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| wbassett:
--- Quote from: Xiaou2 on June 07, 2008, 10:09:22 pm ---wbassett, You are way too hard on them. Am I? Seriously... when a person buys something they expect it to work and up until now the old drivers were hit or miss and hardware malfunctions for even casual use is reported much more than it should be. Even the forum on hkems has pages of people having problems. Now, I am hearing the new drivers work well and I will be testing them myself very soon. I really do hope they work as well as advertised. It still doesn't change the fact that the gun as originally presented had some major problems with it. The fact the company even told people to use Smog's drivers was a tell tale sign that this was a beta unit and the company itself didn't have a finalized driver created when the gun went public. Ive owned both Act Labs guns and they are both Steaming Dog Piles! The accuracy is Wretched! Getting every Nth shot fired several inches away from where I pointed! That was with perfect calibrations, recalibrations...etc. The things are garbage. That may be true, I will be honest and say I don't have an Act Labs gun, but I have read just as many reviews that raved about the Act Labs guns as I have that raved about the TopGun. Based on that, I would be skeptical about ActLabs too, but no less critical about the TopGun just because of that. There is no denying that there were major driver issues with the TopGun, and people have reported hardware failures with nothing more than casual use. Myself, I had a hardware issue right out of the box which just complicated the setup of the gun. Conversely as I have mention several times, the GC3 literally setup in a couple of minutes and I was playing and it was accurate across the entire screen of my 55" HDTV. That is what I expected and should have experienced with the TopGun too if it really was a polished and finalized product. So no, I don't think I have been too hard on it. By the way, with my current drivers, the accuracy of my TopGun is 'Wretched', and that was after calibrating and recalibrating many times. The feel awful on the hands to hold. The trigger button broke on mine after very short time (and it feels horrible too). The reload button is on the wrong side for me... and is useless. Again I don't know about the ActLabs guns, but thanks for the heads up because I seriously was considering dropping $200 on a dual gun setup. I have complimented the GC3 many times, but I have also said the design and look is awful. The TopGun really does look nice and is a cool gun compared to the GC3, but right now it just doesn't come close to the GC3 as far as performance and accuracy. When I swap computers and try the newest EMS drivers, hopefully I will be very happy, but I still must say... if they work, that's what I and everyone else should have gotten already. Shipping something and telling people to use a driver that was written by a private person on a forum because the company drivers would not work is not acceptable. That's not how a business should be run. The product should be fully developed and tested and any bugs worked out before going to market. Am I wrong here? Where else (besides maybe MicroSoft ;)) is this a common practice? AND, furthermore, if you looked at Act Labs forum back in the day... You would see that they have a bad reputation for customer satisfaction and service. They designed a highly flawed racing wheel and pedal set... which constantly breaks the springs they try to send put as a 'fix'. As well as many other issues. Okay, again, I don't have an ActLabs gun, but I do have a Guncon. Let's say we agree that ActLabs sucks... does that give license and an okay for other companies to say 'Well look at company X... they suck too'? No. Consumer money was spent. I myself received a broken unit that I had to fix myself, and then after that I had to still play with different drivers and configurations to get the gun to work. Whether ActLabs is the same or not really doesn't matter because I didn't buy an ActLabs gun, I bought an EMS TopGun. Again, let's compare things to the GC3. Out of the box to playing was literally less than three minutes and that included positioning the LED sensors. Honestly, that's really what I expected from the TopGun too. Instead it took me almost three weeks to trouble shoot and get my TopGun to work, and with the drivers I have (the new drivers were not out when I installed) it is erratic and only accurate in the very center of the screen on my 21" monitor. I'll say this though, if the new drivers work and as well as some are reporting, then I will be totally happy with the gun and also publicly say so just as publicly as I have stated the old drivers and packaging was not up to expectations. Their phone support techs are rude and dont offer much help. Basically, they tell you that you are screwed, and that there is nothing you can do about it. Tech support from EMS is better? Basically they tell people to 'recalibrate', and if that doesn't resolve the problem they were telling people to install Smog's drivers. With shipping I paid $60 for my gun and yes, I actually expected it to work right out of the box and with the company drivers. I don't think that was too much to ask or expect. On the other hand... my LCD Topguns are always within a cm or less of where I aim. They never missfire at a random location like the Crap Labs guns. You are one of the lucky ones then and I am honestly happy for you. The guns are comfortable, and have Dual handed reload buttons - AND - the buttons they use for this are better and easier to press. That I will give them Kudos on. Once I got mine working, the buttons are very easy to configure and you can assign a button for a coin drop and a game restart on most games. I really like the look and layout. That never was an issue and actually was one of the aspects that attracted me to the gun in the first place. This gun has a lot of potential. To say there were no issues with it prior to the most recent drivers though is not a very accurate statement. Even with the driver issues and setup problems pushed aside, there are some mechanical problems with the gun, at least with mine. When using recoil, the slide would consistently hit the hammer D pad. It didn't seem to affect game play, but it was still a design tolerance issue that should have been looked at. Overall the gun itself looks good and feels good to hold. I have fired many weapons when I was in the military, from M60's to Colt .45's to the Beretta 92, which is what the TopGun is modeled after. It looks and feels really good, I will give it that with no complaints at all. The recoil is a joke though and a novelty at best and most people end up disabling it after a very short period. Still it looks and feels good in your hand. That alone though doesn't make it perfect. If the new drivers work, I will be very happy, but still feel I should have had that quality of performance when I bought my gun. This thing as been out for a couple of years now. It really isn't too much to ask or expect for the company to have ironed out any issues with the gun long before now. That really is all I am complaining about. To date - there is NO other PC gun that matches or exceeds their accuracy and quality. That could very well be true. I bought a TopGun though and as of now it really is not very accurate. Maybe with the new drivers it will be better, but as I bought mine it definitely has some issues. My point has always been that for a commercial product I was expecting something to work and work well right out of the box and with company drivers. And, the price for them was Dirt cheap. I think $20 a gun. VS the +$60 CrapLabs gun the was completely unusable. Well I haven't seen a TopGun for $20. $34.99 plus shipping is the cheapest I have seen them. To be fair, I also haven't seen an ActLabs for $60, more like $90. Calling it a 'CrapLabs' does seem a bit biased though and just as hard on them as you said I was on the TopGun. ;) If Anyone is going to make a "Perfect" gun for PC, then its most probable that its EMS. Certainly not ACTLABS, Happs, nor anyone else that makes mame devices. I will contend that you sound a bit biased just as you feel I am. I can't speak for ActLabs, but do feel any gun should be as easy to setup and as accurate as my GunCon3. EMS has the distinction of really being the only PC gun that will work with CRT or any screen technology, but if another company comes along and has a more refined product, then there will be some actual competition and EMS may not fare as well if they are not the only one on the block. Competition can be good, and this is one case where I would fully agree with that. Prices would come down and quality would go up. As I said before, if someone were to buy a joystick or spinner and it didn't work or required a major effort to configure it and set it up to get it working... they probably would return it and buy a product from a different company. EMS really is the only option for LCD users, and with CRT it's ActLabs as the main competition. I have read just as many stellar reviews for ActLabs as I have for the TopGun. Based on your comments (albeit some seemed to be extremely biased though) I would also be equally leery and skeptical on the ActLabs guns. Also based on their prices, they aren't a very attractive alternative else I would already have at least one of them. Right now I kinda feel like the saying 'Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me'. I really do feel a bit duped by the product claims and reviews of the TopGun, and based on that I also don't feel like ending up with the 'shame on me' feeling of buying an ActLab gun and having an equally bad experience. --- End quote --- So maybe I am hard on EMS, but they are a commercial company selling a product. The product really should have been fully functional and with company drivers the minute they started selling the guns. I really can not understand defending them when there really have been so many problems and not just me as the only person that has complained. If these really were the ultimate PC mame gun, then I really doubt there would be so much interest in getting the Wii mote working as a light gun. This really isn't a personal thing, it is a company problem. They may have finally fixed things, but they never should have sold the guns in the first place knowing their own drivers and software wasn't fully working properly. If that is being too hard on someone, then yes I am being hard on them. When I spend my money on something I really do expect it to work and that is all I am saying and was asking for. I will say this though, even if the new drivers work and work well... I will want to use my gun for extended periods of time and really give it a workout to see if it holds up or breaks like some people have complained about before buying a second gun for a two shooter setup. BTW... Xiaou2, do you work for hkems or something? You really came off sounding pretty bad and biased towards ActLabs. I have no personal affiliation with either company and if I bought and ActLabs gun and had as much trouble with it I would complain about it too. |
| wbassett:
--- Quote from: MKChamp on June 07, 2008, 01:02:18 pm ---Just a FYI on the new drivers (released May 9).... I installed them just a couple of days ago and must say...they are great. I use to not like playing games like deer hunter or police trainer because the more off center you aimed the gun, the more off it was. After installing the new driver and then using their panel to fine tune the edges, accuracy was increased tremendously. I would venture to say that the new driver has brought a renewed interest in all my gun games now. I have 2 EMS guns installed and 'so far' I haven't seen ANY issues.... Also, before I purchased the two EMS guns (when they first came out), I had 2 act-lab guns. So, I can give a comparison based on personal experience. The EMS guns are the best guns for MAME at this time (IMO). The main reason is the real time tracking. Forget T2 or Rev X with act-labs. Carnevil is fine with act-labs until you pick up the machine gun or flame thrower... As far as EMS documentation...it is obvious English isn't their native language. Maybe it would help for them to contract a guy name Bob or Frank to help them in that category. --- End quote --- That really is good news. I like what you said about fine tuning at the screen edges too, that is definitely a must. I do understand about documentation and English not being their native language, but still they could have made a little bit of a better effort. Like you said, hire someone to translate and write some docs. I should have my new PC installed in my cab by next weekend, and at that time I will try the new drivers. |
| Xiaou2:
BTW... Xiaou2, do you work for hkems or something? You really came off sounding pretty bad and biased towards ActLabs. I have no personal affiliation with either company and if I bought and ActLabs gun and had as much trouble with it I would complain about it too. No, I do not work for them. There are only 2 sources for PC guns. Act Labs & EMS. ActLabs put out a garbage gun that I bought. If you think you have something to complain about - try using the Act labs gun! I mistakenly bought their 2nd gun... thinking it would be better and more accurate. WRONG. Then looking over their site.. and seeing all the other problems they have with their products... and their poor customer service... its simply hard to believe they are still in business. Their company truly does not care. However... EMS does care. They made a GOOD gun. The BEST gun EVER made for PC. While its not perfect... they show that they are committed to making an improved model. They also work with people to figure out how to improve the software, and work with people to get emulator compatibility. Not many big companies go this far. Finally, nobody is going to get a wimote to work as a "good" lightgun period. It would also be expensive, awkward..etc. |
| akcrash:
--- Quote from: Xiaou2 on June 08, 2008, 10:27:57 am --- Finally, nobody is going to get a wimote to work as a "good" lightgun period. It would also be expensive, awkward..etc. --- End quote --- Expensive? 30 bucks a wiimote, available anywhere, almost; plus 15 bucks for the bluetooth adapter. Thats damned cheaper then the EMS guns. Awkward? How so, have you used one, there are several 'shells' out for them that are cheap and actually quit comfortable to use. Please share your reasons for bashing the wiimote. I got one to work in mame with glove pie, there are short comings, but if we ever get an actual driver for them, or even a library support built in mame, they will be way better then what is out now. And the single sensor bar is easier to conceal in a cab, and you dont have to stand 8 feet away to use the thing. |
| aljupy:
As I said other time: Do not tell me....you play with the Wiimote with the cursor activated :laugh2: ¿You call it a Lightgun game? I call it cheat a lightgun game The day that the WIIMOTE Drivers will be created for REAL LightGun purpose, I will defend it as a Lightgun. At this moment, The Wiimote driver needs: 1) Calibration Stuff. (Shoot the target or a Software edge´s calibration to fine-tune) 2) An option to hide the cursor would be nice too. The Wiimote as lightgun would be possible, but Glovepie author should add it. HKEMS ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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