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Author Topic: PC Arcade Controller MKII  (Read 19561 times)

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crazyaruba

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mwong168

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Re: PC Arcade Controller MKII
« Reply #1 on: November 27, 2009, 10:53:15 pm »
Personally if you are planning to build your own arcade PC controller then I would suggest making it yourself using one of groovygamgear.com Key-Wiz (ps2) or GP-Wiz (usb) controller interfaces.  Right now I am in the process of wiring a GPWiz in a gutted x-arcade controller with HAPP parts which I picked up for $20.





KeyWiz
http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=76_80&products_id=303

GPWiz
http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=76_81&products_id=235

They are solderless and all you need to do is strip wires and a crimper.  If you don't want to do any of this you could also buy an X-Arcade or Hotrod stick which comes with controller board and arcade parts al wired up and ready to go.
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Bartop Project [100% Complete]
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http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=100809.0
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Ummon

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Re: PC Arcade Controller MKII
« Reply #2 on: December 03, 2009, 01:44:34 am »
I'm curious who's makin it and how. Also, this is a little funny:

Q. What is it and what does it do?
A. This device is a cost-effective solution....


Yeah, at thirty-five pounds?
Yo. Chocolate.


"Theoretical physics has been the most successful and cost-effective in all of science."

Stephen Hawking


People often confuse expressed observations with complaint, ridicule, or - even worse - self-pity.

crazyaruba

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Re: PC Arcade Controller MKII
« Reply #3 on: December 03, 2009, 05:43:35 am »
Hi Ummon,

Same questions here... Besides the obvious encoders from Ultimarc and GGG there are so many others out there of which most involve soldering (which is not a hoby of mine). that's why my eye fell on this encoder, it looks hassle free.

As for the price, I've decided to give it a go, since I'm from belgium it is still cheaper incl shipping, than if i had bought a similar encoder (i.e. mini pac) in the States.

Hi Mwong,

The Keywiz/GPwiz encoders look great and their price is ok. however in my case i would have had to buy wires, crimpers and a crimping tool which would have added to the total price. It sounds like a lame excuse, but ive been only allowed to make 1 cabinet  :hissy:.

Once received I will test it properly and report back!

mwong168

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Re: PC Arcade Controller MKII
« Reply #4 on: December 08, 2009, 11:13:21 am »
The Keywiz/GPwiz encoders look great and their price is ok. however in my case i would have had to buy wires, crimpers and a crimping tool which would have added to the total price. It sounds like a lame excuse, but ive been only allowed to make 1 cabinet  :hissy:.

 :applaud: for RandyT, just wired up my bartop with his Keywiz and worked flawless on first try or crimp should I say.  Here is another alternative that doesn't involve any tools or soldering

Sitong PLUG AND PLAY PS3/PC Board



http://www.gtarcade.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=16&zenid=c0a2a05ceeba76ec3fc0bd1be73528dc

Keep in mind the quick disconnects used on this harness are smaller then .187 and only good for japanese parts like Sanwa or Seimitsu.  Wires are cheap as you can see all my control panels I have wired have been using network cat5 cable, set of crimpers that cost me $7-8 and a box of 100 quick disconnects cost me $5.  For stripping wires you could use a pair of scissors but I can tell you this wire stripper tool has saved me so much time!



It is a lame excuse because part of the fun about this hobby is doing some of this stuff yourself.  Crimping wires and connectors is not as difficult as say performing a pad hack where precision soldering is required and I'm sure you could find some other use for the $15-20 you invested in tools.
Showcase Project [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=93701.0
Bartop Project [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=98410.0
Custom Wireless 360/PC HAPP Fight Sticks [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=100809.0
Visual Pinball Cabinet [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=102628.0

saurian333

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Re: PC Arcade Controller MKII
« Reply #5 on: January 08, 2010, 02:26:10 am »
Actually, most of the KeyWiz/I-PAC boards do not require soldering; most of them look similar to the one in mwong's pic.  And they are almost all cheaper than 35 pounds. (The most expensive KeyWiz is $38; the only one that does require soldering is $25.)  Crimping quick-disconnects onto wire ends is not difficult at all, either.

Darren01274

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Re: PC Arcade Controller MKII
« Reply #6 on: June 23, 2010, 02:52:20 pm »
Hi used this for my cocktail cabinet and was well impressed not setting up to do and just put the wires to correct buttons and joystick and worked perfect. Very easy setup, no soldering always a good thing lol.

I would deff purchase again.

Turnarcades

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Re: PC Arcade Controller MKII
« Reply #7 on: September 03, 2010, 03:24:40 pm »
The problem is this encoder is not programmable, and a few of my previous customers came to me after attempting builds with these and finding ghosting, lag and a bit of key blocking. From what I can tell, it's not significantly cheaper  than quality encoders enough to justify purchase.

mick25

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Re: PC Arcade Controller MKII
« Reply #8 on: September 17, 2010, 03:26:53 pm »
I've bought 5 of these in the past and haven't had a single problem with them. No ghosting or blocking at all. You just basically plug them in and go. O.K. they are not programmable but you don't need this function as you just set it up by pressing the TAB key in MAME.

Also, for £34 you get a complete unit. There is no wire stripping, no soldering and no crimping to do at all!

Bye!

Mick.

Turnarcades

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Re: PC Arcade Controller MKII
« Reply #9 on: September 19, 2010, 06:57:59 pm »
There's no stripping, soldering or crimping required with the mini-pac either, but that is fully programmable and can support a spinner and a trackball. Being programmable is a major issue - many people run other emulators besides MAME, and quite a few (and some front-ends) do not allow the use of certain 'function' keys that are part of the MAME default like CTRL, ALT or SHIFT. Even player 2's 'Q' button 3 mapping can be a problem as this conflicts with some frontends or PC games that others like to run.

Cretster

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Re: PC Arcade Controller MKII
« Reply #10 on: October 06, 2010, 06:55:23 pm »
I've got one of these, and now that I am setting my machine up I'm finding a problem in the fact that some of the 'keys' it's mapped to are daft ones like Left & Right Windows keys (meaning windows start menu pops up in game whilst playing if you hit a couple of the buttons!!).  Another of the mapped keys seems to kill the front end or the emulator so straight off it seems to have at least 3 out of the available buttons that are unusable which is pretty crazy.

Apologies to the designer if that's not necessarily the case but I would LOVE to know if there's a way around this since it's ultimately going to be useless for me if I can't use all my buttons.

I guess one possible fix is to run the emu or FE as the shell on the pc instead of explorer, but I can't do that as I need it functioning as a PC as well.  There must be some other way surely, as it would be nuts to choose these keys otherwise, knowing what functions they normally perform!

Apologies if I'm overlooking something glaringly obvious!
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Cretster

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Re: PC Arcade Controller MKII
« Reply #11 on: October 07, 2010, 05:07:17 pm »
Well, here's an update after speaking to the guy I bought this from - very helpful.

Unfortunately this is down to my own stupidity in losing the instructions since it's very clearly explained how to sort this issue out.  :banghead:
There's a registry file that you download and it disables the left & right win keys.  That's it!

That will teach me to read them straight away next time before the instructions go awol!! :-[
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Re: PC Arcade Controller MKII
« Reply #12 on: November 09, 2010, 12:20:39 am »
If you have a gutted Tankstick you can use this:

Awecades Arcade32 Interface Controller (DELUXE VERSION)



It has a trackball/spinner interface built in too.  An all in one solution.  And not bad for a mere $34.99.

D
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mick25

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Re: PC Arcade Controller MKII
« Reply #13 on: September 23, 2012, 03:47:12 pm »
I've just bought the Mk 3 version. Its loads better.  There's a 'Pause Game' input as well.

The MK 3 is now on ebay.....

http://search.ebay.co.uk/ws/search/SaleSearch?satitle=PC+Arcade+Controller+Mk+3


 
« Last Edit: September 26, 2012, 02:39:11 pm by mick25 »