X-Arcade sticks: general opinions please!

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Eps
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X-Arcade sticks: general opinions please!

Post by Eps »

Now, I want to set my stall out right now: I personally find X-Arcade sticks to be overpriced for what you get, and consequently inferior to cheaper sticks both in design and performance. I'm mystified as to why anyone buys them - they don't seem the right choice for shooting game fans and fighting game fans, and they seem rather overblown for the casual MAME dabbler.

However, recent (offline) discussions have caused me to wonder if this is just me being a big old meanie, or if my judgment is in fact accurate. So I'm throwing this one open to the hordes on here: What do you think?

EDIT: http://www.x-arcade.com/products.shtml - $2,999 for an ugly cabinet with a few Xbox-emulated games included? WTF?! This doesn't exactly help my views of this company.
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OneEyedJack
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Post by OneEyedJack »

Aside from the rant against X-arcade, what platform do you want a stick for?

Make your own via the projectbox way. http://mywebpages.comcast.net/jdpyle1/c ... amcast.htm this is an example of what I mean. This is a project box for the dreamcast. The joystick is independent of the platform.
-Jon in Canada
Eps
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Post by Eps »

I'm not going to buy one, by the way*; but I know someone who is. This thread is basically a result of a conversation in which I said that I thought the sticks were crap (as you might be able to tell, I don't really like X-Arcade products ;) ) but couldn't convince him that they are a case of style/marketing over substance.

EDIT: Oh, interesting site by the way - I like their design ideas.

* - I have a Virtua Stick on the way for my PC and am in the middle of a customisation project to make a new stick for my Dreamcast using Sanwa parts and the guts of a crappy old controller. :)
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zaphod
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Post by zaphod »

The x-arcade uses parts that are fairly convincing replicas of stadard US arcade parts in them. They arent' quite up to snuff, but they are pretty close. They're no seimitsus, that's for sure. think more happ controls clones.
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Thunder Force
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Post by Thunder Force »

The X-Arcade appeals to the casual segment of the market who want to buy a big American stick, not precision Seimitsu or Sanwa style controls. It's a domestic service company that's not aimed at import-friendly folks like us.
"Thunder Force VI does not suck, shut your fucking mouth." ~ Shane Bettenhausen
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Triple Lei
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Post by Triple Lei »

It's great for MAME and other PC games for the 3 programmable button configs, but you're going to have to do some Sanwa modding (stick and buttons) like 8 1/2 or NocntnU to get some real play out of it.

You might also want to mod it even more like leeram:
http://leeram.ikaruga.co.uk/articles/xarcade.htm

Basically, if you have the DIY know-how, building your own stick would be less expensive and more satisfying... but you still won't get those 3 programmable button configs for MAME and those other PC games (remember, some games won't let you change your buttons). Paying full price for the 2-Player model probably is too much, but if you could find a cheap X-Arcade solo to mod (and I think I saw one in the Trading Section), why the hell not? The construction is extemely solid.


As a final note: I think I like my modded Saturn pad for shmups just a bit more than any stick. I'm just waiting for matt to 'come out of retirement' and sell me a matt-made Saturn > DC converter...
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Ganelon
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Post by Ganelon »

Overpriced and low quality just as you said. Not fit for competitive play as any fighting game fan will tell you and too expensive to use just to mod parts.
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