Opinions on the X-Arcade Stick

[Dark Fact]

Hi guys.  It's been a while.

Anyways, I've got a couple of questions related to an arcade accessory that is pretty notorious throughout the net and the gaming community.  That accessory is the X-Arcade stick.

Before I get into the questions themselves though, I'm just gonna let you all in on what I'm doing.

About a few months ago, me and my hobby club members have been brainstorming over a theme room for this year's upcoming Keycon 2009 sci-fi convention in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.  After throwing around a few crazy ideas, we decided to settle upon a Cyberpunk themed room. 

Now, the Cyberpunk themed room is based upon futuristic science fiction like in the movies Blade Runner and Terminator 2: Judgement Day. only with a little more 'tude and a lot more outrageous costumes like the ones you create in tabletop RPGs. (Have I mentioned that Cyberpunk is based more on the tabletop RPG than what you see in the movies? )

Here is what we've come up so far for the room:

-Metallic walls and counters with aluminum or tin foil
-Pachislo slot machines (The prez of the club is a BIG fan of these)
-blacklighting
-neon lights
-lava lamps
-spiked hair and glove costume accessories along with leather jackets and sunglasses

We're also planning on holding contests and gaming tournaments.  The gaming tournament is where the X-Arcade stick comes in.  Basically, the idea is to have an arcade game tournament (with Cyberpunk themed games that are in the spirit of the room theme) with a real arcade game interface.  The prez suggested a stand up cabinet but the assembly costs for it could be a bit of a hassle.  I think it would be better to have a minimum 2-player stick with the gaming monitor projected onto a white screen using a high grade DVD and PC projector.

What you see above is the stick in question.  It's called the X-Arcade Dual Tankstick and comes with 2 8-Directional joysticks with 16 customizable action buttons, 1 and 2 player start buttons, a 3" Trackball, 4 side buttons for pinball gaming, and PS/2 and USB support for any computer.  It's also fully compatible with all major gaming stations (except for XBOX 360 on account of Microsoft being total a$$holes for not allowing compatibility support unless it fell under their terms) as well. 

The official site gives further details on the Tankstick and it looks impressive enough but I do need second opinions on this.

Is the stick worth the cash?

[rolins]

The X-Arcade gets a bad rep and most often you're laughed at for using them. Laggy encoder, stupid button layout, and not-so authentic parts are some the reasons. It ain't so bad as you might think and the model you've picked out has the trackball which great if you play those type of games. If you buy one I highly recommend dumping the stocked joystick and buttons and replacing them with authentic Happ parts.

edit - Yes, it's not worth the price, unless you can find one cheap on ebay.

[Michael Helgeson]

Yea the wood base is fine, but their sticks and buttons are not the best by far, so swap them out.

[Black Tiger]

I had several arcade cabinets before I converted one for Mame and used a 2 player X-Arcade set as-is for the controls. It is well within the "arcade-feel" territory for me and I've been happy with it ever since.

The top surface is sturdy and feels like a real arcade. The buttons are the modern springy kind and have worked flawlessly through much abuse. The sticks are the only thing that feels light compared to a coin-op. There isn't much resistance, but the sticks themselves are solid enough and are in-between in height and shape of the classic short round ball sticks and kind that Capcom used for CPS2 fighters after SFII took off. It works out really good since they're just right enough for classic action/platformers as well as street fighters. The sticks are "clicky", but more so in sound than feel.

The only real negative I found was how close together the layouts are and two full-sized humans have to sort of lean out on an angle a bit... or at least one person does.

The angle of the surface is perfect and the size and shape really blend it in well with the cabinet. It also extends down a bit, not only giving you enough space to rest a hand or wrist on, but it also conceals the pull out keyboard I put directly beneath the platform the X-Arcade sits on.

The best part about them other than feeling arcade-enough, is that it just plugs into the keyboard jack and Mame has a default button layout that makes it easy for non-modders like myself to get it going. If you're an expert who can assemble an arcade on your own then you will, otherwise the X-Arcade is perfect for the rest of us.

It also works great with most other emulators. The only problem with Magic Engine was that I had to set the second player buttons in unusual places, but I will never play 2 player simultaneous ME on it anyway.

[Dark Fact]

I've been hesitant to pick this up on account of some Youtube commentators bashing the stick while the actual review shows on Youtube seem to embrace it.  I remember a few years ago, one of my buds whom I've known since elementary school had the X-Arcade Dual Joystick which doesn't have the trackball but is the same brand.  He had Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike set up on a television and I tried out the controls and buttons.  They did play authentically like a real arcade should and I do agree about the "clickyness" of the stick and buttons but that is the result of the microswitches beneath the counter and the fact that many arcades of yore had the "clickyness" sound to them so it's not a big deal for me.

One other complaint that I would have about the stick is the fact that there are no color coded buttons on it.  Now, call me picky but color coding was a feature in arcades that made it easy to discern which functions are which.  With these black buttons, it would make it too easy to mishit a button without "going around the block" so to speak.  X-Arcade also states that the buttons are programmable so that's a nice thing to have.

I wouldn't mind hearing more opinions on this stick.  I know Michael Helgeson is pretty big into these kinds of things and how much he enjoys making them himself but I'm no engineer and I really want to know if I will have the full satisfaction upon receiving it. 

The only real negative I found was how close together the layouts are and two full-sized humans have to sort of lean out on an angle a bit... or at least one person does.

I think it more has to do with X-Arcade creating a countertop similar to how traditional arcades made theirs which two people standing about a foot away from one another.  I don't think that will be a problem for me though considering that we're gonna be getting a pretty big room for the convention.

[TR0N]

You want a good joystick just get a hori  Or some thing from mass systems at least,i've heard mix reponse towards the x-arcade stick.Some say there crap and some say have it modded and it's fine.

[Duo_R]

As is, it isn't a good stick. The button and joystick are cheap parts. If you upgrade to the button/stick of your preference, it will be much better. I personally would swap in some HAPP parts (competition sticks, and buttons).

The 2 player setup as someone already stated is a little cramped for 2 people.

You want a good joystick just get a hori  Or some thing from mass systems at least,i've heard mix reponse towards the x-arcade stick.Some say there crap and some say have it modded and it's fine.

[Keranu]

I haven't used an actual X-Arcade stick case set up, but I did buy a set of X-Arcade joysticks and buttons to use for my own joystick instead of HAPPS and I enjoy them a lot. They might not be able to handle as many presses as HAPPS controls (if I recall, the number was still pretty high), but they pretty much feel the same to me. Way better than crap like Pelican though. Basically if it's just for a convention, then I'm sure most people who come by and use it will be satisfied. If you have any woodworking skills or have some kind of pre-built case you can use and basic soldering skills, making your own joystick is way cheaper and can be more professional.

Cyberpunk forever!

[Turbo D]

Hello Dark Fact!,

turbo D owns the x-Arcade joystick and will reveal his thoughts to you!

First off, I have the two player version. Like BT said earlier; there is not to much space for two players. It is mainly a disadvantage in fighting games and mainly for player 2. My friends and I would end up resorting to violence outside of the game to gain ground on the controller board. Seriously! haha. I guess that is a result of a combination of too much sf2 and testosterone!

The only other beef that turbo D expresses for the x-arcade is a problem with windows xp (lol, big surprise, huh?) Windows XP decides to go nutz about some sticky keys when I'm kicking ass at sf2. Sticky keys can be turned off, but sometimes they seem to turn back on by themselves. This is an error of XP, not really x-arcade in general. Perhaps we can blame the mame button layout as well.

Also!; over time of kicking your friends asses and watching them slap the control panel, the buttons and screws sometimes come loose. I've had friends beat themselves after loosing too much in sf2. However, some just beat my control panel (bastards !)

Oh, I almost forgot! The x-arcade db9 connector came unsoldered from the pcb on my unit! Wtf?!?!? I thought that these things were built better than that! Anyways, it has a poor design there. The pcb is screwed upside down to the top (inside obviously) of the control panel. Having the beefy cable connecting it to your pc puts a lot of stress on the connector. I wish it were and easier fix (e.g. reestablishing the solder connection), but no; the freaking pins were broken off!

Overall, I enjoyed the joystick. It was free (gift from brother), so I can't complain there. Not sure how violent you and your friends are with each other/equipment, so you can be the judge there. It is an excellent joystick for casual use with an authentic feel, just go easy on the f***er.

[Duo_R]

Did you ever fix it D?

[Turbo D]

Ya, I just bought the part from mouser when my pops was ordering stuff. It was a right angle db9, iirc (happened like a year or 2 ago.) Cheap fix really, but a pain to have to order and wait. I got a spare connector just in case it decides to break again.

[Dark Fact]

The only other beef that turbo D expresses for the x-arcade is a problem with windows xp (lol, big surprise, huh?) Windows XP decides to go nutz about some sticky keys when I'm kicking ass at sf2. Sticky keys can be turned off, but sometimes they seem to turn back on by themselves. This is an error of XP, not really x-arcade in general. Perhaps we can blame the mame button layout as well.

That's odd.  Usually sticky key messages happen when you press SHIFT 5 times in a row.  How the hell does that happen with arcade buttons?

So basically, the reviews are mixed.  Hmmm.  Now I'm really not sure.  Hell, all I want is fully functional arcade controls without any mishaps.  Didn't realize the whole process would have to result to sleuthing in the end.

[Turbo D]

That's odd.  Usually sticky key messages happen when you press SHIFT 5 times in a row.  How the hell does that happen with arcade buttons?

Apparently one of the buttons was mapped to the shift key. I didn't do any custom mapping, I just plugged her in and fired up mame. I guess you can say the x-Arcade joystick is pretty much plug and play!

[SignOfZeta]

Some people like it. If you like American style sticks you'll probably think its OK. Personally I prefer Japanese style sticks with square holes, short shafts, clicky as hell.

I think buying one of these boat anchors just to replace all the guts is insane. They cost so much they should be good as-is.

If you want to over pay for something really nice go with two Hori Real Arcade Pros.

[Dark Fact]

Well, the guys over on Toon Zone gave me a thumbs up over the X-Arcade so it looks like I'll be putting the order down for it.  I also talked with a rep online and he told me that it takes 7-14 business days for it to ship from Illinois to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.  Not too bad considering that I need it by late May.