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My review of ezarcade's mame spinner
KungFuJoe:
I just got 2 of them yesterday and since they are USB, decided to just plug them in, and either hold on the to the base with one hand or, if I needed to use a button, squeeze it between my legs (sitting down of course...that would look awkward standing up!).
Right out of the box, one of the spinners had an issue with the "wheel" rubbing against some black component (possibly the sensor...if I'm completely off with the terms that's because I'm pretty clueless about the names of the components of a spinner). The wheel is made out of some type of flexible material so I tried to bend it out of the way slightly...that didn't work so what I did was to spin and spin it and it sort of "grinded" out the wheel a little and that eased it up. The other spinner was fine.
In terms of configuration...there was none...being USB, I just plugged it in and both my system and MAME immediately recognized it.
Now...the important part...gameplay. I tried 3 games...Arkanoid, Tempest, and Championship Sprint (I bought the steering wheel attachment, but didn't attempt to put it on as there's no way I would be able to hold it with one hand (needed to use other hand to hit the "accelerator")).
Arkanoid:
This one gets a mixed review. I had to bump up the sensitivity to 255% (max) to get as close as what I remembered it to be in the arcade. Basically, I remember you could move the "stick" from one side of the screen to the other with only 180 degrees....maybe even less. Set to 255%, I got it to about 270 or so. Also, for some reason, it doesn't seem as responsive...like there's a tiny bit of sluggishness when changing direction. It was definitely still playable. I also want to mention that some of the "sluggishness" might be due to the size of the spinner knob being smaller than the actual Arkanoid knob. A larger knob means less of a twist. Good thing the knob is easily removable/replaceable.
Tempest:
Surprisingly, the spinner worked very well for Tempest. Just by setting the sensitivity to 100 (or was it 150)...I was able to get the response I was familiar with in the arcade...even being able to spin it (as well as I could from my lap) freely. No sluggishness here like there was in Arkanoid...though it could be combination of the way the game is played, and my overall memory (haven't played Arkanoid in the arcade for probably over 10 years).
Championship Sprint:
This one was actually surprisingly good. Considering I was playing with the spinner housing pressed between my legs and was NOT using the steering wheel attachment, the response was very good (had to bump it up to 100%...somehow it defaulted to 25%). I can only imagine that properly mounted, and with the steering wheel attachment, that game play will be very comparable to the arcade (except for the most serious spinning).
As for the steering wheel attachment itself...it is a bit smaller than you'd expect and it doesn't exactly look very impressive, but it is solid, has a nice decent weight to it, and I'm sure you'll be able to spin it freely with no problems (important in Sprint). The small size actually has a benefit as most people won't have a hard time integrating it into their cp design.
All in all, it's definitely worth the money. Only the most serious/hardcore arcade classic gamers will want to spend the money for the top of the line spinners. When you also consider it comes with a USB interface built it (saving further money and time), and the steering wheel attachment (saving even further cost and space), this combo is perfect for the budget minded, or those who wants to save space, but should satisfy the majority of gamers out there.
KenToad:
Cool, thanks for the review, KungFuJoe. Can you change the sensitivity of these spinners through windows control panel?
I'd love to see some pics and a further review of the steering wheel in action. Also, have you tried Ironman yet?
Cheers,
KenToad
KungFuJoe:
I haven't thought/tried to change sensitivity in the control panel. Now that I think about it, I don't see why not...it acts just like a single axis mouse.
I haven't tried Ironman, but I'll try it out tonight.
As soon as I get my CP made and mounted, I'll post pics...and give another review.
steptoe:
cool. Have you tried 2 together, and can you use three spinners at the same time, i love championship sprint and all those others. geeez im pumped
KungFuJoe:
Haven't tried two together, but the general consensus is that you would need AnalogMame or AdvanceMame to utilize 2 "mouse" devices at the same time. This is probably something I will try out in the next day or so.
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