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.

[Stingray]

You can build a stand alone control panel for far less than than $150. A little wood, an encoder, a joystick or two and a few buttons. At the most you're looking at half the cost of one of those prebuilt panels. I really don't understand why anyone buys those things.

-S

[monkeybomb]

If you want to get in the water slowly I understand but realize that niether stick is good choice for a cabinet.  But one of them makes a good desktop controler.

I bought a hot rod se before I even found this site and found out about how deep the hobby goes.  I have also played the x-arcade and I have a set of sticks from them.

The x-arcade is junk.  The sticks are crap and so are the microswitches.  They make funny sounds and feel terrible if you acctually play them side by side with other sticks.

The Hod rod se in a nice little unit.  You get real happs controls and the feel great.  The only reason to get an x-arcade is to play with consoles and even then I would reccomend the encoder kit.

[Felice]

I have an X-arcade-unit and I think it's great to begin with, because you have to start somewhere to know what you really need and want.

I choose the X-arcade because it's console-compatibility. I think no other unit has this feature?.

The sticks are good but nothing more. I have replaced the buttons en sticks after a while, which certainly gives an improvement (espec. the sticks). I read that the Hotrod has already Happ-sticks and buttons so this is maybe the best solution for you.

[Dire Radiant]

Gee I must be the only one who likes my X-Arcade! 

Of course now it's not enough for me anymore and I'm building a new panel. Make of that what you will. To my mind the X-Arcade does the job competently enough but to be honest I would have built my own panel from day one had I not received the X-Arcade as a review sample.

[SOAPboy]

Hmm..




or






Yeah, id be getting the hotrod if i had to go prebuilt..

[Stingray]

Yeah, id be getting the hotrod if i had to go prebuilt..

Why, because it's purple or because their marketing department has a more artsy photographer?

-S

[Goz]

If it's the carpentry skills that hold you back, buy a control panel blank from Gamecab or another vendor. Toss in some Happ Supers $7 ea, Happ Buttons $1.29 - 1.39ea, minipac $40 and have something better than x-arcade. Unless of course you plan on using the x-arcade with a PS2, XBOX, or GAMECUBE (then just replace the joys and buttons).

Good Luck.

-Goz

[Arcadiac]

Keep in mind that the HotRodSE may not be compatible with your PC motherboard.
I ended up out $30 original and return shipping when I had to send mine back for a refund.

[markrvp]

I bought an X-arcade single controller panel before I found this site.  I have since built my own cab and a couple other panels.  I can tell you that I WOULD NEVER BUY ANOTHER X-ARCADE product.  (Disclaimer) In My Opinion - X-arcade's marketing is very misleading.  They say it comes with ROMS, but in reality it comes with nothing.  They give you a link to a European Website where you download the ROMS.  They say there is a 30-day money back guarantee.  When I wanted to send mine back they told me they would e-mail me an RMA # and I NEVER HEARD BACK FROM THEM.  I also tried to buy a wiring harness from them so I could use the encoder with better controls AND THEY FLAT OUT REFUSED. 

In fact, I am so disgusted with X-gaming that if you send me $100 bucks I will build you your own controls panel that will blow the X-arcade away.  Just out of spite.

Oh now I did it, I lost my happy thought and can't fly anymore.  Darn X-gaming

[Daniel270]

It took me a while, but I FINALLY found this thread.... might be an idea to ask about these.....

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,30990.0.html


The main reason it took so long was because I wasn't sure what the thread name was.. lol

[SideShow Rob]

If you haven't already checked this out...I'd recommend a quick read of the following:

http://www.retroblast.com/reviews/controller1.html

It compares a number of commercial pre-built controllers, including both the X-Arcade and the HotRod units that you are considering.

I have owned an X-Arcade unit...good encoder, crap joysticks, buttons and microswitches IMHO. The joysticks are useless for 4-way controls, and often require adjusting to get correct 8-way operation (this is my experience...others may have been more lucky in getting a properly set-up controller, out of the box...)

If you had to get a pre-built controller - spend your

[Chemixtry]

When I found out about MAME I bought a HotRod SE right away. The quality is top notch and you can even add a couple of extra inputs if you want. Its great but you will soon be wanting a full size cabinet. One thing that I do find annoying about it is that its not usb and therefore not hot swappable. Also the keyboard has to be plugged in on mine in order for the computer to see the hotrod.

[SOAPboy]

Yeah, id be getting the hotrod if i had to go prebuilt..

Why, because it's purple or because their marketing department has a more artsy photographer?

-S

Just flat out nicer..

In fact, if based on color, id buy the xarcade..

hell if your buying prebuild buy those street fighter sticks from EBgames.. nicer than xarcade imo..

[Dire Radiant]

Nobody has yet mentioned the one great advantage that the XArcade has over the Hotrod. The X-Arcade is programmable. It's of limited use if all you use is MAME for which the default configuration is fine, but it's nice to have in case you want to use it for a game which doesn't have remappable controls.

[Tiger-Heli]

Another review:  http://www.mameworld.net/xarcade/xarcadereview.html

My personal feeling is the Hot Rod is better quality, if you aren't going to use it for consoles.  The lack of programmability is a problem if you use it for PC games besides MAME, but you could always replace it's encoder with a KeyWiz or I-PAC down the line (for less than the difference in price, well almost!).

But either way, you will probably end up upgrading either unit down the line.

[wallyworld]

Just want to thank everyone for their tips and input.  Got myself a used HotRod SE.  I am very impressed and happy with it!

I can see why so many of you mention that I'll be upgrading at some point anyways.  You really do need quite a few controls on the panel to replicate the gaming experience for so many different games.  Was thinking I'd go SlikStik Quad at some point, but I may just try to build my own control panel if I can save enough money doing do.

[Tiger-Heli]

Was thinking I'd go SlikStik Quad at some point, but I may just try to build my own control panel if I can save enough money doing do.

For me, it wasn't as much a question of saving money as getting that button layout that I thought was perfect, regardless of what everyone else was using.  Although I took a lot of advice in determining what the perfect layout should be.

[borg357]

Yeah, id be getting the hotrod if i had to go prebuilt..

Why, because it's purple or because their marketing department has a more artsy photographer?

-S

HAHAHAHHA.. This one made me laugh, to the point where I had to respond.

That photo of the HotRod, was taken by ME on my living room floor with my 4 megapix Canon S45 digital camera.

I have no idea if that X-arcade photo was taken by a professional, but I'm sure it was. To compare the 2 photos is very funny.  And say the HotRod photo is better is even better!!

Seriously, The reason why the HotRod is so easy to photograph is because it actually DOES look like that..  And something so awesome is easy to just click off pictures off.

Get the HotRod, you won't regret it.  Quality is simply #1 at HanaHo, bar none.


-Richard Ragon/Senior HanaHo Evangelist
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http://www.HanaHo.com - HanaHo Games, Inc.