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Product Announcement, LONO Arcade to USB Controller

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ark_ader:


--- Quote from: Donkbaca on May 17, 2011, 12:18:07 pm ---Why the skepticism?  Lots of people have dealt with Bryan, and I have never seen anything bad written about him.  I like his approach to products, he isn't claiming his is the "best" he is just saying that its faster than any advertised rate of transfer, which is an objective fact.  Neph provided a mini-review.  I don't understand the negativity.  You are either implying that Bryan and Neph are liars, or they don't know what they are talking about.

I think word of mouth is pretty strong around here, things that don't work get rooted out fast.  If Bryan's product is great, it will develop a following, if its crap, it won't. The thing is though, that since word of mouth is strong people should qualify their remarks as opinions, and not masquerade them as facts.  If you have never tried this product, or even never bought from Bryan, how can you possibly have any sort of information that is worth anything to anyone?  You are just talking for the sake of talking.  You are entitled to your opinion, but it is what it is, an uninformed opinion.  Furthermore, just because you knew a lot about what encoders were like 5 years ago doesn't mean you have a clue as to what is being sold now.  Also, who cares if you worked in an arcade, building your own controls in 2010 is a LOT different then maintaining an arcade 20 years ago. You can build a mame cabinet with materials and components that do not have a SINGLE component in common with what was in arcade cabs 20 years ago.

This isn't a big dump on the vets on the board, a lot of them have very valuable things to say about things they know. But, for those that pretend like they know everything, here's a clue; technology has advanced and changed since the times that double dragon ruled the arcade and that cab you built 6 years ago on a pentium 2 running mame .36 doesn't have a lot in common with a lot of cabs being built now using different technology, different displays, different form factors, different front ends and connecting PS3's and Xboxes.

Buy what you want, say what you want, who cares, but don't get all sensitive when someone calls you out on your ---That which is odiferous and causeth plants to grow--- and don't pretend that you OPINION is somehow better or more valuable than someone that has 15 posts. 9 times out of ten, from my experience, its not.

--- End quote ---

There is no adverse personal motive associated with my comments.  Reading them again after a few hours away from the keyboard, I can see where your suggestion comes from. I welcome your comments.

It just seems odd that there is yet another encoder on the market, where there are two (or more?) dominate products that perform the job just as well.  Looking back on all the old threads that BYOACers made through the years and how many issues or suggestions there has been on at least two of the most well known companies.  These products have either spawned more varieties, or have just gotten better over time.  Why should new arcade builders not capitalize on this achievement?  Why should there be a new kid on the block?  Innovation?

A company saw a hole in the arcade collector market where light guns were needed for the arcade hobbyist.  This company came out with the LCDTopGun and we raved (well I did, as I have two) on the accuracy, recoil and the issues of calibration, drivers and the distance away from the cabinet you had to be, and wished there was an alternative.  Someone well known came in and plugged that hole, and yet I see problems, issues and excellent customer service, resolving them still.  The same goes for established products too.  The knowledge base on keyboard encoders on this site must be worth $$$ to any R&D project.

One would look at the arcade market and try to find holes to plug, not come out with a plug that has a fancy end to it, or a plug with a facility only a handful might utilize.  We need enterprise and ideas of commerce if we are ever to get out of this economic woe.

That was my point earlier with so very few words and smile(ies). Nothing I posted so far I can attribute to Don's post of my character.  I am still a consumer, and this fact qualifies me to make that choice or comment.

Does this product work on the Xbox and PS3?  Maybe not.  But other companies have found those holes already and plugged them.

What kind of undiscovered holes in the arcade market is still out there now?

Makes you think....

Donkbaca:


--- Quote ---What versions of Windows requires drivers for the Lono?  The advertisement says most versions.  Is that something to do with USB 2.0 compatibility?

What is the speed of the interface using USB 1.0 or is it not compatible?

Is there any blocking or ghosting with all devices being operated at once? 

What is the main differences between the Lono, Ipac and the Eco Wiz, except the price?

What sets this product apart from other well known established keyboard encoders?

Can this interface work with rotary Joysticks, or can you add daughter boards to expand control devices?

Have you begun to ship these Lono interfaces, or is the one pictured just a prototype?
--- End quote ---

all good questions.

I think the advantages here are:

1)wiring harness with pin headers = easy install.  Read the noobs posts, you get a lot of "where do I connect x to y?" posts.  This is simple, you don't even need a screw driver to get up and running. It might seem trivial to some, but a lot of newbies are terrified of wiring, even with screw terminals, the thought of getting wire (how many "what kind of wire do I get for my cp" posts are there?) crimping on connectors, etc, for whatever reason messes with people.  Those people will ove the idea of a plug in harness.

2) The boatload of inputs.  Makes building a franken-panel easier *cringe*

3) The transfer speed.  If everything works as explained, the faster usb 2.0 interface will theoretically be able to transfer more button pushes per second, which should theoretically be a boon to fans of button masher games.

Plus, I think Bryan's cheap and fast shipping is a selling point.

Will these things matter?  The market will bear that out.  Neph seems to think the thing has merit. 

As far as holes in the arcade market?  I can think of plenty:
1) lit bat tops
2) Button activated KVM switches to toggle between console and arcade
3) Bezels.  If someone made widescreen bezels cheap, they would get business
4) Still room for light gun solutions

That's 4 right off the top of my head.  Lots to do, just look at the common problems/wants on the project threads

Hoopz:

For someone who complains about older members belittling newbs, you sure don't have an issue being an ass about people having frankinpanels.  Those who want respect, give respect.   :dunno

On topic:
I'm curious how these faster speeds are better than existing products' speeds.  Do the Ipac and Keywiz lines have issues?  Not that I've ever read about.  Sure some don't like the shift function on the Ipac but as far as button presses and speed, I have never once read that those products can't do what's required for any game regardless of the number of simultaneous button presses.  I'm not knocking this product.  I just want quantitative information that shows me that the practical application here is advantageous instead of why the theoretical throughput is better.



Malenko:

donkbaca bounces off the screen door. I just wanna know if it stays true to the code.

Donkbaca:

Franken panels are ugly.  They are so ugly that they were, indeed named after Al Franken.  He is one ugly dude.  That's how ugly they are.  If they were really that sweet, they would be called Upton panels after Kate Upton. Have you seen her?  Do you not have google?  By God stop wasting your time reading about nerds and their stupid little encoder board theories and google her.

Back on topic. That's a good point.  Does the increase in speed matter? In other words, does the faster transfer speed actually result in better performance?  If the hardware is bottlenecked by the software, then it won't matter if its faster.

That being said:
harnesses
Al Franken panel friendly

are still selling points


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