Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum
Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: malangon on October 25, 2020, 10:11:21 pm
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Just got this idea in my head to build a cabinet and now I'm obsessed. Quick question as I explore this new project:
I found a joystick/button combo on Amazon. The brand name is 'Avisiri'. Looks like it has every thing I need but there is a note that says, "if you're a pro-gamer, you should get a Sanwa brand instead."
I'm not a pro-gamer but if the controls have even the slightest bit of latency, I can guarantee it won't work for me. I'm not sure about these different brands and the controls are crucial. I'm planning to just use this for my old arcade game memories.
Any advice here? Is this going to be good enough or should I stay away from this brand or something?
The link is here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Z38F8NK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ASYNTYA34W82S&psc=1
Thanks for the advice and if you have any other tips, please share!
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This isn't a brand. Do a bit more Amazon searching and you'll find dozens if not hundreds of vendors selling these exact controls with the exact same stock photos. In reality it's just a generic Chinese knock-off of a sanwa stick and button. They are ok but not arcade quality. Of course you don't need arcade quality in your home so they are probably fine for your purposes. That being said if you played games in the US (or north america) they probably used happ or wico style sticks.... these are Japanese style.
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I bought an analog stick kit that came with similar buttons just to tinker with the joystick. Can't say for sure if they are the same, but the buttons suck bad.
Good buttons push down with even pressure until they bottom out and activate immediately. The cheap buttons have a two stage feel to them. It's like the spring is light, then when the plunger gets down to the switch, the switch has a stiffer spring to overcome before the switch is triggered. They don't feel like arcade switches.
Even the cheapest buttons from Ultimarc, Groovygamegear, Focus Attack, Paradise Arcade, etc. have a much better feel to them. If going cheaper, at least get the Happ style ones where the microswitches can be replaced if they suck.
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I bought a similar kit recently with a matching case in order to make a single player joystick as cheaply as possible, and I was surprised at how good the quality was.
I can't vouch for the feel compared to Sanwa or Seimitsu parts, as I haven't assembled it yet. But in terms of build quality, I have no complaints.
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I'm not a pro-gamer but if the controls have even the slightest bit of latency, I can guarantee it won't work for me.
Just an FYI, your display could potentially introduce more latency than a controller ever could. If you are using a true CRT arcade monitor you wont have any issues but if you are using a flat panel lcd make sure you get one made for gaming with low input latency.
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People think they can feel latency but in reality it has to be really bad before you should be able to tell. As you say you'll have to worry about the display long before the encoder will ever be bad enough to tell..... even with the display, most people can't tell unless it's super bad.
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Thanks all for the info, as I said I'm just starting this journey.
My concern about latency is based on an experience I had with a knock-off retro Nintendo. I bought one online to just play super mario. The lag on the controls (wired ones too) was just enough to make it so frustrating that I never played it again. I don't want the same experience.
I never considered that the video would have a lag to it so down the rabbit hole I go....
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Thanks all for the info, as I said I'm just starting this journey.
My concern about latency is based on an experience I had with a knock-off retro Nintendo. I bought one online to just play super mario. The lag on the controls (wired ones too) was just enough to make it so frustrating that I never played it again. I don't want the same experience.
I never considered that the video would have a lag to it so down the rabbit hole I go....
Even with that knock-off Nintendo, I wouldn't be surprised if the latency you experienced was due to your television. They don't all perform the same. For example, I have a Launchbox console emulator PC that I wanted to setup in my living room but sadly my living room TV makes the games unplayable due to lag. You play a game like Super Mario Bros. and you end up running directly into a pit because your jump command doesn't register in time; it's infuriating and unusable. I ended up having to put the PC in my bedroom because that TV performs night-and-day better.
For controls, you may very well be OK ordering something like what you posted, but you really need to be wary of cheap crap because there's a good-to-fair chance you'll be re-buying if you're not careful (ask me how I know.) I get that the "kits" are appealing due to the perceived convenience of having "everything you need" but it's really not that complicated to sit down and piece together a list. Just figure out what you want your control panel to consist of, and make a targeted list of assorted parts to build it.
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My concern about latency is based on an experience I had with a knock-off retro Nintendo. I bought one online to just play super mario. The lag on the controls (wired ones too) was just enough to make it so frustrating that I never played it again.
If it's struggling with Super Mario BROS., then yeah, it's a piece of crap.
If you are talking about Super Mario WORLD, the only time I've played a non-laggy version of it has been on official Nintendo hardware, FWIW. I've read that that particular game is so fast that it's notoriously hard to emulate correctly.
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A few thoughts from a 15 year arcade veteran;
Fighting game and or multiplayer build:
Full sized machine;
Use IL Lorenzo sticks and happ buttons with the smallest gram micro switch you can find.
Sit down cab, or shmups build;
Use sanwa sticks and semitsu buttons.
4 way vertical build for classics that use 4 way sticks:
Find an original 4 way Nintendo joystick, or a 4 way gate and sanwa joystick, or a 4 way ms Pac-Man joystick, use leaf switch buttons.
Check paradise arcade, groovygamegear, arcadeshop, mikes arcade.
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If you want to play certain games perfectly, you just have to spend time with the emulator of choice and tweak it. Or research MiSTer fpga hardware emulation, or install original equipment. If you just have to go software emulation; use a PC with some sort of video card, if you just have to use Raspberry pi; get the best one.
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Come on man... you just said you are a 15 year veteran and then recommend a nintendo joystick. Those things are terrible.