Xbox DIY Arcade controller, which path to choose?

[floriske.nl]

Hi all!

First of all let me sort of introduce myself: I'm Floris, graphic designer, from the Netherlands and I'm currently in the process of builing an Xbox classic based arcade bartop cabinet.



Most of the parts etc. are sorted, but I'm running into problems with the 2 player controller part.

One thing I am sure of is that I want to stick on a "tight" budget so the X-Arcade controller is a no go.

For now I'm thinking about simply soldering my buttons and joysticks to 2 controllers, I have the following controllers available:

• 4x Duke controller
• 3x S controller
• 1x "playon" branded controller (sold under a lot of different brand names, eaxus for instance)


I've read that the Duke- and S controllers are a pain to solder, next to that I would like to use the trigger buttons as well.

I could buy myself a few cheap controllers from ebay, but they might be just as hard to solder as well:

• Link to ebay results

Another option I've been looking into is a jamma to xbox pcb:

• Link to ebay results

But I'm not sure if I can use this for the buttons only (without using the monitor connections etc.)

Edit: Just found yet another alternative the Arcade forge Dual strike encoder

• link to product page

But sets me back quite a lot (€ 70,- for 2 incl. 2 xbox to usb adapters)

In which case I could just as well choose the X-Arcade encoder:

X-Arcade 2 Player BYO Arcade Encoder USB/PS2

Combined with the:

X-Arcade Playstation 3 + Xbox 1 Adapter: 2in1

But as mentioned I would like to keep it low budget and this adds up to $ 80,- as well.

All in all I'm pretty stuck at this point and I hope you guys can shed some light on this

Thanks!

[rablack97]

Hello Floris,

All I can tell you is wait for the KADE, you will not be disappointed.  It will have everything you need and more to complete your control panel.

I'm sure sharpfork will see this and will provide you with more details.

Regards,

[floriske.nl]

That's my thought after reading about it as well, but 2 important things are:

• The price
• When will it be available

Since I'm about to start my build I hope it will be available soon at a good price.

[rablack97]

   Well build everything else and leave the wires from your buttons and j-stiks free.

Price will be fair, trust me.  I've done the solder hacks, i have a one sitting in a box right now.

Your design, looks very clean, KADE is cleaner, more versatile, and way easier to use, and your 2 player issue will go away.

[floriske.nl]

yeah ok, but the Kade requires/has 2 extra buttons and 2 leds

Shift and Exit

But ok, I'll have to do the button panel last in that case.

[rablack97]

Are you going to use COINOPS as your front end? If so there's flexibility with the exit feature.

Also, if your going for the basic simple xbox functions, up down left right, a b x y black white left trig right trig, the shift button can be excluded as well.  The shift is basically to access the advanced functions on the xbox controller.

I recommend that you wait on this, it will do more than any xbox hack, or converter will ever do....You will see what i mean when it's released   It has a wow factor

[floriske.nl]

Yes coinops it will be.

If something has a certain feature I want to use it, so if I buy the Kade I will use both the shift and the exit button

Guess I'll just have to be patient until some more details become available.

[Dalkarl]

Im using two german dual strikes in my coinopscab. Works perfectly, also supports analog mode for xbox games.  Price might be a problem? http://wp1114205.wp150.webpack.hosteurope.de/xtcmodified/product_info.php?products_id=17

[floriske.nl]

Thanks! Good to see some user experience on them! They are my alternative if Kade is released later than expected.

That's why I didn't use a background behind the shift buttons and leds in my design: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,123039.msg1307937.html#msg1307937

Edit: hmm the shift text still remains if iwould leave out the button. Will have to wait with the artwork printing until the encoder choice is final.

[Dalkarl]

The dualstrikes where my best investment for the cab sofar. I was unsure if the Xbox and Coinops would be goode enough or if I would endup installing a PC with Hyperspin so I went with a encoder that supports both,. Now i Know, Coiniops surpasses my needs.

But Kade looks really good to, it was not on the market when i shopped around.