Pro shock arcade stick for Playstation

[lemoe]

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with the "PRO SHOCK MINI ARCADE STICK" for playstation.
http://www.amazon.com/SHOCK-MINI-ARCADE-STICK-INTERACT/dp/B00006I5CV
I'm sure it will suck as it is, but how is it for hacking? Ive heard it has a switch for changing from digital to analogue control for the joystick so it could be perfect?

Basically, are all the buttons digital?
what can the stick be set to control?
and, how well do ps1 to xbox adapters work?


Thanks,
Lemoe

[Crowquill]

I'd agree it sucks as-is. Hacking it might be a possibility though. Probably no tougher than a standard Interact pad.

I have the Game Elements PS2-->XBox/GameCube adapter. I haven't had any major problems with it. The only real drawback is diffences in the controller itself. PS2 pads don't have triggers. For straight digital controls, I've had no problems at all. I played a LOT of Soul Calibur 2 using my PS2-specific Pelican RealArcade. We've also used Playstation Dual Shock 1 & 2s and Street Fighter Pads to play emulators on the XBox. My logitech wireless pads for PS2 don't work with it, though.

[DarkBubble]

I picked up a couple of these sticks along with a couple of the Game Elements adapters as part of the same auction.  I must have gotten part of a bad batch, because neither of the adapters worked on my Xbox.  I tried every 1st and 3rd party pad I had.  I don't have a Gamecube to test with, so I don't know if they just don't like my system or if they're broken.  On a side note, if you open them up, there's a spot to add a third cable for USB connectivity.  I don't think that it requires any other work beside that.  I'd found the info on a site a year back, but can't find it at the moment.

As far as the Pro Shocks go, for basic gaming, they'd probably be pretty decent.  They're hard to get a decent game of Street Fighter out of because they want to slide all over the place.  The sticks themselves have miniature microswitches and do feel arcadey.  They can be easily mounted to a metal control panel, so I decided that I'm going to cut one stick off of one controller and wire it to the X, O, square, and triangle buttons of the other and make a mini Smash TV controller.  I think they're decent enough sticks for it.  The wiring is ribbon style, soldered on both ends.  It appears to be solid wire, so be careful not to bend it too much or too often and be mindful that when it moves, it's likely bending at the board-side solder points.  You could probably snip the wires closer to the stick and attach a disconnect or splice directly to a longer piece of stranded wire.

The buttons are just plastic caps seated on top of silent switches like those found in Sanwa buttons.  The switches are soldered directly to the board, so you'll have to do some desoldering.  I'm going to salvage mine in the hopes of using them for a future project.  I don't think the terminals are large enough to justify trying to snip the terminals just below the switch housing to use quick disconnects in place of soldering.

I haven't checked yet to see if there are seperate grounds for the stick and buttons, but I don't think that's a very common type of setup.

[lemoe]

Hi, thanks for the replies!

DarkBubble,
Was this the auction you bought them from?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=006&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=160117229436&rd=1&rd=1

I've actually been looking at them, are they the same adapters and do they have a make/brand? Like you say, you might have got a bad batch or they might all suck, in which case i can just get some more.

Oh, also, what are the options for the joystick? (i.e. d-pad, left analogue???)

I think i'll buy these and see what i can do with them,  they should be fine for my cab.


Thanks again,
Lemoe

[DarkBubble]

The three silver ovals = 5 buttons.  I don't have mine in front of me, but I'm pretty sure that it's the following functions:

-Start
-Select
-Turbo
-Clear
-Slow

That would leave the stick purely in digital (d-pad) mode.  I can't find a large enough pic online outside of the Blaze version, which appears to vary only in the layout of those 5 function buttons.  I'll double check though when I get home.

[lemoe]

Hi,
Did you check?
This is the main thing i need to know now, the auction says:
"Two Modes: Dual Analog, And Digital"
"fully compatible with all digital and analog games"

Is this not the case then? This is the main reason I am looking at these so if they don't switch between the sticks its pretty uselss to me. If you could clarify what they can control that would be great, thanks.

Thanks alot,
Lemoe

[lemoe]

Bump,
Still looking fo any information about the stick, can you select what it controls or is it only the d-pad?


Thanks,
Lemoe

[DarkBubble]

Sorry.  It's digital only.

[lemoe]

   oh,

Thanks, i hate it when they advertise stuff incorrectly or in little detail on ebay....

Thanks again,
Lemoe