Are x-arcade sticks worth it?

[Reaperman]

I've been on a bit of an arcade stick kick lately. I've got MAS sticks for Genesis and Neo, and consumer-grade sticks for almost everything else. I don't have anything good for PC at the moment, and I've been pricing sticks largely from china ($50 imports up to $200+ qanba units). (I was mostly thinking of going japanese style for this one)

 

buuuuut, then I noticed x-arcade was having a sale. Yeah the company that puts out those godawful ugly 'tanksticks' that the mame guys go for. The solo's not as bad, and the price is right. Really, really right. $50+15 shipping right now (link). That's a 50% discount from regular. And even the regular price is on the low side for a solid arcade stick.

 

So now I'm for the first time wondering just how good those sticks are. What kind of controls are in them? Brand, quality etc.

Optical stick? Whose buttons? How are the switches? how hard is it to modify? What's the quality of the case? Is it up to the level I'm used to? MDF?

 

Seriously, for $65, is this the bargain that it appears to be? Are there any other sticks I should be considering?

 

Really, outside of needing those bottom two buttons replaced with hole covers, it looks pretty good:

 

Edited November 16, 2014 by Reaperman

[Reaperman]

So far it's looking like it's 'x-arcade generic acme brand' buttons/stick/switches. All the vague info they have comes from their DIY parts kit here. Nothing at all useful like specs on actuation pressure on the switches, button throw or stick deadzone angle. They sure do charge a lot for no-name stuff too. Maybe they think x-arcade is enough of a brand. I suppose they might well be if they came off as a company that knew much about control preferences. "we sell this one button and this stick, they is good, trst us"

 

I don't mind switching out parts, I had to do it on my most recent MAS stick anyway, and $65 is pretty cheap for a finished arcade case. Even if it is kind of ugly.

 

There is a review/comparison here, which kind of says 'low end of decent' to me, but that's $100 sticks in general:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3bTYBfqG1U

Edited November 16, 2014 by Reaperman

[akator]

The X-Gaming stuff looks. feels, and performs very similarly to standard Happ parts. Think early 80s feel, similar to what you would play in US arcades. All except the joysticks, which have the mech of a 80s stick but the stick of a 90s. I prefer ball sticks, but it has never bothered me enough to change it.

 

I've had different models over the years. I haven't had any problems. My current one is a Tankstick that I've owned since it came out in 2006.

 

Are they the best parts? No, especially if you like a more modern Japanese feel to your arcade controls. The X-Arcade and Happ parts feel like late 70s-early 80s controls, not 90s and Neo Geo. The X-Arcade parts are durable and still work fine, it's just a matter or personal preference.

[Reaperman]

 

I've had different models over the years. I haven't had any problems. My current one is a Tankstick that I've owned since it came out in 2006.

 

 

That says a lot for its toughness right there. The hefty 12lb case strikes me as the stick's most interesting feature, by far, which would surely be lacking on any japanese/korean stick, even the expensive ones. I do like my arcade sticks heavy. Swapping buttons/sticks/switches isn't nearly as hard as adding weight and stability to a case.

 

I do tend to like american style controls, the 90's Happ feel (Spanish IL-sourced buttons with American cherry switches). It sure has the look of controls I'd play on.

 

This guy spends a good chunk of his review standing on the darn thing. That's a tough case. I think one of my MAS sticks would almost surely fail in that situation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ophwssMHhtY

Edited November 16, 2014 by Reaperman

[Reaperman]

Here's a link with some internal pics.

Looks like it's solidly constructed entirely out of MDF. Nice.

 

Though it hasn't escaped me that the guy in the thread is totally gutting all the parts out of the thing.

 

Here's a video from x-gaming about how to take it apart. It looks like there's a proper harness in there, meaning button swapping will be a breeze. Also, opening it doesn't void the lifetime warranty. Yay.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_fl_NuFRis

Edited November 16, 2014 by Reaperman

[omegadot]

I have the dual arcade. I like it quite a bit, I posted about my stick swap-out on here a while back. I think in the MAME section. I like them overall but most complaints are accurate. Sticks are not great for really precise fighter movements, the buttons are a touch heavy and the sticks on the dual are a bit close. None of that bothers me too much. I keep the sticks in 8-way most of the time as that's the majority of games I play. It took some adjustment to enjoy 4-way games on it at all but I adapted. Won't set any records but it's not terrible.

 

My biggest dislike is the big ass logo smeared over the front of the stick. Been debating ways to get rid of that.

[akator]

These are definitely easy to mod. I added spinners to mine a few years ago. Several times I have considered putting new artwork on it because I find the stock design to be pretty ugly.

 

However, modding can quickly get silly. The spinners and buttons I installed were almost the same price as the original Tankstick purchase. So I now have a $300 Tankstick

 

At $65 shipped, I would definitely recommend it. I own a lot of other controllers and there isn't anything out there even close to the same quality at that price.

 

Now... if you're going to build your own, that's a different story

[Austin]

I like the X-Arcade sticks. As others have said, they basically have the feel of HAPP parts. Heck, the buttons and sticks might even come from the same factory for all I know. Basically, if you're used to any early 1990's joystick and button feel, you will feel right at home with this stick.

 

I might even place an order for one of these. I had the dual tank stick but sold it earlier this year. It was so large there wasn't really any convenient or logical way to use it in any gaming setup of mine. This single one though can sit in your lap if you don't have a table or another solid/steady surface to place it on.

[Hyperboy]

I have 3, 1 Tankstick, One Standard Dual and One I customized with a 45 degree stick for Q*bert and a spinner for Tempest, Tac-Scan, Etc.

 

These setups work great when I want to play cabs that aren't in my game room at the time or for cabs I don't have. They are easily upgradeable with standard arcade parts and therefore are easily adapted to personal tastes.

 

Just my 2 cents but they are well worth their low price!

[Reaperman]

I was really excited about these, but the neo-geo.com forum very, very firmly scared me away with a solid decade of nightmare stories about x-arcade products.

 

The two items from them that really struck me were:

very dodgy buttons and stick, and improper width on the connectors making replacement of switches and controls more difficult than need be.

laggy usb encoder, made even worse by running it through their console adapter boxes.

 

added to the obvious flaws of a poor button layout, and giant freaking logo and I now think I'd pass at even 75% off.

 

I'm now trying to decide between a couple sticks that usually compete around the x-arcade solo's normal price range of $100. The Madcatz Fightstick pro, a 5.5lb stick with sanwa parts, and the Qanba Q2 Glow, a 12lb stick with qanba controls that light up. Both are rather tasteful cases (no gigantic brand logo, no game titles, no anime characters). I'll see where black friday takes those two sticks, I think.

Edited November 19, 2014 by Reaperman

[Trebor]

I have a HotRod SE purchased in 2001, extremely similar to the X-Arcade (I do own their stand-alone trackball controller). In fact, X-Arcade sells a conversion kit for the HotRod which made its native PS2 connector (true) USB and provides an updated encoder PCB. It installed easily and works flawlessly.

Going on 14 years and the controller still plays and responds like the first day I used it. It has seen a ton of abuse usage thanks to plenty of Arcade 'insert scroller/fighter here', numerous 'Track & Field' sessions, Pac-Land - 'jump the huge lake' attempts, via MAME, in addition to serving as my prime controller for many console and computer emulators. Still looks great too. US 80's Arcade buttons with a 90's Arcade joystick is a perfect description of how it feels and performs.

[TPA5]

I have never had any luck with Madcatz products, to be honest. Controllers, peripherals, memory cards, all junk. If you really want that arcade feel, building a stick yourself is the best way to go. Depending on what you all want inside it, you could build a single-player stick for under $100.

[CRTGAMER]

 

I've been on a bit of an arcade stick kick lately. I've got MAS sticks for Genesis and Neo, and consumer-grade sticks for almost everything else. I don't have anything good for PC at the moment, and I've been pricing sticks largely from china ($50 imports up to $200+ qanba units).

 

Another route is to buy a PS1/PS2 controller adapter to keep from buying additional Arcade sticks. There are numerous styles of PSX Arcade sticks; adapters for playstation controllers are available for many home consoles as well as the PC.

Edited November 19, 2014 by CRTGAMER

[+save2600]

While it's true that the X-Arcade has somewhat of a Happ "economical" feel to it, they hold up really well and parts are readily available. Was cheaper and made more sense to mount one of their standalone trackball units to the front of an oddly shaped cabinet I turned into a MAME machine a few years ago and the thing has seen a LOT of abuse. Still works great and haven't had to do a blasted thing to it. To those complaining about irregular sized spade connectors, I've run across that here and there, but never really had an issue as all you have to do is crimp the female connector for a tighter fit.

 

I own one of their dual stick configs and have thrown all sorts of adapters (serial, USB, PS/2 and PS1/PS2) at it with nary a problem. Their I/O board is pretty robust and flexible. I say if you can get one when they're on sale (or used), they represent decent value for the money.

[jaybird3rd]

I have an X-Arcade Solo and an X-Arcade Tankstick. I've found that the build quality is exceptional on both, and although I haven't put in many hours with them yet, I'm sure they'll hold up well over time. The only thing that is slightly disorienting to me is that the joystick is given to the left hand. Having grown up with the Atari CX-40, and being right-handed, I haven't yet grown accustomed to playing with the left hand, although I'm sure that is how many of these arcade games were originally designed to be played.

 

I thought I'd be able to get by without having to reconfigure the joystick, but I think I'm going to switch it from 8-way to 4-way because that seems to be the best option for the games that I play. That's one of the many projects I'm saving for Thanksgiving break.

[cimerians]

I have an X-Arcade solo, switching it to a 4-way stick is a pain in the ass as you need to bend some metal plates inside of it to do it and you constantly have to test it out. It's a nice arcade stick and will probably last forever but I don't use it as much because of all the adapter switching. If I do use it I only use it on PC. The adapters I got are for the PS3\XBox 360 but like I mentioned I rarely hook it up on consoles.

 

I also grew up right handed with Atari joysticks and also played arcade games that way too when I was a kid. Mainly Pac-Man etc For games that require no fire button I still play right handed and for one fire button games I sometimes swing my left arm under my right arm to hit the fire button. Actually works quite well.

[+wongojack]

I have looked at these for years and have never been able to pull the trigger. There are just too many other options out there. I'll second the tip about using PS2 to USB adapters as that has been particularly useful. AND I also prefer to operate directional controls (joystick and trackball) with my right hand, however I have adjusted with the rest of the world in most cases.

 

Alternate PHRASING - I really prefer to work the stick and ball with my right hand - harharhar

[Aquaman]

I ordered and paid for a solo stick a few years back, and by accident they send me a dual one instead of the solo version. You can imagine, I filed no complaint

Mainly I use them for MAME games and they seem to be build to last!

 

My guess is that you can't go wrong in buying one, if you like playing old school Arcade games.

[Nebulon]

I have both the dual-stick unit and the trackball.

 

The trackball definitely gets the most use. It's pretty awesome (except that one of the diagonal directions is a bit stubborn). They claim that's normal, but I've used plenty of trackball units that track smoothly in every direction so that clearly can't be the case.

 

Over all, their controllers are pretty good. And you can always get replacement switches and sticks from other companies for cheap.

[+wongojack]

So does anybody regularly (or ever) play a game that requires 6 buttons (let alone 8 ). I have thousands of games on my MAME cabinet and I don't think I've ever played a single one that uses 6. I also heard on some other forum that there are no games that use 6 buttons for player 3 and 4. Can anyone confirm?

 

EDIT - I know the fighters use 6

[Atariboy]

I believe that 90's fighters routinely use all six. Otherwise, it's overkill.

Edited November 25, 2014 by Atariboy

[+wongojack]

I believe that 90's fighters routinely use all six. Otherwise, it's overkill.

 

Even on the fighters, I think 6 is too many. Do they really need 3 kinds of punches and 3 kinds of kicks. Seems like being deliberately over complicating.

 

I think Stargate uses 6 and Defender 5, but you kinda need that special layout to play them.

[Atariboy]

I'm not a fighting game fan so I'm not really sure. But since many have 6 individual buttons that do six different actions, arcade stick makers don't have much choice but to follow suit even if developers are just going overboard, since it's that market that drives the creation and sales of these things.

 

And Stargate does use six buttons in the arcade (And Defender, 5). But most home players will rely on the stick for all movement functions, dropping that down four for Stargate (And 3 for Defender).

Edited November 25, 2014 by Atariboy

[+wongojack]

I can't figure out how to make the stick work with Defender in MAME because you can't simply map thrust and reverse to left and right as your orientation is constantly changing. The game actually needs modification to handle reverse being the opposite press to whatever direction you are traveling. I end up playing Defender on a console port or compilation because of this.

[Austin]

 

Even on the fighters, I think 6 is too many. Do they really need 3 kinds of punches and 3 kinds of kicks. Seems like being deliberately over complicating.

 

It depends on the application. In a six button layout it's logical to move from weak, to medium, then to fierce attacks. Want the next strongest attack? Simply move up the button chain. Unfortunately it doesn't always quite work like that in four button fighters, particularly 3D ones that often give you more than eight different attacks for a single button when different diagonal inputs are given along with the button press (that's not counting the varying quarter-circle/half-circle commands they integrate that you find more of in the 2D fighters). Street Fighter II's move set overall is actually far more simplistic and less complicated than many other fighting games out there, despite the extra two buttons at the end.