Main > Main Forum
SlikStik Tornado Spinner News
SlikStik Christian:
We want to congratulate Groovy Game Gear for bringing an alternative choice to the spinner enthusiast industry, at SlikStik we know that competition/alternative choices are good for the end user which is one of our commitments as an OEM manufacturer.
In the manufacturing process companies should try to make the highest quality product while keeping it cost effective as well as consumer friendly. We mention price because SlikStik products seem to get hammered for being expensive or overpriced. In addition, we have noticed that some of the claims regarding functionality of the Turbo compared to other spinner controls released in the online, arcade controls forum sales pitch are of no value, thus the need for some clarification.
In its main form, the Turbo has a (polymer = plastic)
whammoed:
I am a slikstik customer and will continue to buy products from slikstik that I want of course.
I own a tornado spinner and have been satisfied with it.
I do not think it is overpriced at all. Some people just don't understand how much custom parts cost to be machined especially in "limited" numbers.
The tornado plays tempest great.
Good job on the price break.
I LOVE the way it spins. It does nothing for gameplay, its just cool!
BUT...
Lets not pretend for a second that a spinner can't benefit from a higher CPR (cycles per revolution). It may not matter in a game like tempest but for a game like Arkanoid it surely matters. There was a reason the arkanoid spinner was geared to provide a total CPR of 486. The tornados 40-50 CPR (I know its around there) doesn't come close to this. I still use it for Arkanoid of course, but I would give it a rating of "playable" at best. When you turn up the sensitvity to get it close to having the same movement of the "vaus" per degree turn of the knob, the movement of the "vaus" becomes choppy along the screen. You simply can't gain resolution, but you can decrease it. In other words I believe there are 176 different positions for the vaus along the bottom of the screen in arkanoid. I want to move the vaus along the bottom with very littly turn of the knob, say around 60-70 degrees. On a 50 CPR encoder 66 degrees only gives me 9 teeth! The arkanoid spinner would have 87! So how am I supposed to get the same feel without the vaus hopping along ten times further than it should?<---rhetorical question
Anyway, I think both SS and GGG have great products and can't wait to see what's next. I'm just not buying the idea that a 40-50 CPR (tooth) encoder is the perfect resolution.
SlikStik Christian:
whammoed,
Point taken and we agree 100% to be very honest we are very familiar with the special requirements of Arkanoid and its original CPR of 486, and the Tornado isn
whammoed:
Thanks.
Yes, can't wait for some reviews.
And once again I actually can't believe how inexpensive the spinner options out there are. I have priced custom machined parts for various projects in the past and know exactly how expensive it really is. What are vendors making on these, like 5 bucks?!?! Normal retail on things is generally a 100% markup or more. I certainly doubt you guys are making these for $30-$35 each. So I for one am appreciative for these products and understand the capital investment it took to get them going.
Randy hasn't mentioned what the CPR of his spinner is but I doubt it reaches the 486 mark. Now that would be an expensive spinner! Non geared at 486...Yikes!
rackoon:
AWSOME DEAL! I will buy one next payday!