Universal Controller Adapter questions (PS2, Xbox, DC, GC, PC)

[Gatsu]

Greetings all. This is my first post...so please forgive the newbishness of it. I did a search through the forum and couldnt find what I was looking for. So here goes.

I'm gonna be building a custom competition joystick for my Dreamcast to play SC and 3rd Strike on. But I would like to make it work with my PS2 and Xbox as well. Is there an adapter(s) I can get that will help with that? Or will I need to do some custom work?

Also, in the future I want to turn a dreamcast into a 3rd Strike cabinet, there a way to rig up a coin door to work with it? I saw the arcade piece to go with the dreamcast on Lik Sang, but its temporarily unavailable which translates to: never to be seen again....

Also, I can do artwork overlays for joysticks and whatnot. I'm a pretty talented photoshop artist. Can even do some vector. So anyway I can contribute to the community I would be glad to offer my services.

Thanks.

Oh. Heres the overlay Im making for my buddies joystick Im gonna build over the next month or so, and mine under that. I would like to rig it where I can swap out artwork if thats possible.
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a205/Darthwesker/JoystickOverlay2.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a205/Darthwesker/JoyStickOverlay1.jpg

[Gatsu]

I read some of the other posts I searched through and have a couple more questions. I said I wanted it to be a standard Dreamcast controller first and foremost, but Im not sure there are enough adapters to do what I need when going to the other 4 platforms I want (PS2, GC, Xbox, PC). Is this the case?

Should I hack a PS contoller instead and just get an adapter for the DC? How will all these converters actually affect the gameplay? Because thats first and foremost to me since its for a tournament stick.

[Goz]

The easy solution is the Xarcade BYOA kit. Check it out HERE it would be the cleanest approach. You buy the kit and it comes with the adapter to use it with PC or MAC. If you want to use it with Dreamcast its adapter is about $19 and allows you to use the adapter for two players. Add another $19 or so for each flavor Xbox, Gamecube, PS.

Another option is that you can use Playstation controllers and there are adapter made made for each console you mentioned to us the Playstation controllers.

The Xarcade solution is cleaner and you can use a switchbox to switch between multiple consoles in a cab without having to unplug and plug in to another console.

Hope it helps,

-Goz

[Gatsu]

Wow O_O

That makes things a helluva lot easier. But the pricetag says hmmmm. I wonder if there joystick & buttons package is worth it as well. That would save me some ordering time.

I have a Hotrod - 2player arcade stick sitting around. I may gut that and use it for parts. Not sure yet. I was thinking of going with Happ parts for the stick and buttons.

But that switch without having to swap cables.....ooooo.......I dunno...Thats a toughy.

Has anyone used one of those kits yet? Or have you possibly used it Goz?

[Goz]

I've used this kit a number of times. The encoder and adapters are the only xarcade parts worthy of arcade gameplay. Their buttons, switches, and joys are cheap knockoffs and the stuff in your hotrod is HAPPS parts.

The Xarcade adapters connect to the encoder via a DS9 (serial) connector which you can get a switchbox and simple push a button or turn a know in order to make the controls compatible with whichever adapters you use. Yes I have done this before in a cab (Dreamcast, Xbox, and PS2). The switch isn't anything you'd have to build. You buy a serial / data switch which can be had for $10 from most computer / electronics stores and some cables. If you cannot find a DB9 switch you can use 50 cent adapters and use a DB25 data switch instead.

The cab I've done this with is in storage for the next three weeks (moving to AZ). Sorry no pics but it is very easy to do.

Hope this helps,

-Goz

[Gatsu]

Ok last question for this. And again forgive the newbishness.

Is there a way to rig the dreamcast to a coindoor? I know the games themselves can't/won't take quarters. Or will the coindoor just be a cosmetic piece?

Thanks again for all the help. I'll be sure to post pics of the joystick once I start getting it constructed/receiving parts.

[tetsu96]

Ok last question for this. And again forgive the newbishness.

Is there a way to rig the dreamcast to a coindoor? I know the games themselves can't/won't take quarters. Or will the coindoor just be a cosmetic piece?

Thanks again for all the help. I'll be sure to post pics of the joystick once I start getting it constructed/receiving parts.

You could, the coin door typcally uses the same kind of microswitch that the buttons use - but why would you want to?  The typical Dreamcast controller has 7 buttons (Start,A,B,X,Y,L,R).  That's a perfect fit for your typical SF layout.

[Goz]

You could buy a MGCD which would support the need for coins if set up that way for the Dreamcast. You set the dependancy of it via some dip switches. There are MGCD's made for all major consoles, but it would get rather epensive. A decent price for an MGCD unit is about $100. There's one in my local craigslist now for that much.

Excellentcom also makes a device called 'The Super' for each console which does the same thing. BTW with MGCD or Super you can use JAMMA controls. But then again with either device you are forced to use JAMMA for video connection for the overlay etc to work.

[Gatsu]

Hmmm...nah I wanna stick with just using a standard television screen. I wanna try to stay away from doing alll the hardcore arcade stuff. I'll get back into that when I build a mame pc, but for right now a standard television output is good.

I guess I'll just use the coin door for cosmetics then.

Thanks again.

[Goz]

On second thought if you want to drop a coin and have it be the equivalent of pressing start you could just wire the start button (hacked controller) to the coin door momentary switch.

[Gatsu]

Thats a good idea. Most fighting games only require you to push start at least twice before getting into the other menus.

[Dave_K.]

Oh. Heres the overlay Im making for my buddies joystick Im gonna build over the next month or so, and mine under that. I would like to rig it where I can swap out artwork if thats possible.
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a205/Darthwesker/JoystickOverlay2.jpg

Nice graphic, but why do you say "Akira" in the upper right, when his name is "Kazuya Mishima"?  Maybe confused with VF4?

[SNAAKE]

yeah what the heck is with akira isnt it supposed to be namco or something

[DarkBubble]

Oh. Heres the overlay Im making for my buddies joystick Im gonna build over the next month or so, and mine under that. I would like to rig it where I can swap out artwork if thats possible.
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a205/Darthwesker/JoystickOverlay2.jpg

Nice graphic, but why do you say "Akira" in the upper right, when his name is "Kazuya Mishima"?  Maybe confused with VF4?

Since it's being built for a friend, I would assume that "Akira" is the friend's name or pseudonym.