Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum
Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: marcopolo on October 16, 2002, 11:24:31 pm
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I'm trying to figure out why most people use a 3" trackball in their MAME cabinets. I believe many of the classics like Centipede used a 2.25" ball which moved very fast and has plenty of control. I played on my friends Mame box a week ago (had a Happ 3" translucent trackball) and the ball worked ok, but you could not whip it around like the 2.25".
Am I missing something (a reason why you would want the 3") or is this simply personal preference?
Marco
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I'm sure the size of trackballs on old machines had more to do with cost than performance. The preference for larger trackballs could be because a lot of us were smaller when we played these games, so the trackball seemed bigger...
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I got a 3" because I thought it would be good for use with classic games like Centipede and Missile Command while also working well for the PC version of Golden Tee Golf.
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Hmm, missle command, that used 4" I believe.
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Hmm, missle command, that used 4" I believe.
That's another reason I got the 3". It was a compromise between Centipede and Missile Command.
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Some possible reasons:
a) 3" are used more often now in the arcade (mostly golf and bowling games); maybe some are more used to that size.
b) 3" is bigger, and some follow the "bigger is better" saying. ;)
c) 3" are heavier. This does make "whipping" it around a little harder, but lets it continue spinning longer after letting go. (One of my reasons; I have bad memories of gummed up trackballs that would stop the instant I let go.)
d) some of the not-as-old-as-classics games had two different control panel designs: 'standard' w/ 2 1/4", and a 'deluxe' w/ 3". I remember using the 'deluxe' at my local arcades of long ago.
e) 1up's "we were smaller when we played these games, so the trackball seemed bigger" was the third reason I got a 3" TB.
f) It's expense / space consuming / a hassle to have a 2 1/4" trackball cp for the old classics and a 3" tb cp for the newer classics. Instead of switching the cp depending on what game I was playing, I am going with only one size tb (for now ;D ).
All personal reasons, for sure. [shrug]