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Do you prefer the X-Arcade or the HotRod SE joystick?
wallyworld:
For those of you who have gone with one of the two mainstream 2-player joystick panels, which do you prefer? I
paigeoliver:
X-Arcade has crappier joysticks in it.
My real suggestion is to avoid both and build your own. Cabinets with those prefab control panels slapped on the front always look terrible.
wallyworld:
Down the road, I'll probably get a customized SlikStik Quad, or even build my own panel if I've learned enough by then. But for now, I've got to make sure I enjoy this hobby enough to dedicate that kind of time/money so I've got to go with the X-Arcade or HotRod. Thanks for the tip on the crappier joysticks, though.
paigeoliver:
You are talking about buying a prebuilt cabinet kit in the same breath as saving money?
Just buy an existing dead cabinet and work from that, it will come out about $400 cheaper.
aterlecki:
Just my thoughts on the X-Arcade:
I'm new to this also and I recently bought a 2-player X-Arcade. About a week later I was on the Ultimarc website ordering the bits I needed to build my own CP.
I thought the x-arcade was just a bit cheap - the joysticks were useless for the old 4-way games like Pacman and Donkey Kong and the controls were a bit too close together for proper 2-player games. Even the buttons felt a bit off - a bit pingy and uncertain.
I knew nothing about building a CP, and have no carpentry skills at all, but with a few basic tools (saw, drill, hammer, nails, etc) and some MDF I managed something quite acceptable within about 5 hours. The finishing is nothing like as polished as the X-arcade (I can improve for future designs as my woodworking skills improve and all for the cost of just a bit more MDF and maybe some vinyl covering or paint) but the quality and layout of the controls are much better than the X-Arcade and playing the classics is far more enjoyable.
If you are wanting to decide whether you enjoy the hobby enough to spend more money then the X-Arcade is not a good choice IMO. You'll either end up spending further money to get a CP with quality controls or it will put you off altogether.