prehacked gamepads FOR SALE

[gnateye]

i am starting to sell prehacked gamepads :

http://www.cosmicbreaks.com/images/arcade_stick/

(i'll have a pic up once i finish the proto this weekend)

they are gravis PC/Mac USB gamepads, with wires soldered to the circuitboard, with .187 quickconnects crimped to the ends so you can hook them right up to arcade switches, each pad has 14 inputs which could accomodate 1 joystick and 10 buttons, they will come with the gravis driver cd and they will be in a project box to protect the circuit boards prices will be 25$ for a single or 45 bucks for a double (shipped in the us) i am also working on a version that uses screwdowns instead of the quick connects if you are interested in that.

these prices are for usb pc/mac gamepads only i will do other systems too, but the price will change depending on the price of the controller

feel free to drop me an email with any questions, i can also make a full on joystick (xarcade style) if anyone is interested those email me and we can talk

natty@cosmicbreaks.com

[james]

to be completely honest...

you're overcharging.

can you give anyone one good reason (other than saving 6 dollars) for someone to buy your product over the very professional, preconfigured with mame, programmable, small, i-pac?

sorry, but if you want to compete with ultimarc, you'd better lower your prices or offer some perks.

[gnateye]

im not trying to compete with ultimarc, i have an ipac, and love it, but if someone wants to hack a gamepad and isnt good at soldering that this is one option, or if you dont need that many inputs and want more options. with the cost of the pad, the wires, the project box, the quick connects and my time i think that that isa reasonable price, i have already had quite a few inquiries, a few dreamcasts, a couple pc, and one playstation2.

not looking to compete just offer more options.

[Keith O]

to be completely honest...

you're overcharging.

Overcharging? I hacked a gravis gamepad and it was not an easy task. The contacts on the pads are extremely small. I think the price is very reasonable.

[OSCAR]

Overcharging? I hacked a gravis gamepad and it was not an easy task. The contacts on the pads are extremely small. I think the price is very reasonable.

Agreed.  A new USB gamepad pro goes for about $19 locally where I am, so this does not appear to be outrageous to me.

[gnateye]

thanx for the comments

the pics are now up

http://www.cosmicbreaks.com/images/arcade_stick/padhack/

the pad has 14 inputs (4 for the joy, and 10 buttons) i wired up grounds to each of hte contacts as this worked best for my setup and i wasnt having success chainging the grounds. some of hte pics show some barrier strips that i am considering using, but this will ad more work=more time so we will see, the project box will stay though and prolly just havea notch cut in the opposite side of the usb cable for the wires to come out of. the wires ar eabout 12" long i curled them up to keep them out my way

[james]

input for input

2 of those gamepads are exactly the same as the ipac...

im not saying he's gouging people on his profit margins, im just saying, who would want to pay that when a better and more compatible alternative is the i-pac...

why pay the price of a bmw for a ford?

[nullb0y]

ok how much are you charging to have these pads hacked (i dont knwo the store price) i found hacking one simple you just have to follow the leads to the end soder points and soder there much easyer but a little maze like lol id probally do this for shipping cost of pad and 5$ lol

[CD_Vision]

You'll probably sell more if you hack up PSX or Dreamcast pads instead. There IS no PSX-Pac, if you know what I mean. Trust me, I used to do it myself, and I got overwhelmed with orders. Maybe I'll do it again someday.

[CD_Vision]

Also, I want to ask you.. I notice you drilled holes through these pads. What did you use? The holes appear to be very small..much smaller than the 1/32" bits I use.

[CD_Vision]

Oh yeah.. and james.. one thing that you forgot, is that the Ipac is just one board. Wherein if you bought two of these buggers, you could make two separate lighter one player sticks so that you wouldn't have to be crowded together next to the PC. This is a good alternative to someone who isn't building a cabinet or a large control panel.

[nullb0y]

hmmm mabey i should hack pads for people lol allthough no one wants cat-5 cabeling for there pads im guessing although it does work really good lol



you think thats air your breathing?

[SNAAAKE]

okay how much is james charging?
i will always do for less so post how much you are charging .
also the hack aint as easy as it sounds over here.

[gnateye]

this actually started as an exercise for hacking console gamepads and i had some graviss lying around sooooo...

i am gonna make dreamcast and playstation, but the controllers cost me a lot more so the price will reflect that. i do use solid core cat 5 wire with .187 quick connects on the end.

and for the record i am not trying to compete with the ipac at all, i use an i pac and have an optipac, this is just another option for cab builders, there are differences, the main one being that one of these has half as many inputs as an ipac, which is nice if you are making a cab with less than 2 players, 6 buttons each, next this is a gamepad hack, not a keyboard hack so you can play any games that use input sprocket, that alone makes this very different, not just mame but most any game.

in another post (the one about prewired dreamcast pads) someone offered to do the soldering alone for 20$, not covering hte shipping or including the pad, and that is what i based my price range on (the price of the pad, the wire, the quick connects, the project box, and then whatever is left over after shipping covers my time, it takes me about 2 hours right now to solder and drill alll the contacts, and another 45 minutes to strip and crimp the quick connects)so as you can see im not really making any profit all, just offering up my new found skill to those with less skill or time.

the drill bit i used is a jewelers drill bit my wife is a jeweler so i just used her bits and her flex shaft to drill all the holes, this is the way to go, makes all the soldering much much easier. it was 20 guage bit, she says we should be able to find them at ace hardware, you need a really small chuck for them to fit in your drill though, even in a dremel.

i appreciate all the input, please keep it up.

timm

[SNAAAKE]

i am the one offered to hack 2 dreamcast game pads for $20.thats a lot cheaper then anyone...2 pads for $20...

hacking takes a while,so $10 for each pad ..besides why should i even bother goin down to the post office and ship if i dont even get atleast $20 out of it.just helping people out.

[gnateye]

i agree with ya i was citing you as an example to the post that said i was outragous to sell the pad, hacked, with quick connects and shipping for 25$, i know in the other post you were talking baout hacking a dreamcast pad, which cost mea lot mor ethan a gravis so i would have to charge more, closer to 35-40$.

[james]

I'm not hacking pads, why?, because for 6 dollars more i can get an i-pac. (6 dollars if you include shipping, if you dont its 6 dollars less) theres no market for hacking pads. theres no benefit to it (have fun using it in dos)....

like others have said, hacking psx/dreamcast pads would be a much bigger market and much more profitable

[CD_Vision]

Yeah, but some people will buy anything just because it's cheaper. Witness the huge boom of $.99 stores.

See, you're stuck on this whole "I need a zillion inputs" thing, so Ipac is the logical choice.

But there are a few benefits to hacking a pad. In addition to the one I cited before, if you're just using 1, then you can have a smaller 1-player setup. A huge number of MAME games,  excluding fighters and 4 player games, have just one joystick and three or less buttons, so a hacked pad is a very viable alternative.  And it's quite a bit less than an Ipac if that's all you need to do.

So there Just because it's something that you're not interested in doesn't mean that nobody else is.

[gnateye]

and as i have said, i am doing console pads as well. just right now the only one done is the gravis, the dreamcast and ps2 are coming shortly. any other controller will be attempted (non analog or optical, just straight arcade switches)

the pricing is gonna be a little more than usb for ps2, and a little more than ps2 for dreamcst. exact figures to come soon on all items.

[Tiger-Heli]

and as i have said, i am doing console pads as well. just right now the only one done is the gravis, the dreamcast and ps2 are coming shortly. any other controller will be attempted (non analog or optical, just straight arcade switches)

the pricing is gonna be a little more than usb for ps2, and a little more than ps2 for dreamcst. exact figures to come soon on all items.

This seems like a neat product to me, and a good price for what is being offered.

I thought I would give you a personal take on how I see it working.  I am currently planning 5 desktop panels.  (single stick and 6 buttons, second single stick and 6 buttons, IKARI/street fighter stick, Assault/Battlezone/Tron stick, and another similar Assault stick for Vindicators or 2-player dual trigger stick games).

I'm planning to use an I-PAC in a project box so I can plug the panels in and out as required.

However, with this gamepad in the panels, I could use one stick on one PC and any of the others on another PC.

Also, while it doesn't really matter, it would be easier to explain to my kids that you plug the panel into the USB hub (just like a regular gamepad) instead of Plug this panel into the 25-pin connector on the little box on the desk.

The downside is to have it do what I want, I would need 4 individual and one double interface, and $150.00 is too much for a keyboard encoder.  I could use the double and then use DB25's to connect the panels, but that's the same thing I'm doing with the I-PAC anyway.

So it's not really what I need (for the price anyway, (not that it's unreasonable, but it's more than I can justify)), but it's still a neat idea.

[SirPoonga]

I'm not hacking pads, why?, because for 6 dollars more i can get an i-pac. (6 dollars if you include shipping, if you dont its 6 dollars less) theres no market for hacking pads. theres no benefit to it (have fun using it in dos)....

like others have said, hacking psx/dreamcast pads would be a much bigger market and much more profitable

Actually, there is a market.  My cocktail cab will use gamepad hacks.  BUT it will use $2 USB pads I found.

[kgriffin]

If you don't want a hacked game pad, then don't buy one. I think it is rediculous that gnateye is getting flack because he is offering this.

If your giving flack, how much is YOUR time worth?

Hey SirPoonga, why don't buy a truck load of those $2.00 game pads and sell them on here for $3.00. That way you could make a dollar and pi$$ some people off in the process.

Good Grief

[Tiger-Heli]

If your giving flack, how much is YOUR time worth?

Hey SirPoonga, why don't buy a truck load of those $2.00 game pads and sell them on here for $3.00. That way you could make a dollar and pi$$ some people off in the process.

Good Grief

Well said!!!  Actually, on that note:

SirPoonga, are the pads still available, or are they something you ran across at a flea market or sth.  If still available, from where, and how many inputs do they support?  Do you have any interest in hackin and selling these (and pi$$ing Gnateye and some other people off in the process)

Oops, I didn't mean it that way,  but if I can get around 14 inputs and around $10 dollars each, this could get interesting!!!!

[gnateye]

that wouldnt piss me off, im not out to start a corperation here, just doin what i love to do, i will still be hackin pad if no one buys them (although a few have been ordered already).

i would like to buy some 2$ game pads too(plus shipping) i get my usb game pads for around 5 or 6 bucks, ps1&2 pads for about 10-15 and dreamcast for 15-25. 2 bucks is a great deal (if its a nicely hackable pad like the gravis)

if you were to hack these and sell them how much would you charge ?

and for the record (i keep saying that ) these pads arent for people who want/know how to hack their own pads, its more of a helper to those with no time or no soldeing skills equipment etc.

[james]

my original comment was only commenting on why anyone would pay 40 for a hack job (while im sure its done very well however), that isnt as compatible/small/flexible/programmable as the i-pac that costs just as much (in fact 1 dollar less)... and anyone with half a brain can do the ipac wiring in under an hour start to finish, and if it screws up, at least theres a company and a warranty.

and gnateye is just trying to make an honest $20 dollars and $30 dollars respectively (thanks for exposing your profit margins)

im just saying you havent given an incentive for us to buy your product over those of your competitors. theres too many disadvantages to going the usb joystick way anyways.

< /flame >

[gnateye]

its all good my man, like i sad not trying to compete just playin along.

as far as the whole profit margin dont forget 5 buck of that is shipping and 4 bucks of stuff rom radio shack, plus the solder, quick connects, wire etc, knocks that down quite a bit, but im not doin this for that reason anyways, so it doesnt matter if people want them (and it seems they do) they will email me (and they have), if not no biggy, im gonna eventually get around to updating my site and putting up directions to do exactly what i do, still some people just dont have time to do or dont feel like doing it or whatever, if i hadnt tried it for the first time i would have bought another ipac, which would have meant saving up a lot more money, i know the double 2 pad dealy aint the best pc wise, but for the console systems it is better, for a small control panel (like the tempest panel i built last night with 6 buttons, and an oscar model usb spinner, it worked wonders, nuff said.

ps - i dont feel flamed, i appreciate the critisism and open discussion, as well as the oportunity to learn about this stuff as well as try to contribute to the community.


respect
gnat

[Tiger-Heli]

that wouldnt piss me off, im not out to start a corperation here, just doin what i love to do, i will still be hackin pad if no one buys them (although a few have been ordered already).

What I meant was I thought it was kinda tacky that I was recommending that SirPoonga could possibly sell the same thing you originally offerred for a lower price in the same thread that you started to announce a new product, but that's the way it worked out.

Glad you weren't offended.  A lesser person might have been.

[gnateye]

its all good,

on another note, last night i got my 2nd control panel finished, i used one of my usb hackedpads, and a model 1 usb spinner from oscars, awesome! the pad is perfect for this application, only needed 6 buttons, and the pad is fully usb. sweetness

me and my wife were up until about 130am last night playing tempest