X-Arcade Dual Stick controller

[atarilovesyou]

Well, after years of wanting one, I finally picked one up. I was hemming and hawing over the cost, but now they're kinda reasonable. I was hoping to pick up the single stick version but they no longer sell those so I picked up the dual stick.

 

Since I'm a complete MAME newb, I haven't even tried it that way. My main intention was to use it to replace my old and malfunctioning Soul Caliber 2 joysticks.

 

While I'm very pleased with the components (buttons, the stick, not too noisy microswitches), I'm noticing too much noticeable lag with my Playstation 2 retro games. Some are just about unplayable, like anything on Namco Museum.

 

The Taito Memories games were ok but I could tell the lag. And with the Capcom collections, some games were ok and others were worse. A nice surprise was SF2 Turbo, which worked great (once the X-Arcade was programmed for 'analog 1' instead of D-Pad...funny, cause you'd think the D-Pad would be the best choice).

 

I contacted their customer service and they were really great. I'd keep this stick if it only didn't have that lag. The company insisted that there is no lag associated with their junction box (that you connect between the stick and the PS2), but a simple A/B test with the X-Arcade vs the standard PS2 joypad was clear: all the games worked perfectly with the pad without any lag.

 

Well, I tried! And it really is a great stick...I'd like to test it with MAME but I just can't get it running. Part of me would like to rewire the guts of this thing with an old joypad but it's a lot of effort, I think...maybe someday I'll be able to find something better but I think at this point I'll have to build something myself.

 

Any comments?

[akator]

I haven't experienced the lag problems that you have. Most of my current use is with MAME and other emulators running on a Windows 7 box, however I have also used it with Macs, a Dreamcast, and a PS2 with no problems. Not sure what to suggest.

Edited March 19, 2012 by akator

[Mark Wolfe]

I have the original x-arcade single player version and I jut picked up the latest two player version on sale for under $99 shipped!! great deal and a really well made device. I have NEVER noticed any lag on any machine. I usually use mine on my soft modded xbox 1 under mame. you should ditch the ps2 for an original xbox. look up how to soft mod it, it is very easily done. then get all the x-port emulators running on it. you'll never look back. it won't cost you that much to get it all going. My guess is, the games are causing the lag, not the hardware.

[atarilovesyou]

I have the original x-arcade single player version and I jut picked up the latest two player version on sale for under $99 shipped!! great deal and a really well made device. I have NEVER noticed any lag on any machine. I usually use mine on my soft modded xbox 1 under mame. you should ditch the ps2 for an original xbox. look up how to soft mod it, it is very easily done. then get all the x-port emulators running on it. you'll never look back. it won't cost you that much to get it all going. My guess is, the games are causing the lag, not the hardware.

 

Actually, a friend of mine was getting rid of his XBox and I was considering this very thing...but considering my luck lately with electronics, it might not work. If the soft mod is easily done, I might just do it! But to be honest I'm not even sure that my adaptor has XBox connectors on it...I'll check.

[Mark Wolfe]

the soft mod is super simple and you can buy the xbox adaptor on the x-arcade website

[atarilovesyou]

The mod is simple, but I'm wondering about how to 'get' MAME on the system...I wonder if it's tricky. I only say so because my bud who has a tricked out XBox with MAME has had issues (screen getting larger and smaller for no apparent reason, games that didn't work, versions of games where the playable area was really small, obnoxious bezel art).

 

I've purchased my X-Arcade recently enough that I'll just return the adaptor for the XBox one. But I still worry about lag.

[Mark Wolfe]

you don't need to get mame on the system you burn a dvd, but you can copy stuff to the xbox hard drive, google it and all we become apparent to you. I assure you it is all very simple once the xbox has been soft modded. go to xbox-scene for downloads and help: http://www.xbox-scen.../tools-xbox.php http://www.xbox-scen...ftware-xbox.php

 

there is no lag.

Edited March 20, 2012 by Mark Wolfe

[Mark Wolfe]

xbox1 softmod tutorial: http://forums.xbox-s...howtopic=215055

 

oh, don't miss the atariage forum thread on the x-port emulators: X-Port Emulation Development

Edited March 20, 2012 by Mark Wolfe

[atarilovesyou]

Thanks for the tips, I've got my PS2 connector going back and getting the XBox connectors...and I'll let you know how the softmod goes. I'm not sure, but once the mods are done, how do you get the MAME roms in there?...and can you program the X-Arcade's buttons like you could on a PC?...on my PS2, the Capcom collections allow full button placement mods but thats because the software allows it. Others, like Taito collection, doesn't.

 

Thanks again for the links. The only thing is...where am I gonna find a Siphon Filter cd, lol...

[Mark Wolfe]

once the xbox is softmodded, you can ftp into it, all you do is take an ethernet cable, wire the xbox into your network, open any ftp app and you have root access. my emulators and apps are on partition E of the xbox 8GB drive in a directory called Emulators. in there is where I keep them, MAMEdOX goes in there and you ftp your samples, artwork and roms in there.

[atarilovesyou]

Sorry about all the questions about lag...it's just that lots of folks seem to not notice the lag on their PS2, yet I do. Of course it's not all games (for instance, the Street Fighter 2 games all work pretty well, close enough for my liking) but the ones I'm into, the early 80s stuff, there's just too much noticeable lag.

 

I've read that since the adaptor has to take the outputs of the joystick, which are basically keyboard outputs, and change them into something recognizable by a console, that's where I hear the lag can occur...made worse by the programming of the games themeselves, as you suggest, but then I'm still not sure why then a regular playstation joypad has zero lag when using those exact same games.

 

Could it be because essentially the XBox with the softmod is more PC than console?...and that the signals will process faster when being used with the X-Arcade?

 

Sorry to beat a deadhorse, its just that I'm on the verge of returning this stick and I wouldn't like to find after all the XBox modding, replacing the cables on the X-Arcade...only to have the same degree of lag on games. I guess there's only one way to find out, and that's to try it.

[Mark Wolfe]

you're asking questions that are above my pay grade. all I know is that I do not notice lag on my xbox using the xarcade joysticks with the xbox adaptor. that being said, maybe you notice things I do not? also I do not play the street fighter games, i like the metal slug games and none of those have any lag that is not already present in the original games, for instance in metal slug x, when you get to where there are a lot of enemies on screen and a lot is going on the framerate slows down, but not the controller sensitivity... there is no lag that I noticed when playing the action games like metal slug x and metal slug 3, which are my two favs in terms of controller activity. I also play games like Tekken and soul caliber and I have not had any issues

 

framerate lag and controller lag are two different things. when you push up on a controller, if your guy moves up right away, then no lag, if it takes a split second, that's lag .. BUT if that slowdown is due to framerate issues because the game has so much going on the processor can not handle it, that is not the controller, that is the emulator trying to make the game work or the original game is slow at times. I know the neo geo hardware has these issues sometimes.

 

I have never used the x-arcade sticks on a ps2, so I would not know about them.

 

I think this is going to be a trial and error kind of thing. the good news is, the x-arcade sticks are so popular you would have very little trouble reselling them on ebay and getting back your money or most of it.

Edited March 27, 2012 by Mark Wolfe

[atarilovesyou]

Thanks Mark...I'll let ya know how it turns out.