Infinity - MAME/pinball 4 way controller

[infinty]

Hi all,

a new machine (stand alone), not commercial I might add (yet) for you to peruse.

It's heavily based on Mamewah, is primarily for MAME and visual pinball (note the pinball buttons which work brilliantly in the correct orientation on the sides (orange) along with side and front table nudge buttons (black), the launch is white on right front) but has all the other console stuff (N64,SNES,MESS etc..) and is designed to be connected directly to a TV (it has a PC inside) via an Svideo connection (nvidia card gives very good results).

Hope you like it, here it is:

http://www.sharkfinmedia.com/infinity/

Thanks to all in the community for everything!!!

[walls83]

Looks nice.  what size is the trackball 2 1/4? 

and whats the cost  I didnt see the price

[PCtech]

I think it looks good, but hard to tell on the website....maybe it's me, but it seems to scroll to slowly between pics, and the pic of the unit itself only stays onscreen for like a second.

I like the idea, but have a hard time with the website


IMHO...just my 2 cents

[Necro]

I mean no offense, but aside from looking kind of cool the website design is horrible.  You can't decide what to look at, skip the flash thing, etc.

I'm interested, but the website really kind of sucks.

[Stobe]

I wouldn't knock on the guy's website.  Granted it not the usual project type website we are all used to, but from a technical standpoint, its very nice looking.  If you take the time to watch the whole "movie"  (which is basically what it is, rather than a website) you'll see there was a lot of work put into it.  Perhaps you could add a simple link to a page with just a few pictures and specs, to appease the people who don't want to watch the whole flash show?

But with all that aside, the controller itself looks great.  Very practical, and versitile.  I am a little curious about the 6 button layout for the spinner and the 4-way?  Is there a reason for that?

Also, how is the temperature holding so far?  Is there any heat problems?

-Stobe

[whatzcrackn]

uhm...........play it again!

It is off da chain.  I like the part when the blone blinks her eyes...

Oh yea the control panel is kool too

Just joking man I like it all

[infinty]

Damn, I can't spell Infinity!! 'Infinty' it is then!! Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated, good and bad.

yeah, the site is just a movie, and yeah if you don't watch it all it doesn't make much sense. The thing started out as a personal project but it came together so well that I decided to build the third prototype (the second exists, the first was broken down) as close to retail standard as possible which it pretty much is.

As it stands I've achieved my aim and have my dream, stand alone controller, building was fun and playing more so. The site is really just to give an overview of the device for the community and if someone with the drive and resources wanted to take it on as a commercial project then that would be great (I'm just the builder/player).

The trackball is 2 1/4", most components are from Andy at Ultimarc, the second prototype has a Vortex/Oscar Tempest spinner, this one a slikstik, both which work really well. The six buttons either side of the spinner are actually 2 lots of 3, either set can be used depending on whether you're on the jap stick, spinner, or trackball. The orientation of the already mentioned pinball buttons really rock and this to a degree defined the finished shape.

The thing with this controler though is the internal PC, with the DVD drive and PC back panel giving normal PC funcionality. All it needs is power, audio and Svideo connectors for a TV...more 'consolesque'.

Heat doesn't seem a problem, but it is something I'm still looking at.......

[Necro]

I'm not saying the page isn't impressive, it's just not functional really.  I'd like to watch the movie then see a few high res pics of it, or a few pics from diff. angles.  As it is now, you can't pause, can't rewind, etc etc...

The design is great for a sale/display type thing - i.e. the form is there, the functional aspect isnt .

The movie and presentation are great though .

[infinty]

Have just received and connected via S-Video the Infinty controller to my new 40" Samsung LCD TV- Awesome!!! The picture is great and when I have the correct cables will connect via DVI and also VGA which should give even better results.

I'll be taking pictures soon of the controller being played by a few friends in front the Samsung and will add to the website. Will give a better idea of the scale of the controller.

http://www.sharkfinmedia.com/infinity/

Will let you know when done.

[rally9x]

What do you mean, just recieved? I thought that you made these....something fishy going on here.

[infinty]

The TV I have just received, not the controller, excuse my poor grammer in my previous post!!

Also just purchased a 3M VGA cable, picture looks even better although some ghosting due to the 'cheapness' of the cable, my better quality, shorter cable used for my PC shows no noise whatsoever.

[CheffoJeffo]

Hmmm ... DoT environmental ... is there a push-pull spinner on that panel ?

Cheers.

[infinty]

no, a standard slikstik Tornado spinner, a very nice bit of kit!

[mccoy178]

Man, that is some excellent work there!  I'm not real sure why some are busting balls, (psst....envy), that presentation is sweet.  Nice quality job on the construction.  Do you have any pics of construction and costs of your project?  Seeing the man behind the curtain, i.e. construction details, would go along way here.  What's under the hood?  Also, what do you sit it on?  Did you make a pedestal?

[infinty]

Thanks, it doesn't have a pedestal but is designed instead to be left on the floor, coffee table etc.

The second build of the website will no doubt include all the usual detail/pages rather than just being a preview movie type thing! Just bought a 3M DVI to HDMI cable (bit expensive at