Thinking of Building a MAME cabinet and I have some questions/concerns

[TrekkiesUnite118]

My brother was talking to me the other day and he said he would really like to have something like an arcade cabinet in the basement of his new house.  So after telling him that it could probably be done if we built a MAME cabinet I figured I would look into this for him and I have a few questions before I really get into this.

First the one game he would really like this for is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time. So obviously the cabinet would need to be designed to accommodate this game meaning 4 player controls. One thing I have noticed when looking at this is a lot of MAME cabinets that have 4 player controls have 6 buttons for players 1 and 2 and only 4 buttons for players 3 and 4. I was wondering if there was a reason for this. I know Turtles in Time only uses 2 buttons but we would probably want 6 for fighting games and what not. But is there a reason for only going with 4 buttons for players 3 and 4? Are there no games that are 4 player that need more than 4 buttons or something?

Next, what was the Monitor size for Turtles in Time? I can't seem to find this anywhere. Was it the standard 19 inch used by most arcade games at the time or was it bigger? I haven't seen one of the original machines in such a long time that I can't really remember.

Finally, for now at least, what is a good quality joystick that will look nice but also not kill the bank account since 4 would be needed. I was looking at some Happ joysticks and I liked the way the Competition one looked because it had different colors that would be perfect for Turtles in Time, but I hear that it sucks and that the Super-8 is the way to go. Anyone got some good recommendations?

[GaryMcT]

For a straight 8-way joystick, the J-stick from Ultimarc (which is a slightly tweaked Sanwa JLW) is nice and cheap too.

If you want to play games that have non-8-way configurations (Q-bert is 4-way diagonal, pacman is 4-way, sinistar is effectively analog, etc.), I'd get an Ultimarc Ultrastik 360.  You can do those for player one and two and get the cheaper JLW/J-stick for the other two.  The look and mount exactly the same since the Ultrastik is a heavy mod of the JLW.  The Ultrastik isn't cheap, but it is very flexible and works really well.

[TrekkiesUnite118]

For a straight 8-way joystick, the J-stick from Ultimarc (which is a slightly tweaked Sanwa JLW) is nice and cheap too.

If you want to play games that have non-8-way configurations (Q-bert is 4-way diagonal, pacman is 4-way, sinistar is effectively analog, etc.), I'd get an Ultimarc Ultrastik 360.  You can do those for player one and two and get the cheaper JLW/J-stick for the other two.  The look and mount exactly the same since the Ultrastik is a heavy mod of the JLW.  The Ultrastik isn't cheap, but it is very flexible and works really well.

Well, if we feel there is no need for non-8-way configurations will the J-Stick work just as well as the Ultrastik for everything else?

[GaryMcT]

It doesn't feel quite the same.  I wouldn't say one is better than the other, just different.  A lot of it comes down to personal preference.  The U360 is more of a "no-moving-parts" kind of feel, no clicking, etc. (uses magnetism to detect where the stick is) while the J-stick uses microswitches.  You can put the same restrictors on both (I prefer the circular one), and I think you can also swap out the microswitches for something quieter.  I have one to try this with, but I haven't gotten to it yet.

If I only wanted 8-way, I'd probably just get the J-stick.  If I were doing a 4-player machine, I'd personally do U360 for the first two players and J-stick for the other two since I like some games that don't work well with 8-way sticks (mostly Pacman, Donkey Kong, etc.)

[mwong168]

One thing I have noticed when looking at this is a lot of MAME cabinets that have 4 player controls have 6 buttons for players 1 and 2 and only 4 buttons for players 3 and 4. I was wondering if there was a reason for this. I know Turtles in Time only uses 2 buttons but we would probably want 6 for fighting games and what not. But is there a reason for only going with 4 buttons for players 3 and 4? Are there no games that are 4 player that need more than 4 buttons or something?

The only reason I can think of why people only put 4 button is either not enough room, less wires to connect and run, not enough inputs on the controller interface or they just don't need it.  You can do what I did and get the best of both worlds for fighting games.







I personally can't stand playing Mortal Kombat using the Street Fighter layout so I put them as my player #1 and #4.  For those that come over and are use to playing a "bootleg" cabinet for MK growing up I can configure player #2 or #3 for them so they have no excuses when I am ripping their head off with Sub Zero 

You can check my build thread here:  http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=93701.0

[TrekkiesUnite118]

That's not a bad idea to look into, my brother like's Mortal Kombat but I'm more of a Street Fighter fan so that could work out well.

[severdhed]

As far as i know, there just arent any 4 player games that require more than 4 buttons..that is why it is done that way.

if you are looking to save money, happ competition sticks are pretty good.  they have a decent feel to them, come in lots of colors, and don't cost much.  we have 4 happ competitions in the 4player panel here at work, and nobody has ever complained about them.  we also have a J-Stik set to 4way mode for the classics.

the u360s from ultimarc are  completely awesome, but very expensive.  they are great if you have a small control panel and want a very versatile joystick.  if you are planning on a 4 player panel anyway, you have some space to work with.  so there is usually plenty of room to add a dedicated 4 way joystick for the classics like Donkey Kong and pacman. (the ultimarc J-Stik/Sanwa JLW makes an excellent dedicated 4way stick).  i have a 2 player cabinet at home, with a relatively small control panel.  i didnt have room for a dedicated 4 way stick, so i went with the u360s.  they work very well for just about any game, and they are nice because there is never any configuration that needs done, and nobody has to guess which joystick to use.   however if i were building a 4 player cabinet with a big panel, i'd definitely have a dedicated 4 way stick .

i could be wrong, but i believe a TMNT cabinet used a 25" monitor.

[TrekkiesUnite118]

As far as i know, there just arent any 4 player games that require more than 4 buttons..that is why it is done that way.

if you are looking to save money, happ competition sticks are pretty good.  they have a decent feel to them, come in lots of colors, and don't cost much.  we have 4 happ competitions in the 4player panel here at work, and nobody has ever complained about them.  we also have a J-Stik set to 4way mode for the classics.

the u360s from ultimarc are  completely awesome, but very expensive.  they are great if you have a small control panel and want a very versatile joystick.  if you are planning on a 4 player panel anyway, you have some space to work with.  so there is usually plenty of room to add a dedicated 4 way joystick for the classics like Donkey Kong and pacman. (the ultimarc J-Stik/Sanwa JLW makes an excellent dedicated 4way stick).  i have a 2 player cabinet at home, with a relatively small control panel.  i didnt have room for a dedicated 4 way stick, so i went with the u360s.  they work very well for just about any game, and they are nice because there is never any configuration that needs done, and nobody has to guess which joystick to use.   however if i were building a 4 player cabinet with a big panel, i'd definitely have a dedicated 4 way stick .

i could be wrong, but i believe a TMNT cabinet used a 25" monitor.

Do the Competition ones work well for fighters like Street Fighter 2? Or would it be more worthwhile to get 2 J-Stiks or u360's for players 1 and 2 and go with Competitions for Players 3 and 4?

[mwong168]

Do the Competition ones work well for fighters like Street Fighter 2? Or would it be more worthwhile to get 2 J-Stiks or u360's for players 1 and 2 and go with Competitions for Players 3 and 4?

The Happ competitions work just fine but if you are really picky get the iL competition sticks which in my opinion are much better then the Happ ones when it comes to diagonals registering 100% all the time.  I have iL competition sticks for my street fighter controllers and for my MK ones I just grabbed some Happ competition sticks from Randy at groovygamegear since I was ordering something else from him anyways.  They both work great but I prefer the iL but that is just me.

[TrekkiesUnite118]

Do the Competition ones work well for fighters like Street Fighter 2? Or would it be more worthwhile to get 2 J-Stiks or u360's for players 1 and 2 and go with Competitions for Players 3 and 4?

The Happ competitions work just fine but if you are really picky get the iL competition sticks which in my opinion are much better then the Happ ones when it comes to diagonals registering 100% all the time.  I have iL competition sticks for my street fighter controllers and for my MK ones I just grabbed some Happ competition sticks from Randy at groovygamegear since I was ordering something else from him anyways.  They both work great but I prefer the iL but that is just me.

Where can I get iL competition sticks and how much do they cost?

[mwong168]

I ordered my iL competition from a local guy here who had a connection but it took 6 weeks to come    There is another user on here that is an authorized seller for iL.  Here is a link to his thread from the BST forums.  Pricewise they are the same as Happ, just the difference is I believe they are made in Spain and Happ competitions are made in China.  Not 100% sure but back in the day Happ split into two companies and Suzohapp and iL came about.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=36770.0

Contact info:

John Pipp
ROLLIE ELECTRONICS
2309 Sunset Lane
Lindenhurst, IL 60046

jpipp@ymail.com

If you search he uses multiple email addresses but as of 06/23/2009 I got a response from that one.

[TrekkiesUnite118]

I ordered my iL competition from a local guy here who had a connection but it took 6 weeks to come    There is another user on here that is an authorized seller for iL.  Here is a link to his thread from the BST forums.  Pricewise they are the same as Happ, just the difference is I believe they are made in Spain and Happ competitions are made in China.  Not 100% sure but back in the day Happ split into two companies and Suzohapp and iL came about.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=36770.0

Contact info:

John Pipp
ROLLIE ELECTRONICS
2309 Sunset Lane
Lindenhurst, IL 60046

jpipp@ymail.com

If you search he uses multiple email addresses but as of 06/23/2009 I got a response from that one.

I did a search for iL joysticks and I found this:

http://www.lizardlick.com/pages/joysticks.shtml

Has anyone ordered from this place before?

[severdhed]

i havent ordered from lizardlick, but from what i have read, many people here order from them frequently.  Right now, they seem to be backed up, and it would probably take around 2 to 3 weeks for them to ship your stuff.    i am thinking about placing an order with them before too long here though, because they are the only place i can seem to find blue and yellow bat tops for my u360 sticks. 

andy, if you are reading this...we want more color options


my friend has the happ comp sticks in his 4 player panel and they seem to work just fine for MK and Street Fighter.  now, maybe if i was some kind of fighting game nazi or something i might feel differently, but i have never once had a problem with them. 

[TrekkiesUnite118]

Well to be honest I grew up playing Fighting games on my Sega Saturn, so I am used to that pad really. I never really had much practice with a stick, so I wouldn't know a bad one from a good one if it slapped me in the face. I just want to be sure the thing is responsive and registers all the diagonals.

[severdhed]

then i say go cheap, get some happ or IL competition sticks and be done with it.  they are cheap, colorful and work well.  alot of people here use those sticks and they work great.  you can always change them later