Hey Oscar, a few questions.....

[Aceldamor]

Just got a few questions....

I've seen some old websites that mention your steering wheel that you sold, any possible revival in the future?

If not how hard would it be to create a mini steering wheel that you could mount on one of your spinners.  Something mabye twice the diameter (sp?) of a regular spinner knob.

Also, I saw in another thread that you have a 720 controller...any news on possible progress?  Is it a feasible feat to repro the controller?


I would have e-mailed you, but I'm sure others are curious about the 720 controller at least...

Thanks Kelsey,
Aceldamor

[Lilwolf]

Dont get your hopes up to high on the 720 controller.  I lent him mine to take a look at.  He said he documented it only.  He has other items hes working on.

I would rather see a top quality Starwars yoke done.  But I'm not sure if it would be cost effective for him to do  (too many parts).  Mainly because its a great controller for a bunch of games... 720 is really for one game only (great great game... but only one)

[SirPeale]

I'd really like to see some Atari lighted pushbuttons.  Then again, so would a lot of people.  Not cost effective.

[Tiger-Heli]

I would rather see a top quality Starwars yoke done.  But I'm not sure if it would be cost effective for him to do  (too many parts).  Mainly because its a great controller for a bunch of games... 720 is really for one game only (great great game... but only one)

Agreed, I would REALLY like to see a first class SW yoke.

720 is only for one game, but I would think you could make it work with OSCARS spinners fairly easily.  What you would need:  An inner set of double notches on you encoder wheels and a way to read them, a knob with an angle threaded hole that you could insert a handle into, and maybe some sort of friction device so it doesn't flop to the bottom.

Steering wheels - Another neat product would be an adapter that mounts to the 1/4" shaft and has three threaded holes for mounting a Happs (fleabay) arcade steering wheel.  For when OSCAR gets the quick-release knobs working.

[Brax]

The problem with the Star Wars controllers are that they're only costing around 100 bucks used. How the heck do you meet that price point when it costs nearly the same for a bracket and piece of machined aluminum barstock? (spinner)
It sounds like it would cost alot more the fabricate a yoke. (either that or the markup on spinners is horrific!  )

[rampy]

We'll make up for the loss in income/profit by increasing volume!

Rampy

[AlanS17]

I just find it funny that everyone except OSCAR has posted to this thread...

[Aceldamor]

Yeah, I was just going to mention that  

It's cool though, It's cool to see everyone elses opinion on the matter.

[OSCAR]

Hey, here I am!!  What were you thinking starting a thread when I wasn't looking?  


I have not made a decision yet if I will bring back the steering wheel controller.  There are just so many PC ones and the Wico assembly that it seems hard to justify at the moment.  I doubt I could match the price of Wico's steering wheel assembly, anyway.  Putting aside the 1/4" spinner shaft coupled with a larger wheel argument that's been discussed numerous times over the years... a steering wheel just doesn't feel right laying close to, and parallel with, the control panel surface IMO.  The vast majority of steering wheel games used wheels that were more parallel with the monitor screen and not laying down like driving a school bus.  There is a quick and easy way to adapt the 6" mini-wheel I used to carry to a spinner, and perhaps I'll put together a page showing how to do this and where to get the parts.

The only promise I've made on the 720 is that I would take a look at it (thanks, Lilwolf!).  After seeing what is involved with reproducing a true-to-original 720 controller, I can say that is out almost for sure.  As already pointed out, this is a unique control that can really only be used for one game and as such, a very small market.  And to make it worse, not only is it unique, but the complexity of the controller itself does not lend itself well to small quantity reproduction either.  Neary every piece would need to be custom fabricated...  Based on my experience, I would ballpark around $200 to have one made, and I'm probably on the low side.  How many people would be standing in line to purchase one now?  Not many I would guess, especially since one just went on eBay yesterday for less than $50.  I believe a spinner hack would be the way to go for occasional 720 players, as has been discussed many times before.

I think that pretty much sums up SW yokes, too.  

Personally, though, I would love to seriously look at SW yokes, but again I'm afraid that they wouldn't be economically feasible for small quantity reproduction.  Having an idea and implementing it on your own machine, such as a way to build/hack together a SW yoke, is not the same thing as manufacturing and supporting a real product.  I've thought of several ways that I could build a SW yoke from various arcade and other common parts, but this would be far too time-consuming to be a "real" product.  It's fun to dream about though...  

[Lilwolf]

The trouble with used SW controllers are they seem to be pretty low quality a lot of the time.  And then you still have to hack it.

I think someone could come up with something similar to a twisty grip with all ready to purchase items...  But you would have to order a ton of things HOPING they might work.  All the gears are out there.... but will they work?  If someone could come up with all the parts... where only a few items are fabricated... that would be SWEET!  It should probably be closer to a hydra controller since it has both pots inside the box.  

[Tailgunner]

Speaking of SW yokes, anyone know how far they rotate? Closest I have to one is the wheel from my sit down Roadblasters, and it rotates about 270 degrees. It's been a while since I played a real Star Wars machine, but I don't remember the yoke turning quite that far.

Butch...