Mame Cab X-Arcade Option

[Tecil]

I'm building a Mame cabinet from scratch using LuSiD's v7 plans.  I'm contemplating one what to do for the console though.

I've thought about picking up one of the X-Arcade two player sticks to use, but my main problem is if there is enough space between the two players so they aren't bumping hands and what not.  They don't list the dimensions anywhere on their site that I can see so I'm pretty hesitant.  I've thought about buying 2 of the single player models and going that route to.

I'm also looking at some of the Hagstrom products.  Anyone know of any ghosting issues with the LP24 encoders?

Also I've been looking at the I-PAC encoders, though the PC I'm using is mounted in a mid tower case.

Basically I just want a two player setup with 6-8 buttons.  I'm not sure yet if I want to add in a spinner or Trackball, so that

[flampoo]

I had an X-Arcade. I even temporarily mounted it to one of my cabs.

http://www.flampoo.com/images/mcmame/DSCF0101.jpg

It's not bad at all. Plenty of room as well. I sold mine, though. There's not enough gratification in purchasing a CP. But don't get me wrong, the thing worked like a dream.

[Tecil]

Yeah I can understand the whole gratification thing with building your own.  I'm just trying to think of a cost effective way to build what I want and to save time.

One other plus I can see with the X-Arcade is that I can buy the adapters for the Xbox and have it all mounted in the box at the same.  This cabinet will have a PC, a SNES, and a Genesis all setup inside running on a Panasonic 27" flat screen TV.

[Tiger-Heli]

I'm building a Mame cabinet from scratch using LuSiD's v7 plans.  I'm contemplating one what to do for the console though.

Are you wanting to play console games on your MAME cab?  Or a separate desk/lap controller for console games?

For the MAME cab, I would look at hacking a Playstaion joypad and using adapters to run this to the console controller (or for NES os SNES, just run an emulator and use your main controls and encoder).

For a desktop, either of the X-arcades, or building a destop CP and hacking a PS joypad could work.

They don't list the dimensions anywhere on their site that I can see so I'm pretty hesitant.  I've thought about buying 2 of the single player models and going that route to.

See http://www.xgaming.com/htm/xfaq.shtml#3

I'm also looking at some of the Hagstrom products.  Anyone know of any ghosting issues with the LP24 encoders?
Also I've been looking at the I-PAC encoders, though the PC I'm using is mounted in a mid tower case.

Assume you mean for the MAME cab.

No ghosting issues with the LP24 in 24 input mode.  In any kind of matrix mode, I would expect it to have ghosting.

For the price difference, I would recommend the KeyWiz from www.groovygamegear.com, the I-PAC from www.ultimarc.com, or the MK64 from www.mk64.com/ron over any of Hagstrom's offerings.

And the encoder is usually mounted outside of the PC, so tower size shouldn't matter.

Basically I just want a two player setup with 6-8 buttons.  I'm not sure yet if I want to add in a spinner or Trackball, so that

[Tecil]

I'll break it down a little better on what I plan on doing so if anyone has any questions or recomendations.

In side the lower deck I'll have a PC, a SNES, a Genesis, and a place for my Xbox (when I feel the urge to play some Soul Calibur 2).

The PC will be the only think hooked to the control deck (though if I get the X-Arcade I'll have the Xbox adapter as well), I plan on just using the snes and genesis original controls on a retractable spool I have mounted in place of the coin slot.

For the most part I'm just being somewhat lazy on building the control deck myself.  I'm leaning towards the X-Arcade setup becuase if I want to use it on my Xbox on my HDtv upstairs it's just a matter of pulling it out of the console box (thought about using velcro to secure it) and unhooking it from the PC.

[Tiger-Heli]

I'll break it down a little better on what I plan on doing so if anyone has any questions or recomendations.

In side the lower deck I'll have a PC, a SNES, a Genesis, and a place for my Xbox (when I feel the urge to play some Soul Calibur 2).

The PC will be the only think hooked to the control deck (though if I get the X-Arcade I'll have the Xbox adapter as well), I plan on just using the snes and genesis original controls on a retractable spool I have mounted in place of the coin slot.

For the most part I'm just being somewhat lazy on building the control deck myself.  I'm leaning towards the X-Arcade setup becuase if I want to use it on my Xbox on my HDtv upstairs it's just a matter of pulling it out of the console box (thought about using velcro to secure it) and unhooking it from the PC.

Another option would be http://www.redoctane.com/joystick-xbox.html, although I've heard the joystick and buttons suck, but the price is good.

You could replace the buttons and joystick, parallel wire each button to the original connector and a DB25 (cut RS-232 parallel port extension cable) connector, wire the other half of the DB25 to the keyboard encoder and have the same thing.

Just don't hook the redoctane stick to both the X-box and the encoder at the same time.

[Tecil]

I had an X-Arcade. I even temporarily mounted it to one of my cabs.

http://www.flampoo.com/images/mcmame/DSCF0101.jpg

It's not bad at all. Plenty of room as well. I sold mine, though. There's not enough gratification in purchasing a CP. But don't get me wrong, the thing worked like a dream.

Flampoo did you build your cab in that pic or was it a refurb?