Keyboard Encoder (ie-iPac) or Joystick PCBs(ie-Brook)

[Randizzl]

Am thinking about building a new cabinet.
I built one in the past using Ultimarc's iPac4.  It was an excellent build, but more and more I started finding limitations of the keyboard encoder as more and more modern games simply don't consider the keyboard as a viable option, especially if it is a port of a console game.

Anyway, anybody got any thoughts on perhaps using Joystick PCBs instead of keyboard encoder for the main controller?

Thanks for you time and thoughts!

[Howard_Casto]

You've already hit the nail on the head.... keyboard encoders are better for older games/emulators that lack gamepad support and joystick encoders are better for more modern games.  There are solutions if you want to stay with keyboard encoders though.  The best one for newer games are the xbox360 dlls that trick windows into thinking you have a 360 gamepad(s) plugged in and allow you to map keyboard keys to the virtual gamepad's buttons.  It's a sticky in the software forum and it works quite well for most games.