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What do you think about the X arcade stick ?
Rakae:
--- Quote from: wbassett on July 28, 2008, 06:36:44 pm ---Rakae that's exactly what I am doing.
Right now I'm still gathering what I consider the basics for my modular cp and then I'll start building it. One of the main things for me was my son took two weeks vacation and came up to visit and I wanted to build an arcade cab with him as a father/son project. I knew if we went the route of buying mdf and making a cab from scratch let alone a cp that we'd never be done before he had to get home for work.
The cab went together in two days, the finishing touches took another day (speakers, cutting the plexi, things like that). I already had the PC setup so after that it was just a matter of plugging in the TankStick and we were actually playing way before he had to leave! I introduced him to Defender, Major Havoc and a few other games I loved when I was his age.
He's totally hooked now. Before he thought consoles ruled and arcades were just cheap graphics and cheesy games. So when I get my final control panel done I plan on giving him the TankStick! I know he'll flip out and love it.
It all depends on your mindset and whether you want to wait until you have a cp done before you can start playing some games. Personally in my opinion for me this was the smart way to go because otherwise I probably would have a decent but slapped together cp right now and this way I can take my time and design it the way I really want it to be the first time around.
Also as I've mentioned in other posts... I started my cab before finding this forum. Oddly enough I found the main Arcadecontrols.com site but never realized there was a forum too! So I didn't know half the things I know now, and I am barely scratching the surface of everything there is to learn. When I bought my TankStick I also went ahead and bought their controller kit too (like I said, because I didn't know any better). It comes with a wiring harness and since I have it I'll probably use it to wire up some of the buttons that won't be modular panels I swap out... things like start buttons, coin drops and things like that. For the rest I'll probably end up going with a KeyWiz.
One of the best advice tidbits I've heard on here is when you start making your cp, make a temp panel out of cardboard and see how the layout feels when you use it. More than likely you'll decide you want to move some things around and this way you didn't waste a piece of mdf.
Another thing I think I'll say is good for us novices as far as getting something like a TankStick is after playing for awhile a person may find out they really don't like an all in one cp with enough buttons to cover every possible game. For me I found the layout rarely fits the original game layout and that changes the feel of the game a bit... again just my opinion.
I think the TankStick is an excellent performer and option for someone starting out and wanting to get their feet wet in the arcade building world.
--- End quote ---
Great story, I love that you got your son into the classics. Your son has a great father. I play a lot of the new games as well but you just can't beat the classics. Part of the reason I am building this cab is there are no good arcades left where I live. We got Dave & Busters and Gameworks but they could careless about the classics. It all sports and shooting games anymore.
The internet has been great for multiplayer but you don't get that face to face competition us geeks once had.
No one complaining about lag, bots or cheating, it was just your score and mine.
Jack Burton:
You should just bite the bullet and build your own. You will like it much better in the long run,
but if you must buy an X-cade and only worried about woodworking then I recommend you get only the wooden box and put higher quality controls and encoders in it. Or buy an even better box from somewhere like mameroom.com
Turnarcades:
Woodworking's not as hard as you think, I'd advise anyone just getting in to this to have a go; you soon get the hang of it. If you mess up a bit of wood it's just a few bucks and you can try again. If you buy a ready-made solution and don't like it or see how simple it really is, you'll be kicking yourself.
Besides, throwing money at your first cab leaves you feeling a bit empty. You've got forever to play it, so make it yourself and you will feel much more rewarded and get a layout you are happier with.
wbassett:
Turncades other than the cost (but anytime someone opts for premade convience they will pay a bit more) and aside from the fact in my opinion the sticks in the X Arcade premade panels have a touch of a loose feel to me, I think it is a great way for someone that's a bit apprehensive about jumping into a cab and cp to start. I think ultimately once a person uses it for awhile and especially after reading through threads on here they will end up making their own cp anyway.
It's a bit of a cash outlay, but a person could reuse some of the parts or even sell the TankStick or DualStick so someone else can then get started, and then they too will most likely end up making a custom cp. I disagree that throwing money at your cab makes you feel empty... to me empty feeling would be jumping in feet first, getting in over your head, and then having an unusable 'box' taking up space for the next year. At least this way a person that's uncomfortable or unsure what to do can get some enjoyment out of their cab right away! :)
I help people put together Home Theater projector systems on a budget and a lot of times people start out with what I call a simple OTS neutral gray paint (Off The Shelf) and once they do some research and realize it's not as difficult as they first thought, many of them switch over to a more advance method. In the meantime though while they are educating themselves about what's out there and becoming more comfortable and confident with their skills they still have something good to use as a screen. Sometimes though some people decide to stick with the simple method and that's perfectly fine if they are happy with it.
In the end all that matters is someone is up and running and happy right? :)
extendedplayarcade:
Another good point to make is if you buy a x-arcade tank stick and then find out your want your own custom control panel.
You could always ebay.com the x-arcade. I seen them go for a pretty good penny.
It is like renting it for a bit or something like that.
Brent
www.extendedplayarcade.com