x arcade components........worth it?

[SPARKY70]

hi, i see that x arcade sells a set of 2 joysticks, and 20 buttons for only $20.
it seems like a good deal, but are their parts worth it?, or do i get what i pay for? (cheap price = cheap quality parts)
the only catch seems to be, that the components are only available in black.
should i get this set?, or get something else?

if something else, what do you recommend?

thanks for any help//////sparky

[SirPeale]

Pretty much.  If you're just going for raw input, these parts will work.  But once you've used the higher quality stuff, it's totally noticable in gameplay.

In my project: blue cab (soon to be renamed, not sure to what) I used generic blue buttons.  Not XArcade stuff.  They work, but they're awfully stuff.  I could replace the switches (that's what's making them stiff) but will likely just buy some from 123gumby123.

[mjrsting]

I bought the combo pack from them, but I'm not going to use the joysticks on this cab.  I'm thinking about building a mini-mame for my son's room (single controller) after I finish my full machine, and I'll let him have the cheap joystick.    But for $.50 a button, even though your only choice is black (plus the 1 and 2 player buttons), I thought it was a great deal!  And I think the buttons have a decent feel to them too.  They also just started selling a KB interface for $59, to do essentially the exact same thing the I-Pac does.  Kind of a crap shoot price wise depending on where you plan on doing most of your shopping at.  If you plan on buying sticks and trackball and other stuff from Ultimarc, it doesn't cost that much more to throw in the I-Pac.

[hiperco]

I bought two sets for my 4 player CP (still in process).  They seem to be acceptable quality to me, but I haven't experienced the more expensive ones as a comparison.  It may indeed be "ignorance is bliss"   

[mjrsting]

I think they're decent enough joysticks, but the biggest thing I didn't like about them was switching between 4 and 8 way mode.  Unless you have easy access to the bottom of your CP to pop off that C-clip, or you just plan on leaving them in 8 way (or 4 way) mode all the time, I would recommend getting something like the T-Stik plus joysticks.  I don't know if there's anything else out there where you can switch them between 4 and 8 way mode from the top though.

[Tiger-Heli]

Just to clear up some things in this thread:

From what I read, the X-Arcade buttons are fine.

The joysticks are chinese knock-off's of the Happ Supers.  Not bad, but with the same limitations - i.e. really only 8-way sticks, tend to be a little diagonal happy, and tough to exactly find the diagonals.

Top-Switchable joysticks would be the Prodigy from www.groovygamegear.com, or the T-Stick Plus from www.ultimarc.com.

There are also easily bottom switchable true 4-way/8-way sticks from both companies such as the omni-stik, E-Stick, J-Stick, and regular T-Stick.

Re: the X-Arcade $59 encoder - can't be used with Perfect 360 joysticks.  Main advantage is cross compatiblility with console systems.  It will do the job, but it is not in the same class as either the KeyWiz from www.groovygamegear.com or the I-PAC/2 from www.ultimarc.com, both of which are also less expensive.

[Puds]

I think me and the other dude who posted about X-Arcade joysticks' sticking are either the only sane people here or the only ones that have tried the joysticks.  X-arcade joysticks are horrible.  Trust me, you can forget about doing combos, diagonals, or even trying to stop from moving.  Once you press a direction the joystick will stick in that position until you recenter it.  I do agree with the cheap knockoff of the super, for the actuator is circular - making it difficult to hit diagonals on a circular actuator but making it a challenge on these pieces of trash.   I built a 4 player cp after buying 2 X-Arcade combo packs (2 joysticks 20 buttons).  The buttons are great, i'd suggest buying the buttons if you're down with just black.  But please dont buy the joysticks.  I tried to play fighting games with the 2 x-arcade joysticks in the middle of my cp but I just couldnt do it, people would come over and be like uh why does it stick? or why cant I do a combo?  So i eventually broke down and bought 2 Happs Competitions which i am very happy with btw.  I just talked to a dude who got 2 happs competitions on ebay for like 18$ So right now i've got two crappy joysticks on the end that stick and just plain suck, and two good joysticks in the center for the fighting games.   The x-arcade joysticks are also much noisier, giving a huge clicking sound every time you hit one of the microswitches.  And once again unless you're a pro at geometry - you're not going to be hitting any diagonals.

[Tiger-Heli]

I think me and the other dude who posted about X-Arcade joysticks' sticking are either the only sane people here or the only ones that have tried the joysticks.  X-arcade joysticks are horrible.

Okay, I haven't actually tried the joysticks. . .

2 questions -

First, you did verify the actuator was in 8-way mode, correct?  (It sounds like yours are in 4-way mode)

Second - Did you try to bend the lever arms on the microswitches to adjust the sensitivity?

[zaphod]

I think me and the other dude who posted about X-Arcade joysticks' sticking are either the only sane people here or the only ones that have tried the joysticks.  X-arcade joysticks are horrible.  Trust me, you can forget about doing combos, diagonals, or even trying to stop from moving.  Once you press a direction the joystick will stick in that position until you recenter it. 

I think you had a faulty controller.  Yes, the joys are not as nice as Happs, but they should not have been sticking.  Used mine heavily for six months and never had that occur.  Ever.  As far as the combos, I lose at fighters quickly but the "youngins" that came over had no difficulty throwing combo after combo at me.

[LordDamo]

I bought some x-arcade buttons as the first buttons I bought, cause they were cheap and once i had tried them, I found out thet REALLY were cheap - So I asked the board "where can I get cheap buttons (price, not quality)". Peale replied and told me about 123gumby123. He sell true Happ buttons dirt cheap. They are magic (used them 15 mins ago).

The prob with the x-arcade buttons is the microswitches, they make a loud clicking sound. I replaced the microswitches with happ switches and use the black buttons on my cab, now they work just fine. Hope this helps.




EDIT: thanks again Peale