Which Controls Interface?

[Beeman]

Hey guys,
I've been looking at all the different controller interces on GGG and a couple other hardware sites and was curious which interface people would recommend. I'm looking at having something like 14 buttons, 2 8-way joysticks. I don't plan to power any LEDs with it at the moment.. But it may be something I do with it in the future?

Can someone please offer suggestions? I need something as user friendly as possible.
I'm running Windows XP if that matters to anyone.

Thanks for the advice.

[severdhed]

i recently bought a keywiz from GGG for in my showcase cabinet, and i am pretty happy with it.  it works well, and has plenty of inputs, was easy to set up and has a 5v line that can power a few LEDs if you need to. plus, the price is right.

we used an ipac4 in our cabinet at work, and it works very well also. you could get away with the ipac2 though since you dont need that many inputs.  they are both great products

[MJ]

I've been out of the scene for a bit... but I was always fond of the keywiz at groovygamegear.com.  It doesn't do any fancy LED stuff though.

FYI:  For user friendliness, you want to emulate a keyboard, the gamepad ones require correct ID #'s, so they require a little more thought.

[quadrider1]

I have the the ipac2 from ultimarc, so tiny and does everything i need. Have 2 4/8 way joysticks and 6 buttons per person hooked up, and player 1 and 2.
Hooked up by the p2 connection.

only 40 bucks

[GreatLamer]

Bought a tiny electronic from smallcab.net, with pre-wired harness, common ground, 4 direction and 12 button support. And its recognized as Xin-Mo Console via USB, and it's a game controlling device. 2 player version also available. Very rare and cheap what I see.

[Beeman]

i recently bought a keywiz from GGG for in my showcase cabinet, and i am pretty happy with it.  it works well, and has plenty of inputs, was easy to set up and has a 5v line that can power a few LEDs if you need to. plus, the price is right.

we used an ipac4 in our cabinet at work, and it works very well also. you could get away with the ipac2 though since you dont need that many inputs.  they are both great products

Is that a PS2 controller? (from what i can find on GGG i think it is..) if so.. why go ps2 rather than USB?

[MJ]

why go ps2 rather than USB?

Simpler.  DOS, Linux, etc.  Some of this stuff was introduced to the market YEARS ago.  IIRC, my first MAME PC had a 66Mhz processor while my desktop was a lightning-fast 133Mhz.

[nipsmg]

Simpler.  DOS, Linux, etc.  Some of this stuff was introduced to the market YEARS ago.  IIRC, my first MAME PC had a 66Mhz processor while my desktop was a lightning-fast 133Mhz.

486 dx2 66?  WITH THE TURBO BUTTON?!

btw, did anyone ever have their machine running with the turbo setting OFF?!   Yes, can you please install a button on my case that makes my computer SLOWER?  Thanks! 

[severdhed]

i recently bought a keywiz from GGG for in my showcase cabinet, and i am pretty happy with it.  it works well, and has plenty of inputs, was easy to set up and has a 5v line that can power a few LEDs if you need to. plus, the price is right.

we used an ipac4 in our cabinet at work, and it works very well also. you could get away with the ipac2 though since you dont need that many inputs.  they are both great products

Is that a PS2 controller? (from what i can find on GGG i think it is..) if so.. why go ps2 rather than USB?

i went with the ps/2 version for several reasons.

1. i have an unused ps/2 keyboard port on my motherboard
2. there were only 6 usb ports on that motherboard and i had several other USB devices i need to use. (two U360 joysticks, keyboard,mouse,wireless adapter, lightgun...)
3. some emulators/apps dont like joystick commands are certain functions like Exit. just about everything supports keyboard input though. (keywiz is a ps/2 keyboard interface, gpwiz is a USB joystick interface)

[Donkbaca]

I am embarking my first build and I have scoured these boards and I can tell you that most people use either the key -wiz or the ipac from ultimarc.  I personally am using the encoder from an x-arcade that I have.  You can buy an x-arcade BYO kit, but they aren't too popular on here because they aren't as easy to wire up because they have jumpers and harnesses instead of the screw-in type wire attachments.  You get a lot of x-gaming bashing, but I think they make pretty good products, the support is pretty good too.  Though, honestly if I didn't have an x-arcade I might have gone the ipac route, and I still may and either sell my x-arcade or donate it to a friend to keep spread the hobby/obsession. 

Most people go keyboard encoder, since its easier to set up MAME that way.

Another option people use is the ultrastik 360, from ultimarc, which plugs into USB and has 8 button per joystick support.  BUt I believe these are recognized as game controllers.

There are a million other ways to interface, from hacking console and pc game pads to hacking keyboards.  There are also a lot of shops that sell different types of keyboard encoders.  My advice though is go through groovy game gear or ultimarc.  They are reputable, competitively priced and both Randy (GGG) and Andy (Ultimarc) lurk on these boards and provide beyond excellent support and service.  I bought a led-wiz from GGG and their is a ton of support on the boards and from the company itself.  I bought an aimtrak from ultimarc and Andy answered an e-mail I had about it within 24 hours.  Shipping is super fast to from both places.  Really, really love those guys and their passion for this hobby.

Finally, you may want to rethink the LED thing.  Its slightly more complicated and a little more expensive, but in terms of user friendliness and wow-factor, its pretty cool.  You can set up your CP to do all sorts of cool things like to illuminate the start button when a coin is inserted.  Also, you can set up your CP to only illuminate the buttons that are being used for the game that is being played, which is what really sold me.  It makes it easy for guests to just step up to the machine and play, and not get intimidated by all the buttons

[bkenobi]

btw, did anyone ever have their machine running with the turbo setting OFF?!   Yes, can you please install a button on my case that makes my computer SLOWER?  Thanks! 

Perhaps you aren't aware of this, but some games (back in the day) didn't have a way to change the speed of the game based on the CPU speed.  As a result, if you ran on a computer that was too fast, the program would go WAY too fast.  My 486DX 33 had a turbo button that underclocked it to 4MHz.  If I tried to play the DOS Putt Putt game with the turbo button on, I couldn't see where the ball moved.  At 4MHz, it worked flawlessly!   

[Beeman]

Finally, you may want to rethink the LED thing.  Its slightly more complicated and a little more expensive, but in terms of user friendliness and wow-factor, its pretty cool.  You can set up your CP to do all sorts of cool things like to illuminate the start button when a coin is inserted.  Also, you can set up your CP to only illuminate the buttons that are being used for the game that is being played, which is what really sold me.  It makes it easy for guests to just step up to the machine and play, and not get intimidated by all the buttons

I actually was considering this... As far as the LED-Wiz from GGG am I right in understanding that it only supports 16 switches? If so.. I dont think thats enough for my previously mentioned setup..
Each controller will take 4 switches, plus 6 buttons each player, plus a p1 start and p2 start button.. which would be 22 needed... Correct?

If that's the case i'm going to go with the KeyWiz40-ST from GGG and worry about LEDs later.

[Beeman]

Also. On a side note.. I was wondering if anyone had ordered a HAPP Competition Arcade Joystick from GGG and could tell me if mounting hardware comes with it? Just curious if a trip to lowes/homedepot is in my near future.

[Donkbaca]

THe LED -Wiz is just for the LED's. and can control 32 LED's.  The Led-Wiz +GP is a combo input controller/LED wiz that supports 16 LED and 16 gamepad inputs.  The LED WIZ plus GP won't suit you.  

Personally, I think a keyboard encoder is better than a gamepad encoder, it seems to me that they are more flexible because some emulators don't have control pad support, but everything has keyboard support.

I think you should go with the IPAC2 from ultimarc.  Its a keyboard encoder with USB support and screw in terminals.  If you have a ps/2 port on your computer then the key wiz is an option too.  But I would go with Ipac 2.

If you are thinking LED, do it now, it would be much harder to build a new control panel later or to replace all your buttons.  You can get buttons with led's really cheap here:

http://www.paradisearcadeshop.com/index.php

I got mine and am happy with them so far.  The buttons are good quality, look great and they are under three bucks including the LED's.  Bryan is pretty good in terms of customer service too and the shipping is super fast and cheap.    If you are considering LED I say do it now, its just slightly more expensive and will be easier and cheaper to do at the outset then it will be later if you decide to do it and then rip out all your existing buttons. Its only a few more bucks and 2 more wires.

The only real negative I can think of with going LED, other than the sllightly higher costs, is that the buttons are convex or flat, unless you get the electric ice buttons from GGG, which never seem to be in stock.  I prefer the concave buttons, but to me its worth it for the bling factor and to have a more user friendly cab.

[bkenobi]

If you are considering LED I say do it now, its just slightly more expensive and will be easier and cheaper to do at the outset then it will be later if you decide to do it and then rip out all your existing buttons. Its only a few more bucks and 2 more wires.

Have you actually considered everything about LED installations when you make that recommendation?  It's at least 2x more expensive for each button (depends on if you go with single or multi-color LED's) plus you need a controller board which is on the order of $40 per 32 outputs.  Beyond that, you have to wire it up.  That is an additional 2-4 wires per button.  The costs are somewhat high and, more importantly, the wiring is SIGNIFICANTLY more complicated.  I don't think LED's are something to just add on a whim, personally.

On the other hand, I don't actually like how they look.  But, that's a personal preference.  The installation complications I described are fact.

[JustMichael]

One thing I have not seen metioned is that the I-PAC can attach to a PS/2 or USB port with appropriate cable.  This would mean that down the road, if you wish to upgrade the pc in your cabinet to a pc that doesn't have a ps/2 port on it, you can without buying a new interface.