little time fiddling until it suits you.
f.) it is MASSIVE... nice ;)
g.) Trust me, you want some room around your hands, especially for two-player.
h.) mattmagoo idea of a perfect, flawless, custom control is nice in theory, but this is very close to the ideal design for a fraction of the cost and effort.
i.) look around the web for project logs of people that have actually made one, with varying degrees of skill & ability and varying degrees of success. the mame32 guy had a go for one example, spent 3 times as much as he thought he would, it didn't look as good as he hoped, and he made it too small for comfort, and this was just a SINGLE-PLAYER stick.

if u know anything about wiring, have lots of time and patience, are prepared for a result that is likely not as you planned it, have access to all the required woodwork tools, wiring tools, finishing and trimming tools, and have a bit of soldering knowledge incase it goes wrong, make your own, you can customize your controls, make it look how you want and have better buttons.

If you want to save money and LOTS of time, want something that looks good, has perfectly adequet controls, okay, not the best in the world, but for the price, close enough.

If you spend a little time setting it up how you want it, Xarcade will, feel perfect. Usually you can't please everybody, but the great thing about this stick is everyone can get it to their own personal taste.

Look, matt's advice is fine for those that want to undertake a project like this, but trust me, it takes a lot longer than you think it will, especially if your going to get anywhere near as professional a result as the X-Arcade stick. You sound like you just want to buy a nice stick to enjoy playing on and I can't recommend it enough really. Just go for it, as for the retailer, x-arcade direct are £100 you might find it for £70-£80 on ebay, but you might as well buy it from x-arcade/x-gaming as their postage is very low (actually, it may even be included in the price) so you won't even save that much. And, you could always sell it on ebay if you need the money for almost as much as you paid for it.

I might sound like I work for x-arcade here, but I love this stick. Put it this way, I needed some cash a year ago and sold my GP32... I kept the x-arcade. B)
 
DAMN YOU AND YOUR PRO-XARCADE IDEALS

tbh i dont have anything particularly against the stick, its still nicer than my DCcombi stick (although my SoulCalibur 2 stick hooked up to my pc is rather nice)

i just think you will get better results if you build one yourself

but joe is right it does take a lot of time and effort (althogh planned well can lead you to being pretty damn chuffed)

i still think the X-Arcade's are rediculously overpriced, since you can use the parts they supply and build on for half the price (it wont look as good, but theres a VERY large profit margin on thos bad boys)
 
I don't have anything against homemade sticks and I admire anyone who has a go at making one. But in reality, you just won't do it for less than £100. Trust me, I looked into this, when you consider everything you need. There are are lot of people who start a project, only to give up on it when they realise the extra costs they need to pay. For example, there are several types of i-pac boards: If you go for the cheapest, then you'll have problems with multiple button presses. The cutting tools (drill and jigsaw) required are expensive, if you don't have them (and again you'll want to go for quality). I could go on as I was seriously going to do this.

When I got the X-Arcade, it was far better than I expected, I was worried about their custom parts, but they really are at least as good as real ones. Also, there is so much help on the website/forums to set-up the responsiveness/springyness of buttons, sensitvity and moveability of the sticks and everything you might want to tweak to your personal taste, that I wondered why I'd ever considered making my own when this is so perfect.

Mattmagoo: If you don't get on with it then fair enough, but maybe your mate hasn't configured it well, or maybe it's not configured to your taste. I.E. When I got mine the joystick contacts were initially set up for 4-way (no diagonal). I had to open it and adjust it before I could play games like streetfighter.

Also, your other mate who made one for £80: I bet if he was honest about all the extra costs for wood, tools, delivery, paint. Then it came to more than that.

Again, making one yourself is the true hardcore way to do it. But you need to enjoy BUILDING it as much as playing with it. It's just not a realistic option for most people. (Including myself, who is usually well into these stupid projects).

And the price: maybe their profit-margin is quite good because they're making them in bulk. But every other stick I found (other than x-arcade/hotrod) was about 4 times the price, sometimes more!!! seriously!

Bloody hell! I'm going on a bit here! :rolleyes:
 
Thankyou both for your informed opinions.

Ive done a lot of research into this stick and can honestly say mattmagoos is the only bad comment ive ever read about it.

Im gonna get one anyway but back to my original question... does anyone import them in the UK?
 
pubjoe: It definately cost £80, coz i helped him sort it out

£60 for components (he bought all but the i-pac off ebay, new)

wood was free coz we know the bloke at the timber yard

crimping shit was a tenner

and I bought the vinyll from college for a tenner
 
I tend to use the Dreamcast's Virtu Stick with a DC -> USB dongle for my arcade games.... the stick is a little loose for my liking but the button layout is fantastic

Before that though i hotwired a old logic3 joystick to a crappy usb joypad (total cost = £20) which was great :) Since then I hotwired another one. Pity the button layout is poor...
 
yaustar posted on Sep 23 2004 at 02:39 AM said:
I tend to use the Dreamcast's Virtu Stick with a DC -> USB dongle for my arcade games.... the stick is a little loose for my liking but the button layout is fantastic

Before that though i hotwired a old logic3 joystick to a crappy usb joypad (total cost = £20) which was great :) Since then I hotwired another one. Pity the button layout is poor...
Yeahy I have a Dreamcast Arcade Stick as well but im a hardware whore!

I want it primarily for the 2 player function though.
 
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i agree on getting it

making a homemade one would not be worth it and would take time to build, and time is money*
 
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