Bjorn3D.com: X-Arcade Trackball Arcade Mouse Review

[Anonymous]

Hi!

We have released a new Review called: X-Arcade Trackball Arcade Mouse Review.
Here is a small summary of the Review:"Every hardcore gamer, especially those who like retro games, should check out this review of X-Arcade's Trackball controller. Say hello to real arcade gaming in your living room or wherever you may lay this 15-pound beast! .... "

You can find the whole Review here: http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=876

We would love to hear your comments about both the Review as well as the item we are reviewing in this thread.

Best regards
The Bjorn3D staff

[Bio-Hazard]

Interesting product......... :D All I used to use was a trackball back in my Mac days. I'm not sure how well something like that would work playing a FPS, which is all I really play these days.

[PUTALE]

interesting stuff. You don't see much of the mouse being reviewed on the site.

[digitalwanderer]

Seems like a nice niche item, but an extremely small niche market for it.

[shanewu]

Seems like a nice niche item, but an extremely small niche market for it.
Yeah, it's definitely a niche item for arcade junkies who just can't play marble madness or centipede with a joystick any more. ;)

[zachig]

This is indeed an interesting product, which brings up good memories (covered with dust :lol: ). But, I would still prefer using my mouse instead of a trackball, and beside that it is pretty expensive ($99). :?

[XJnine]

Seeing this reminded that I never posted pics of a project I worked on a while back.

You need to toss that X-Arcade and build one of these like I did...

http://www.x-j-nine.com/web%20pictures/IM000682.JPG

http://www.x-j-nine.com/web%20pictures/143.jpg

[zachig]

WOW :shock: This is a very impressive home-made arcade machine!!! Well done!!!

Which Keyboard Encoder/Emulator did you use for the "Buttons Emulation? The "MAME Keyboard Emulator", "Hagstrom Keyboard Encoder" or someting else?

Anyway, you did a great job. Can you post some more pictures of the project? Do you have the full project described/detailed/published somewhere?

[shanewu]

Yeah, tell us more XJ! :)

Did you build the cabinet from scratch? How much did you end up spending in the end?

[XJnine]

I'll post a more detailed breakdown of stuff later today when I get some time.

Just some quick info though....

I used an I-pac and an Opti-pac from www.ultimarc.com for the controller interfaces.

The cost of the system was a little bit high since I went with a 27" TV, a four person setup, a trackball, and a spinner. They can definitely be made for less.

I made the cabinet myself using designs and ideas found here http://arcadecontrols.com/arcade.htm.

I'll be back with more info and some pics.

[pym]

interesting stuff. You don't see much of the mouse being reviewed on the site.

I agree, mice do not get their attention and they should...
Mice are a very important tool for gamers and certain applications.
They deserve respect ;)
So, way to go and great review on this product.

------------------------------

About XJnine's arcade machine, AMAZING!
This is really amazing.
Looks professional, no way I would say it was home made.

[BlackStar]

XJnine - Fantastic! Now that's how I spent my youth - and quarters!

The X-Arcade Trackball looks great as a controller. 10 pounds? I'm sure it won't tilt or wobble with heavy "body english". Since I'm very left-handed I like products that I can use.

It really looks like it could be an industrial / public access interface and could stand up to all sorts of abuse.

[zachig]

Thanks for the info, XJnine!!! :wink:

[XJnine]

All the controls came from www.ultimarc.com except for the Spinner which came from http://www.oscarcontrols.com/. It's an exact replica of a Tempest spinner, best spinner ever made! Unfortunately Oscar is shut down at the moment. The joysticks are user selectable 4/8 way joysticks. Really important to have the right kind of joystick for the game. I also have two rotary joysticks similar to these http://www.happcontrols.com/joysticks/rotary_optical_joy.htm. Mine are slightly different though. They have to hook up using this interface http://ca.geocities.com/druins22@rogers.com/ls30/. The rotary joysticks are used for games like Ikari Warriors or Heavy Barrel.

The marquee came from http://www.mamemarquees.com/. They do excellent work and they have a lot of things to choose from.

The T-Moulding came from http://www.tmoulding.com. Imagine that! The stuff they sell is high quality, authentic stuff. Really looks good when you put it on.

All the exterior surfaces are covered with a think vinyl laminate from here http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=260-018. This stuff isn't your run of the mill shelf lining contact paper. It really has a good feel. One thing to remember is to paint the wood under any area where you might have a seam so the wood doesn't show through.

The speakers and grills up top are from http://www.happcontrols.com/amusement/acesor/49022800.htm. I power them with the subwoofer from this set http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=4&subcategory=27&product=461&nav=features. Nothing too fancy but it sounds really good.

I went with a Toshiba 27" tv for the display. I wanted to go big since I was building a 4 player cabinet (gotta have room for me to play along with the 3 kids) and I just like 'em big. The reason I chose the TV I did is because this TV will power itself on when the plug gets power (so I could wire the whole cabinet to a central power switch) and it also remembers its input settings. It has component input and I use an ATI Radeon 9600 with a DVI to component adapter found here http://www.svideo.com/hdtvaiwr8500.html to connect to it.

The bezel around the monitor also came from Happ. I used regular Plexi in front of the TV and to hold the marquee.

The whole thing is powered by an AthlonXP PC with 512mb of ram and a 40GB HD. Actually the parts came from a purchase I made here on the FS/T forums. Forgot who I bought the stuff from though, sorry. :(

I run Mame32 http://mame32qa.classicgaming.gamespy.com/ which is a good Windows based version of mame for all my rom emulation. You can search usenet for the roms you want of you can do what I do and just get them from a place like this http://www.mamedvds.com/ every once in a while. Much easier than trying to find what you need in usenet.

Building something like this isn't for the timid. It takes a lot of work, a bit of skill, and some money. I probably spent about $1000 on my cabinet but I've seen ones at the store with not nearly as many features or the number of games selling for over $3500. I think it was worth it to bring back some old memories. If you;re looking to build one cheaper you can find old arcade cabinets all over the place and just refurb one into a 2 player cabinet. As long as you have a spare PC already you can be finished for only a few hundred bucks. Not bad for a machine that can play over 5000 games.

If anyone has more questions, let me know. I'll try to take some interior pics a bit later and post them for you guys.

[zachig]

WOW :shock: That's a lot of info to read. But hey, we aksed for it :wink: . Thanks for the info mate, I'll read it later on, as it really interests me.

[shanewu]

Awesome! Thanks for all the info, XJ. I remember you mentioning several times that you were building a cabinet but had forgotten. 8)

[pym]

That's really awsome, lots of interesting info to read.
Thanks, XJnine.
A very complicated project you've made there.
Impressing!