Modded Xbox for MAME arcade

[tophatne1]

Is anyone running their arcade with a modded Xbox? If so what are you using for an encoder? I have seen the DIY ones from x-arcade but they don't have trackball support. A trackball i s a must for me.

I know a PC would be better but I already have the xbox.

[unclet]

Aren't old PC's pretty much cheap/free now and days.   You probably can fine people you know who might have an old Pentium 3 in the closet.   

[rooterman]

I did one a few years ago using an x-arcade, but trackball support isn't there. You can use a keyboard and mouse adapter, but it really doesn't work well for trackballs. Right now I'm building a new cab with a pc so I can have a trackball, pinball sims, and a spinner. Also mame is not updated very often on the xbox, so some games aren't totally emulated, sounds not working mostly. I'd recommend using a pc.

r

[Grasshopper]

I've been using MAMEdox on my Xbox and it's awesome. In my opinion a modded Xbox is the best platform for running MAME on a TV.

However, if you're using a monitor in your cab then I'd say a PC is preferable as they're more flexible, generally faster, and can handle multiple display resolutions.

With regards to encoders, from what I've been reading MAMEdox will work with a USB keyboard although I haven't actually tried it yet. So theoretically you could use an Ipac. I'm not sure about mouse/trackball support though.

[Green Giant]

Have yet to see anyone use an xbox in a standard cab.  They are used more often on driving cabs using xbox controls.  If you are gonna use an xbox for a cab, make it a driving cab.

[rooterman]

I actually have one on the drawing board, it's up next after I finish the pc cab.

r

[Malenko]

Have yet to see anyone use an xbox in a standard cab.  They are used more often on driving cabs using xbox controls.  If you are gonna use an xbox for a cab, make it a driving cab.

Ive seen 1 GOOD one:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=67656.0

and one NOT so good one:
http://www.myspace.com/arcadecabinet

[Green Giant]

A driving cab or standard cab using an xbox?

If it is driving, document it alot.  I eventually want one when I get a house.

[Green Giant]

Ive seen 1 GOOD one:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=67656.0

That defeats the purpose of using mame though.  I think you could have a badass cab using an xbox and just xbox games, but to use it for mame specific would be a waste.  Playing MK Armagedon and some Samurai Warriors would be lots of fun on an arcade.  One of these days I might drop my xbox in a cab, but it will probably be for driving.

[tophatne1]

Wow! That was a lot of replies in a short time.

I like the look of the capcom one that was linked. Still no trackball though. I was over at x-arcade looking at the tankstick and some reviews of it on some sites. Apparently you can use a usb to Xbox adapter for the trackball but I don't think you can have the trackball usb adapter and the regular joystick adapter hooked up at the same time.

A driving cab is an interesting idea.

[tophatne1]

Ive seen 1 GOOD one:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=67656.0

That defeats the purpose of using mame though.  I think you could have a badass cab using an xbox and just xbox games, but to use it for mame specific would be a waste.  Playing MK Armagedon and some Samurai Warriors would be lots of fun on an arcade.  One of these days I might drop my xbox in a cab, but it will probably be for driving.

I was looking at the Xbox as a MAME/Xbox game solution so I could play the Xbox fighting games without any of the slowdowns that I would have if I was using a Pentium 3 etc for a PC.

[rooterman]

I just posted my plans for my (yet to be built) xbox cockpit here:
 
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=69581.0

r

[Crowquill]

I've been pretty impressed with how well MAMEoX works on my soft-modded Xbox. Unfortunately there's little-to-no mouse support. USB keyboards work fine and are the only way I've found to get into all the options for MAME. Doesn't an I-Pac get detected as a standard USB keyboard? I'd think it would work fine.

The biggest stumbling block on an XBox is the 64MB of ram.

My setup works well when we want to play 4-player or just sit down and play in the living room, but I'm not sure it's good enough for an all-purpose sort of cabinet.