Arcade/fight sticks that don't cost the earth AND don't suck? DIY?

d_brennen

d_brennen

d_brennen

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In need of a two player fight/arcade stick for a Raspberry Pi/MAME project but on the cheap. Not building a full cab or anything so initially discounted building, but I need two two sticks and all the decent looking units seem to be £150 or more! Anyone got any recommendations for budget units? I don't mind two separate sticks.


As an aside, I've briefly looked into buying a stick/button kit with a USB interface, these seem to range anywhere between £40 and £100 and look pretty simple. Any comments/experience to share? TIA :)
 
An X Arcade stick will do the job.

You can buy direct or from their eBay store. Currently they are $99 plus shipping and tax, which probably pushes it towards the £150 mark landed in the UK.

I have one, the buttons are good, the sticks are ok. Works with MAME out of the box.

I'd look at building your own. That way you can have which ever stick and buttons you prefer. Or buy a complete kit, you can get several combinations that mostly include the IPAC 2 keyboard interface. Arcade World UK have a good selection. You can also buy pre cut wood kits as well, again on eBay and plenty of other online suppliers.

The X Arcade dual stick is £120 delivered from their Ebay shop, so maybe a touch cheaper buying direct.
 
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Building your own control panel can be just as, if not more expensive as buying, particularly if you're going for some decent parts. I've build a couple of arcade sticks before and also a couple of cabinets. If you do fancy a crack at making one, you might find a whole new world of possibilities opens up. If you're that way inclined, I'd say go for it.

The first sticks I build using hacked XBOX pads (button spacing is wrong - ****coin has all the templates needed for the different styles and correct spacing):



This is the cabinet I built - you could just build a 2 player version of the control panel:



Close ups of the control panel:





Materials used were Sanwa buttons and stick, hacked XBOX fightpad (I've used an iPac on a previous cabinet), 18mm and 6mm MDF, cast acrylic (clear and opal), aluminium strips, blackboard vinyl, custom artwork I put together in Photoshop and a few other bits and bobs.

Several build pictures:









As for Arcade World, it's a shame you had a poor experience. I've used them several times over the years and found them to be good to deal with.

I'll throw in a free video too for some extra incentive ...

 
That's some nice work :) I have some carpenter mates so materials and labour is minimal cost. I think the £70 kits (2 player) are probably going to be a disappointment after using an X Arcade :(
 
The X Arcade is definitely the least fuss that's for sure but a DIY build with some good quality buttons and sticks would likely out perform the X Arcade; they use Happ lookalikes from what I understand which aren't as good quality as the originals. Shame I can't get you interested in building one ;)

Check out BYOAC for some really stunning project builds if you're remotely interested:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?board=10.0

Edit: Have you considered a Bartop build? Might be a thought ...
 
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Oh I'm interested, just have no budget. Starting a new job on the 12th Oct, new car and my laptop is on it's last legs. Might have to postpone until December
 
That's a shame and yes, there's often something more pressing which needs funding. Never mind, maybe it's a good opportunity to research and figure out exactly what you'd like.

Good luck with the new job!
 
I should note that Arcade World did eventually get back in touch, and pointed me to the units I suspected they would.

Do you happen to know the difference between the cheaper USB interface and the IPAC 2 board? I can't seem to find any reason to spend the extra on the IPAC
 
Make your own:
XBox3Sticksty-1.jpg

XBox3Sticksty-2.jpg


Use a Cthulhu if you don't fancy pad hacking. Your device will then show up as a PS3 pad which makes compatibility with Windows and Linux games and other software very easy.

Make sure you get Sanwa/Seimitsu parts.
 
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Try this site for building your own:
http://****coin.com/joystick/introduction.html

Edit: for some reason the forum is automatically starring out part of the website address. You'll need to replace the four stars with "s l a g"
 
Made it in 2009 and it's still going strong.

People used to know who I was just because of that stick when I went to tournaments :p

It has a headphone/mic jack in the USB port flap and the Ethernet socket is used to connect the stick to multiple consoles.
 
DON'T build your own!!

I've built a couple and I loved doing it, and I'll do it again as soon as the opportunity arises.
However, from your post you simply want a working 2 player arcade stick for ~£150.

In that case, you're limited and probably have to go for the X-arcade.

If you build your own you'll spend WAY more to get anything good.

Plus the man hours, planning, designing, experimenting etc.

Don't get me wrong, that's the fun of it, but only if you're into building sticks. If you just want to have one, no fuss, buy it.
 
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