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HISTORYOlder changes
5/28/00 Multi-Jamma
Somewhat off topic but of interest nonetheless... Clay Cowgill has released his Multi-Jamma kit for sale. Being an arcade collector as well as a build-your-own enthusiast, one day I'll have one of these kits for multi-game play in a Jamma cabinet. Very slick! --- saintFree Atari System 1 cabinet in San FranCisco. --- saintCustomArcade was kind enough to pass on to us one of their secrets that goes into their excellent arcade consoles and cabinets. Anyone can push "T" to tilt your pinball game, but what if you could just whack the side of your controller to do the same... pinball anyone? Thanks Ray! --- saintThis one is way overdue - they emailed me back in the end of March (yipes). Enter the OzStick, a commercial startup.The OzStick is a slick looking single arcade desktop joystick, with 4 buttons, interfaced to the game port. They offer 3 different button layouts, and feature Happ Controls Ultimate joysticks and pushbuttons. They cost $125 AUS (roughly $73 US) including postage and handling, and are only available COD. Obviously, they are based in the UK. I'd love to hear feedback from anyone purchasing from them! Welcome to the party OzStick!
I heard from another two vendors as regards their current status:The other vendors I haven't heard from, so what follows is my best understanding of their current status:
- ArcadeSolutions is presently not taking orders. They have a few orders outstanding that are being completed. Their web site is still available and they will probably be taking orders in a few months. The owner of Arcade Solutions is still in the midst of real life(TM) - moving into a new house, new job, new marriage... Presently his plans are open-ended, but we might see them return when things calm down :)
- Arcade2000 is presently restructuring. They ran into several of the difficulties that often strike new businesses. Presently they are working to make things right with their customers, and reworking some issues with suppliers and such. They can often be found on the chat room for those who want to talk to them directly.
- Stick-It was expected to start shipping the Stick-It 2 in April of 2000. They did not meet that date, and currently they are not returning emails. I've heard 3rd hand that they are restructuring their finances and expect to do business again shortly. There are a few reports from people who've pre-ordered who haven't heard from them.
- ZipStik appears to have disappeared altogether. Their old web site appears defunct, and their new domain they moved to no longer exists. They have not returned emails. The last word I had some time ago was that I was to receive a unit for review. I don't know anything further about ZipStik.
- ArcadePC/HotRod/Hanaho has not had a chance to give me an update, but is very much alive and active. Most recently seen at E3, Hanaho's products continue to be available.
- Mas Systems has never in 2 years answered a single email of the many that I've sent them. I heard from one person who finally got ahold of them on the phone and ordered a product. The person said their order arrived promptly. Draw your own conclusions.--- saint
Many folks are using keyboard encoders from Hagstrom - be it the LP24, KE24, KE72T, etc... I'm interested in collecting config files for the encoders and making them available for download. Got one you want to share? Send it my way. Thanks! --- saintIn order to 1. Get faster responses to people looking for help, and 2. cut down on some of the email that would be best answered elsewhere, I've changed the main email link to point to a new "contact" page. Please give me feedback - is this annoying or helpful? There are times people have waited weeks for me to tell them "the answer is on this page" or "ask on the message board." Also, I'm beginning to think of tweaking the look and feel of the FAQ somewhat to make it easier on the eyes, so comments on the look and feel of the contact page are welcome as well. Thanks! --- saintWeb site still in development, but online ordering apparently operational. Vektorlogic.---saintBarcadeis temporarily offline. The link still works, but he no longer can update it because that account is no longer active. When he has a new site we'll announce it here. ---saintSkygodd's done it again - enter his 4th(!) arcade cabinet, the Mark IV! This one is not only fairly cool, it's also for sale :) This one features an I-PAC! --- saintI *think* this came from Retrocade, though I cannot swear to that now. At any rate, any arcade aficionado should take a look at Syzygy magazine. Looks like it's going to be cool :) Added to the links page. --- saintc0nsumer sent me updates to the control panel template he sent earlier. These are in Pagemaker 6 format, and there's a 6 button (250kb) and an 8 button (256 kb) version. Thanks again c0nsumer! --- saintMagnet Eye passed on to me heads up about another N64 to USB interface called the Adaptoid. It not only allows you to use your N64 controller on a PC via USB port, it also supports rumble-to-force feedback. If you've already gotten one, you need to download the latest drivers if you haven't. From their web site:The latest driver is 1.2.78 (beta) which has a brand new rumble effects engine which greatly improves DirectX force feedback over the previous driver. As with the last driver release, it has support for Win2000, rumble support for multiple adaptoids simultaneously, allows rearranging of the controller button ordering, and has a driver installer/uninstaller. See the readme file for complete details.Looks great - thanks Magnet Eye! --- saintAdded gravutil (176kb) - a utility to test your gameports, joysticks and buttons, with support for various Gravis products and generic joysticks. Thanks Mikey! --- saintAdded Johnny's MAME cabaret cabinets to the examples page. One of the two cabinets is a driving cabinet, with steering wheel and pedal, that should be of interest to anyone looking to run racing games. Very cool. This makes #134 and #135 on the page now! (Should that count as 1 or 2 projects? Let me know) --- Tom61The author of the emu front end MEWL sent me word that he's also got his own arcade cabinet project - Sith's Arcade. This is an in-work cabinet with one heck of a big control panel, 2 joysticks and a trackball, networked, etc... Very nice. This makes #135 on the page now!Added MyArcade to the examples page - a from-scratch built cabinet based on the Defender cabinet, with swappable control panels. Still a work in progress but looks good :) This makes #136 on the page now!Added Commando MAME Project to the examples page - a PC2Jamma project made from a Commando Cabinet. This makes #137 on the page now!Added the PsyStick to the examples page - a SNES pad hack with a well done web page. Very neatly done, with a nice shopping list summarized. This makes #138 on the page now!Added Emulaxian to the examples page - an I-PAC driven arcade cabinet project featuring a customized front end, an overlay you can printout to use yourself, and a slick web page design. Very cool - this makes #138 on the page now!Added another comment/review on the I-PAC to the reviews page. (Short form: It's positive :) )...Another one I've had for a while - Greg sent in a review for the Arcade Solutions console he purchased, and he's quite pleased. It's a heck of a control panel, with 2 sticks, trackball and spinner, side handle for easy transport, and a slew of buttons. Added to the reviews page.Well, that was a bit of a catchup :) I still have 300 email messages I've let stack up to go through, yipes! More to come!
5/24/00
I sent email to all the arcade control vendors to see if they could give me their current status - taking orders, shipping orders, new products, etc... So far I've heard from only one vendor... CustomArcade! Here's what they have to say:Here is the "Official" Status on CustomArcade. Currently we are Not accepting orders during our restructuring. The Long and Short of our current trouble is A- One of the founding members of CustomArcade has left the company and created a HUGE vacuum that I am currently trying to fill. B- some basic problems arose when we started shipping the first batch of controllers. Mostly with interchangeability and our soon-to-be-completed front-End. We have stepped back and have several things happening in the background. 1- A web site redesign, 2- CustomArcade Front-End Development, 3- A New Investor.Definitely exciting news - good luck Ray! If/when I get news from the other vendors, I'll post it here :)Our Target is to be back in full swing by CGE2000, but a lot of it is going to depend on Some Third Party Support Vendors we are Currently working with.
Dondi sent me his new project, Coctail Arcade Project! It's a very cool cocktail cabinet, with a spinner and two sticks on one side, a trackball and two sticks on the other. This makes project #133! (Yes, this is a repeat #. Somewhere we got off-track by 1.)In case anyone's interested, here's the breakdown of the new PC I bought. Everyone's advice was very helpful and convinced me to change a few decisions. The machine absolutely rocks - zero glitches, games are a scream, 3d graphics rock, I'm watching TV on it as I write this up, and did I mention it's fast? :)
- Pentium III 600Mhz
- 128 MB SDRAM @ 133mhz
- ATI All-In-Wonder 128 PRO video board
- Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live Value
- 19" monitor
- 10x DVD (Heavy Metal (the movie) wide screen rocks)
- 20 gig IBM Deskstar hard drive (7200 RPM, UltraDMA 66)
There's a Galaga MAME cabinet for sale.Fultra Spinner has updated their web site with some reviews from a few of their customers. I've got them mirrored here. I should be getting my hands on one soon :)If you missed this update on Retrogames last week, be sure to visit GameFont - a site with Windows True Type fonts ripped from arcade games. Very cool for arcade cabinets :) Added to the links page.Also already mentioned on a few other sites, but last week HotRod emailed me with some pictures they snapped at E3. Very cool :)Chris of the Arcade Macstick wrote me with his newest project. He hacked an Apple USB keyboard to use as an interface, and wrote up his findings. Thanks Chris!Once again I'm behind on my email. New projects to add, more things to talk about... I'll try to update soon :)
5/1/00
I'm buying a new PC so that I can use my current one in my arcade cabinet project. I've posted a message with the specs I'm looking at - your opinions are much wanted, please read the message and let me know what you think :)Thanks!
4/29/00
c0nsumer was kind enough to share with us this pdf file of a 2-player 8 buttons each control panel layout he designed. It was used both on his project, and Sithspawn's. Added to the downloads-miscellaneous section. Can't read pdf files? Get the reader. Thanks c0nsumer :) --- saintLots of positive comments on the I-PAC lately. Retrocactus is fairly impressed with it, and has posted a review on their web site. I've mirrored it here. Also correctly posted the I-PAC on the links page where it belongs. --- saintTheir web site is looking fairly sharp these days. Added a link on the message board to the Retrocactus message forum. --- saintWow, have you checked out Imagination Works? The URL I gave out a few days ago is having problems, but this one works. They sell a bunch of adapters for game console controllers that use either SNESKEY or DirectPadPro. These include:They plan to offer Genesis and Saturn adapters as well, and may customize a setup for you including a custom multi-adapter. They'll also soon have an emulator support section with config files for you to download. Too cool. --- saint
- The IOMAXNES - 2 NES control pads interfaced to the parallel port, complete $23.99
- The IOMAX-SNES - 2 SNES control pads interfaced to the parallel port, complete $42.00
- The IOMAXN64 - NES-64 two controller interface (controllers not included), $41.99. Presently out of stock and not for sale but will return.
- The IOMAXPSX - PSX two controller interface (controllers not included), $26.99
- The IOMAXPSXFORCE - PSX two controller interface with force feedback support (controllers not included), $37.
- The IOMAXXTREMEMOLEX - WOW. This product allows you to connect up to two Nintendo 64 Controllers and/or 2 Playstation controllers to your computer for use with games and Emulators. This Product supports all FORCE FEEDBACK enabled games that use the Windows Controllers/Input System. This Product gives you a special printer port for your existing printer and an Additional Parallel port for a scanner or another printer. Presently out of stock. $100.
- The PSXN64TOPCUSB - PSX and N64 to USB port (Windows support only). Allows connecting either a PSX or N64 pad to your USB port. $42.
- The PSXTOPCUSB - PSX to USB port (Windows support only). Allows connecting a PSX pad to your USB port. $45. No, I don't know why you'd buy this one instead of the one above.
ElvisP pointed us to Suzuki's Ultimate MAME Cabinet - a Japanese only site that apparently has a custom-compiled version of mame with a new 15 Khz driver with amongst other support for s3 cards. Thanks ElvisP :) This is project #130! --- saintAdded VideoMania to the projects page. This is a slick looking 4 joystick cabinet - be sure to check out the before and after pictures. Project #131 in the collection :) --- saintAdded Ivo's Arcade kasten project - a Dutch web site detailing how he converted an old arcade cabinet to a MAME machine. This makes project #132 in the collection - thanks Ivo! :) --- saintAdded MAME Cabaret UK to the projects page. It's a two player keyboard hack cabaret cabinet that will soon be installing Andy's I-PAC interface. This makes project #133 now! :)
4/28/00
Added a link to Chad's writeup of his custom-built spinner. --- saintChris wrote up an interesting technique he's created for his arcade spinner, similar to the TwistyGrip design... The Barrel Spinner!--- saintMCM Electronics has put there *full* catalog online, and they carry Happ products. Not sure if they still have a minimum, it used to be that they had a $20, but you could get around it by paying a $3 fee. When all you want is a button, would you whether pay $5 for a button, or $25 for a button and stuff you won't use? In their "Clearance Rack" tab in "gaming" they have 2-1/4" White Trackballs for $55. This site is still in its infancy, and the "Browse Catalog" isn't very user friendly, so type in Happ in the search box and hit enter. (note: Advanced Search doesn't work). --- Tom61Back In Time -- Voodoo3 3500TV Review. A pretty decent review, tests Mame and some other programs with it's TV-out. --- Tom61
4/23/00
Added 3 additional vendors that sell t-moulding to the links page: --- saintAdded a review Howard sent me for Video Connections - an arcade parts vendor that sells among other things Wico leaf joysticks and buttons. Alphabetized it while I was at it. --- saintAdded SNES Control Tester - a utility that will test your SNESpad-parallel port interface. Puts a graphical SNESpad on the screen, and as you press buttons they light up onscreen. Supports multiple parallel ports. --- saintRevamped the mouse section of the interfaces page. Added information (finally) on using two mouse devices at the same time. --- saintAdded VGA-TV driver to the downloads page - converts the video signal from your VGA card to the frequencies a TV uses. DOS app. --- saint--- saintAdded Joystick To Mouse (demo - 669kb) to the downloads page. Sorted downloads page alphabetically while I was at it. --- saint
Added Keyfront 1.3.8 (2.4 MB) to the downloads page. Keyfront is a frontend for SNESkey that lets you configure they keys via a slick gui. Supports both SNES pads and Sidewinder! --- saint
Added a tip about controlling jerky movement with keyboard interfaces to the emulator support page. --- saint
Added TNG Sales to the arcade parts vendors listing. They have NOS Wico leaf joysticks! --- saint
4/22/00
--- saint
4/20/00
April 29th, US Amusement Auction is having an auction in Indianapolis, Indiana at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.Meanwhile, Super Auctions is having an auction the same day in Fullerton, CA, 2116 E. Walnut Ave. Call 714.535.7000 for more information. --- saint
There's an interesting thread on rec.games.video.arcade.collecting about building the ideal home arcade room. --- saintMartin sent me his new project(s) - two cabinets collectively called Mamearcade - Martin's done a heck of a job with the how-to details and this is definitely worth a visit. Nice info on interfacing an arcade monitor. Project #124 added to the list! --- saintImagination Works Computer Technologies is another vendor selling PSX interfaces. Right now their web site is down, but as soon as it's up I'll post updated information. They will also be selling N64 interfaces as well! You can email them at their sales or interfaces mailboxes. --- saintThere is a new commercial spinner available! The Fultra Spinner is an arcade spinner designed to interface with the Happ Controls trackball/spinner standard interface. From their web page:What is the Fultra Spinner?There's more info on the page, including a teaser that there will be a kit available to make it a Discs Of Tron spinner. Price starts at $49.00 and up depending on options and shipping. They will be sending me a demo unit to put through it's paces when available, so look for a review when that happens! Added to the links, alternatives, and spinner page. --- saintThe Fultra Spinner is an arcade game spinner control. It can be used as a replacement in a dedicated arcade cabinet, or for home arcade emulators such as Mame. It was designed for my Mame cabinet as an alternative to the $170 (spinner + PS/2 converter) that it would cost if purchased from an arcade parts distributor.
How does it work with...?
Mame - You need to use a converter that translates the output of the spinner to a PS/2 mouse format. There are a couple of ways to do this. If you have a Hagstrom KE-72T encoder, you already have this capabillity. If not, Hagstrom Electronics will be selling a 'stand alone' encoder in the near future. Pricing has not been set to my knowledge. Lastly, you can use the spinner with a dedicated arcade machine, it is pin compatible with the Happs trackball/spinner.
Added Lindz' MameArcade cabinet project (unrelated to the project above) to the examples page. This is a networked PC2Jamma project that Steve updates across the network, never needing to open the cabinet. Very cool :) This makes project #125! --- saintAdded NEO-MAME to the examples page. This is a two joystick keyboard hack with some big plans for the future. This is project #126! --- saintAdded Second Chance Arcade to the examples page. This is a fairly deep web site with many projects to read about. This makes 127 projects! --- saintAdded Closet2MAME to the examples page. Phydeaux has several video game projects on his site in addition to the video game cabinet, and it's a great site to visit :) This makes project #128 now! --- saintSkygodd strikes again! He's got another project going (Ultimate Arcade Mark I, II) called ... the Ultimate Arcade Mark III - the Cocktail Files! Check it out - this is project #129! --- saintWell, I got partially caught up on my emails tonight :) More to come! (Did I mention I got my MCSE?) --- saint
4/19/00
Free Stargate in NJIt's not a secret that there have been some problems with some vendors selling arcade controls. There have been a few threads about it on the message board over the past couple of months.I don't want to get into the specifics, but I do want to say that I'm fairly certain all the vendors had and have best intentions. However, the average failure rate of new businesses is around 80%. Anyway, the vendors and and their customers will have to work things out, and I hope things do work out.
Because of this among other things however, BYOAC will no longer post a list of recommended vendors. This doesn't mean I do or don't personally feel comfortable doing business with a particular vendor - but the FAQ will no longer make any such statements.
Feel free to discuss these things on the message board, but please keep it civil.
3/31/00
- From the message board: Control panel and plexi glass for sale.
- HotRod SE on ebay
- Free Laguna Racer cabinet in Jacksonville Florida
- 3 free cabinets in NY
- A.P.B. cabinet in Lancaster, PA
- Two free cabs in north, NJ - will be trashed Saturday
- Message board readers knew about these cabinets days ago thanks to Tom61 :)
There's a new commercial offering called Ultracade. From their web page:"ULTRACADE is a new arcade system that puts multiple classic arcade games in one cabinet and multiple choices in the hands of the players and operators."Sound at all similar to anyone? :) This is a commercial system running a customized PC/OS with VGA monitor for which you can buy licensed game packs (lots of CapCom games so far, some Taito). You cannot put your own games in the system however, it only runs what you buy from the company. Nonetheless very cool. Thanks to Andy for the news :)Michael Bobroski pointed us to this item - there's a commercially available Dreamcast to Jamma arcade interface allowing you to hook your Dreamcast to an arcade machine, with wheel and gun support! $250 not including the Dreamcast. Click on the misc section from their main web page to find it. From their web page:The following games are supported right now,
there will be a new BIOS chip available from time to time.SC-00 THE KING OF FIGHTERS DREAM MATCH 1999
SC-01 DYNAMITE DEKA 2
SC-02 SEGA RALLY 2 (WHEEL)
SC-03 THE HOUSE OF DEAD (GUN)
SC-04 GET BASS (FISH ROD)
SC-05 MARVEL VS CAPCOM
SC-06 PSYCHIC FORCE 2012
SC-07 POWER STONE
SC-08 STREET FIGHTER ZERO 3
SC-09 BUGGY HEAT (WHEEL)
SC-10 SOULCALIBUR
SC-11 SUPER SPEED RACING (WHEEL)
SC-12 VIRTUA FIGHTER 3
SC-13 ZOMBIE REVENGE
SC-14 VIRTUA STRIKER 2 VER. 2000.1
SC-15 STREET FIGHTER 3
SC-16 STREET FIGHTER 3 W IMPACT
SC-17 STAR GLADIATOR 2
SC-18 CRAZY TAXIAndy sent me an email about his latest changes to the I-PAC interface, and it looks great:)Interface for PC to Arcade Controls and it now has a USB interface in addition to a regular keyboard connection. The new version has 28 inputs giving, for example, 2 sticks plus 8 buttons per player plus coin/start buttons. Also two units can be used together giving 55 inputs. Also supports LEDs. All the special MAME features of the original units are there in the form of shift function keys. Read about it updated site:Thanks for the update Andy!More to come of course -- I'm still very far behind on my email, so please don't feel ignored if I haven't answered yet.
3/27/00
There's a free skeeball in Long Island New York - found on rec.games.video.arcade.collecting. Tom61
- Rocket's Place - a just getting started 2-player with trackball cabinet. 123 projects now! Tom61
Check this conversion out - use your PC to run Dragon's Lair 2 off the original laser disc - very cool. Tom61Anyone who gets into collecting arcade cabinets will run into this sooner or later - you find a cabinet that has the back locked and you have no key. How do you get in without doing significant damage? Here's the cure for what ails ya. Tom61Tom (different Tom) sent me this URL for a review of the Home Arcade Twin Shock joystick - a fairly cool looking dual joystick for the PSX that runs $49.99 - add a PSX convertor and you've got a cheap arcade stick for the PC - check it out :)There's a free Taito cabinet up for grabs in New Jersey.
3/26/00
Yep :)Miscellaneous news from the emulation scene you might not have caught...
- Mike Green has added SNESpad support to EmuDX - the number of emus with built in SNESpad support is really building! News pinched from Retrogames :)
- Changes to the latest MAME of interest to us (from the what's new):
- Gun support in Terminator 2. You must use the calibration screen to calibrate the gun. When it asks the shoot the upper left corner, move the mouse towards (0,0), the middle is (128, 128) and the lower right corner is obviously (255, 255). If you have problems, delete hi/term2.hi. [Zsolt Vasvari]
- [DOS] If you are using a HotRod, use the -hotrod / -hotrodse switch to adjust the default keyboard settings. [Nicola Salmoria]
- [DOS] Changed the tweaked VGA modes definitions to be more compatible. It is suggested to delete mame.cfg to get rid of the obsolete tweak parameters. Remember to set tweak = yes after doing so. [Brian Lewis]
- [DOS] The mouse buttons are no longer aliases for joystick buttons, they are independently recognized. They are not enabled by default, you'll have to add them to the controls if you want to. This is a minor annoyance that was needed to allow interfacing a Discs of Tron controller to the mouse port (spinner + up and down switches) while still using joystick buttons 1 and 2 for fire and deflect. [Nicola Salmoria]
- Unified keyboard and joystick interface, now they are all assigned in the "Input" menu and you can mix them at will. Added the possibility to use a multiple keys or joysticks sequence to drive a generic action. This can be handy with consoles or cabinets with a limited number of buttons, to reuse all buttons with only one extra button, like a shift key. For example the COIN1 action can be mapped to the "Player 1 Fire" plus the "Extra Shift Button". It can also be used to map Q*Bert movements to joystick diagonals (since the orginal used a joystick rotate 45 degrees). It is also possible to have OR and NOT sequences. For recording OR key/joy sequences in the key/joy setup menu simply press UI_SELECT (usually ENTER) after the first recorded sequence. Don't press any UI_UP/UI_DOWN/UI_CANCEL keys beetwen the two sequences. To insert a NOT key/joy simply press it two times. The first obvious use for this is to wire button 1 to both the joystick and mouse button. [Andrea Mazzoleni]
- [DOS] -hotrodse selects a more appropriate button configuration when NeoGeo games are played. [Paolo Fiorani]
- The coin/start buttons are slightly changed. Now they are layed out this way:
1,2,3,4 -> start 1,2,3,4
5,6,7,8 -> coin 1,2,3,4
9,0,-,= -> service coin 1,2,3,4- [DOS] The new Allegro provides support for PSX and N64 pads (info here: http://www.debaser.force9.co.uk/ccmame), Gravis GrIP devices, Wingman Warrior and IF-SEGA (Saturn joystick I/F card available in Japan).
- New input type IPT_PEDAL. [Aaron Giles] (!)
- *** WOW *** Enticing news for us :)
- HELP WANTED! - Have you visited the emulation support page? It's a page with a lot of potential value for the arcade controls community, but it's only partially built. Can you fill in any of the holes? Please take a look at the page, and if you can fill in any of the gaps email me. Thanks!
Jafusells a PSX gamepad adapter for the PC for $17 shipped, and has several good feedback comments on his message board about the quality of his cables.I've revamped the table of contents. You can now choose the standard menu, or a new expanded menu with all the sections broken down. The default is the collapsed menu. Also, hovering over the buttons now gives you a line about what the section contains. Please send me feedback on this - does it work better or does it just look hideous? I'd like to avoid java/javascript coding so no drop down menu type of things... Suggestions welcomed!Check out Steve's MacMAME Arcade Experiment - a Macintosh keyboard hack joystick console sporting two joysticks and a bunch of buttons. Always happy to see a Mac project and this is a nice one. This makes 122 projects now!Arcadeconversion is a web site selling full sized arcade cabinet conversions-to-MAME in the $1000 to $2000 price range. I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who has done business with them :)Sooner or later :)
3/25/00
Yep - Tom raised enough tokens for a weekend pass, and I'm taking advantage of it to work on the FAQ :) Next week it's back to my MCSE exams but for now....No, we're not moving, I'm very happy with the service provided by speedhost.com, but we do have a new address now... From now until the FAQ closes it's doors (presumably never), you will be able to find this site at http://www.arcadecontrols.com/! The old address will continue to function as well. While we're on the subject of changes, I'd like to thank and welcome Tom (Tom61) for helping update the FAQ!Chris on the message board posted about a spinner that he is putting together and considering selling. He's got a web site you can see all the details on... It interfaces with the KE72, and looks very promising! If you're interested, please drop Chris a line and give him feedback or drop a note on the message board.Some of these may actually have been up for a while, and I apologize to the authors that it's taken me so long to get this posted. New projects are:This puts us at 121 projects now!
- Axelb's Custom Arcade Joystick - a desktop console with 2 joysticks trimmed with anime artwork.
- Sporty's Comfortable Stick - a Stickhead site! (You have got to visit this page). Click Sporty's link.
- Fuam's portable MAME cabinet - a Stickhead site! Click Fuam's link.
- Jack's Arcade Insanity - very nice full featured arcade cabinet.
- Oghmagod's Arcade Cabinet - a nice 2 stick arcade cabinet built from scratch, with details on how to build your own cabinet.
- UnMAME - an arcade cabinet running various game consoles, but not MAME (yet) :)
New pictures are up of both Chad and Andy's separate MAME cocktail projects :)I've not gotten details yet, but there's a new vendor selling stand alone arcade joysticks (single stick, 4 button) in Australia. I should be getting details shortly, but if you're "down under" and looking for one to buy stay tuned!3/22/00 The dreaded "Real Life" monster has taken him hostage and is demanding 100,000,000 tokens for his safe return... Or, it could be that his wife and his 7 month old baby is taking up quite a bit of his time... (I'm saving up tokens either way)Anyway I (Tom61) am going to be updating now and then, hopefully once a week. I had originally planned to include some tips for finding stuff on ebay, but it didn't show up right on the main page, so look for that comming soon on either this or my page.
1. We (Saint and I) are looking for CGI scripts that would allow me to upload/edit the pages directly.
2. When you tell about your new project page on the message board, please have the word "project" somewhere in the subject, it's helps with catching up.Sommycade/Robotron 3000/Mini Tempest(not sure if all these are new since the last update, but at least one is)
Doodi's cocktail project
Kiddcade's M.A.M.E. Mock-up
Andy S's Cocktail Mame cab.
John & Mads Mame 2K
Tom61's project If I ever update it anyway...
If I've missed any email me at Tom61@Goplay.com2/6/00 The slow pace of updates will probably continue for some time, until the fast pace of life slows down ... I'll try to get timely things up here in small quick updates and leave the bigger projects for when I have more time. Due apologies to anyone waiting on me for anything.Things found around the net:
- 20" arcade monitor - new
- Joystick & Buttons for Arcade Games --used-
- Same as above, second auction
- Same as above, third auction
- 4 NEW HAPP CONTROLS ULTIMATE JOYSICKS NO RES
- NTSC Video to RGB Converter PCB Working! (10 available)
- BRAND NEW RED KNOB JOYSTICK, LEAF SWITCH TYPE
- Same as above, second auction
- Same as above, third auction
- TAITO ARKANOID CONTROLLER SPINNER!!
- UNIVERSAL ARCADE GAME CONTROL PANEL BUTTONS
- COMPLETE JOYSTICK 8-WAY @ BRAND NEW
- Dynamo H-S5 control Panel
- NINTENDO WHITE T MOLDING
- Arkanoid/Tempest SPINNER CONTROL, NOS!
Midnight - I almost didn't post this but someone might be interested in the ebay things above so... :)
1/29/00And the winner is... Logo #6 is the logo we've gone with, thanks to everyone who voted :) You can see all the logos here. The first three folks who voted for the logo, thereby winning the Capcom Coin-Op Classics #1 CD (thanks Hanaho!) are: lextifer, stumpy, and macmichael - congratulations! You've been emailed, when I hear back with your mailing information I'll get those out to you. :)I have 6 more of the Capcom CDs to give away, so I'm looking for ideas on how to do so. Nothing too elaborate, but something related to the FAQ would be nice. :)6 free cabinets about to be tossed on a bonfire next weekend if not rescued, including a sit down cabinet! Read the message, and then if you're near easter Mass and are interested, email the owner!Arcade Solutions is once again taking orders! Excellent news! They are vendors of custom made arcade controls that have to be seen to be believed. Andy Desak, owner, is a regular on the message board and a great guy. He's building a couple more of his monster controllers and will be working on some "step-by-step" instructions as he does it, so look for good things to come in the future! A visit to his site is highly recommended!Added Caveman Joe's Cassette Drawer hack to the stand alone section. This is a PSX pad hack housed in a cassette drawer case that can be used for both PC and PSX games. Very cool :) This makes #111 added to our lists now!Modified the step-by-step guide to be friendlier to folks without frames. If there's anyone out there who can't use frames, I'd be interested to hear how it works for you.Stick-It has a new offering coming down the pipeline soon - it's a very sexy looking curved arcade console, a USB only stick with the same features as the original, including the on-the-fly programmability, but now sporting a spinner! Take a look at the rendered picture on their web page. Availability will be in late April, but they are taking pre-orders now. Cost? $79-$89 :)Speaking of Arcade Solutions - got an email from nate telling me about his web site featuring a custom built arcade controller from Arcade Solutions. It's a two stick, spinner system with leaf joysticks and buttons. The spinner is a kit from TwistyGrip -- Nate's had this controller since October, and has "only now put it down for a few minutes to make a webpage about it." As this is a purchased and not a home-built product, we're not incrementing the count :) Nate's also got a nice guide to video arcades that's worth spending some time on. Thanks Nate! Added to Arcade Solutions's section.Got an email from Bill reminding me that I hadn't posted anything about the ButtonBox (message left on the message board some time ago...). The ButtonBox is a build-it-yourself keyboard encoder with the following features:The web site has hardware instructions, software to program it, and other info related to the encoder. Looks great - thanks for the reminder Bill :) Anyone building this please let me know!
- Can be used in Direct or Matrix mode.
- Up to 27 buttons can be connected in Direct mode.
- Up to 64 buttons can be connected in Matrix mode (8x8 matrix).
- Switch between Direct and Matrix mode "on the fly" (without reboot).
- No "ghosting/masking key" problems in either Direct or Matrix mode.
- Which button sends which keystroke is configurable from the PC using a configuration program (not available yet).
- Any errors encountered in the ButtonBox are displayed on a LED.
- No external power needed, it uses power from the keyboard interface.
Added a link to the technical page and monitor's page for Rockman's PC to Arcade doc that's fairly popular but hard to find.Think I'm finally catching up to normal update intervals... We'll see. Many pages are getting minor or major revamps, between the time sensitive and quick updates. Next on my radar is a separate page for Spinners. I'm also about 1/3 caught up with my backlog of emails, many apologies for anyone who hasn't heard back from me yet (I've only let 255 messages queue up). Stay tuned :)
01/19/00
I think this update's going to be bigIf you haven't been to this page, you've missed out. This is one of the must-visit pages for arcade collecting. Visit it at it's new location.Took the opportunity of a bit of quiet time this weekend to redo something that's bugged me for a while. The links page has been seriously revamped (update on the update - still a work in progress, but I'm posting it anyway), take a look and please let me know what you think. Among other things, added several arcade parts vendors and noted what countries they have offices in (I'm often asked for vendors outside the states). If you know of any I haven't got listed, please let me know.The PC-PSX page is having a sale on their PSX to PC pad convertors. Print out this coupon, then head over to their web site and place your order :) I do not know how long this sale is going to be - see their pricing page for more details and rules.Added RB-Joy, a utility that simulates keypresses or mouse events with a joystick or gamepad, to the links page.A long time ago, I set up a chat room while I was experimenting with things to add to the FAQ. I never publicized it, and recently found the link again. The message board took off more than I ever thought it would, so... who knows? :) Chat room here.Someone in the 716 area code is looking for someone to build a MAME cabinet for them. Interested?Possibly too old, but posting it anyway... Tomm has a free Gorf cabinet in the Dallas area.Well, this update took longer than the last one :) Rather than sit on things forever, I thought I'd put some more of my "slush pile" up for the truly twisted to sort through. This link takes you to the posts that I've pulled out of the message board as I delete messages. These are messages that I felt had enough meat to them to be looked at to see if they should be added in one fashion or another to the FAQ. No format or guarantees...Added The Machine to the cabinets page. This makes #107 -- thanks to Gerald for pointing out that I can't count :)We've joined the Custom Game Controls web ring, linked at the bottom of the page. :)I'll be announcing the winners of the logo contest on my next update, presumably this weekend :) Thanks to everyone who sent in a vote!Couple of blurbs regarding CustomArcade -- the first is that the RetroRadio CD from MonroeWorld is available for sale from CustomArcade's web page. Second, CustomArcade has decided to donate $5.00 from any controller sale to charity. Kudos to them!If you had a link to Moonlight23's internal pages, they probably won't work anymore - the site has moved, though the main page still works and points you to where you need to go...Gack, someone rescue this one before it hits the dump! Dated 1/15, hope it's not too late.Rodney of Patriot fame has put up a site about his latest project, the Butler2000! KE24 interface, removable control panels, uses the new MAME code for shifted key combinations... very well done. This is system #108 to be added!Columbus Ohio, an Asteroids Deluxe headed for the trash heap. Was posted on 1/12, hope it's still there!Again posted originally on 1/12, hope they're still there...Added side by side comparison pictures of the HotRod, Stick-It, and CustomArcade controllers to the alternatives page.Added the Xtreme MAME cabinet to the collection -- features trackball, spinner, and a StarWars controller hack based off Jude's project. Very well done, this makes project #109!Added johnmac's MAME Machine - a keyboard/PowerRamp hack with trackball support as well, very nice! This makes project #110!There's so much more on my to-do list... Emails, bookmarks, and message board threads to add to the FAQ, products to review, pictures to post - I tried to get most of it up tonight, but sleepiness took over... I'm not sure I'll ever catch up :) Stay tuned!01/06/00 Happy New Year!
Yes, at long last my review of my CustomArcade panel #2 is up! Nutshell? Holy cow, what a system!You've no doubt seen the wonderful logo at the top of the main page by now. The logo was created for us by mckechnossomy, whose efforts are very much appreciated! I have posted a page with 14 different takes on the logo, and would like to invite you to take a look and vote for the one you like best. The first 3 people to email me with the one that I ultimately choose will win a copy of the Capcom Coin-Op Classics CD, generously supplied to us by Hanaho!I spent some time and seriously revamped the alternatives page. Added CustomArcade, Arcade2000, and a variety of other vendors. Put in a chart comparing all the arcade console products at a glance. Updated some bad links.Added a couple of reviews to the review page, Atila's HotRod SE review, and Prophet's ArcadePC review.Minor updates to links page. Added a local mirror of the missing MAME Cocktail Project. This project is being resumed so will be replaced with it's proper link soon.LaserRot's Arcade Cabinet has had a fairly big update with *lots* of pictures and some more information - stop on by to see what's new!Onion sent me an email with news of his MAME project... It's a 4 player arcade cabinet using a Hagstrom KE72T interface as the brains. The controls include a trackball as well as the buttons and joysticks for four players. The web site is still a work in progress, but there are pictures up and more to come. Thanks Onion! This makes 106 projects now!There's been a lot more to talk about than made it into this update. Due to Y2K, holidays, and family, the FAQ took a major back burner seat until today. I've simply run out of time, but there's much more coming. A very big thankyou to the folks on the message board keeping everyone up to date with recent news. More to come, stay tuned!12/xx/99 PC-Arcade, the stand-alone arcade console vendor, appears to have disappeared. Anyone have any information on them?12/20/99 Yes! Yes! Yes! My CustomArcade arrived, and *WOW* -- review coming after I stop playing... Don't hold your breath! :)I-PAC has a new home, and due to some savings in shipping and such, can now be had for $49! The I-PAC is an arcade controls interface that will be reviewed here shortly :)OK - so it was a person who set the record, but they were using a CustomArcade controller :) From CustomArcade...Ron Corcoran of Snipercade has set a NEW World Record for Bosconion using our CustomArcade Controller!! Head over to Mark Longridge's site. Congratulations Ron!!Added B.A.C. (Build My Own Arcade Cabinet) project to the examples page. This is a just-getting-started build-from-scratch Dutch cabinet. This is #104 on our list now!Added the following two depressing links to the manifesto page - most of you will have seen these already, they're not new.*Finally* added Gerald Gorman's cabinet to our collection, and it's quite a project! A very nice rotating monitor, custom designed artwork, PowerRamp and gamepad hack, definitely a must-see :) This is project #105 on the list now!ArcadeOS has been updated to version 2.33. Some of the highlights include:
- Added user definable 'Shift' functions. For each emu you can now have 6 'shift functions' - these are triggered by holding down 'Start 1' and pressing one of the (3) player1 or (3) player2 buttons. This lets you access an emulators 'extended' functions (Pause,UI,config etc.) from a standard JAMMA setup.
- Keys to remap can now be set per game
- Added PSX pad support(!)
An interesting bit in the newest MAME release - from the what's new file ...Added the possibility to use a multiple keys or joysticks sequence to drive a generic action. This can be handy with consoles or cabinets with a limited number of buttons, to reuse all buttons with only one extra button, like a shift key. For example the COIN1 action can be mapped to the "Player 1 Fire" plus the "Extra Shift Button". It can also be used to map Q*Bert movements to joystick diagonals (since the orginal used a joystick rotate 45 degrees). [Andrea Mazzoleni]There's a thread on the message board about this new feature.Don't forget there are several places you can win arcade consoles these days - a roundup of the ones I know of (anyone have more? Let me know!)
- SniperCade's MAME Deca2000 contest - a picture of the prize can be found here :) Prize from CustomArcade.
- MonroeWorld's Classic Gaming Gauntlet begins tomorrow - prizes from CustomArcade and Stick-It
- JoseQ's Emuviews regular HotRod giveaway will be drawn on Christmas day this month, there will be 11 winners (1 HotRod, 10 CDs)
Ugh - there's more to come, but this is the third day I've tried to finish this update and if I don't upload it soon it'll get moldy :) Stay tuned! Could... could it be... a giveaway from BYOAC? Hmmmm...12/15/99 Found around the net . . .
- Donkey Kong Nintendo T Moulding White New
- FREE: Nintendo Vs. Dual cabinet (NY)
- FREE cabinets - Minnesota
- Free Gyruss Cabinet in Southern PA
- cocktail for FREE! (PA)
- Atari Space Lords joystick *like new*
- WICO Joystick NEW!!
- Used video game buttons....
- Video game parts junk box...
- Roller ball, Track ball for arcade video game
My vacation from work begins Saturday, and until then I'm up to my elbows in things at work, hence the dearth of updates. Stay tuned, update probably Saturday or Sunday, a few new projects, maybe a review or two depending on the post office!12/10/99 Happy Channukah!
From: James S. Bright
Topic: FREE: Cabinet in Philly, PA
Sent: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 22:17:57 -0500I have an empty Q*Bert cabinet that you can have for free. It still does have the monitor and the power supply. Everything else is pretty much gone. The side art is in very bad shape, and there is some water damage to the cabinet. It would be best suited for a MAME machine, but it could be restored if you put enough effort into it. First person that can show up to pick it up gets it. I'll be around most of Saturday (tomorrow) and Sunday. I'd like to get it out of the basement this weekend if possible.
12/9/99 Andy Warne's I-PAC (Interface for PC to Arcade Controls) is now available! "The I-PAC is a small board which allows connection of arcade controls such as buttons and joysticks to a keyboard port on a PC motherboard. It was designed to use inside an arcade games cabinet with the PC board also mounted inside. It was designed so that a normal keyboard would only be needed for game loading and configuration, not for gameplay." I was lucky enough to get my hands on one of Andy's I-PAC's, which I unfortunately haven't been able to hook up yet. Over the holiday break I'm going to build a test rig, and the I-PAC will be the first interface I test with it :) In a nutshell, it's a $56 non-programmable interface designed around the MAME standard - $56 includes shipping and cable, and looks to be an excellent choice! The web page is temporary until Andy can get a permanent site up.Andy G's updated OptiMAME to be in synch with MAME V36 beta 11. Also included, his take on a generic 15khz driver is back, supporting triple buffering, 256 height games (SmashTV, Terminator 2, R-Types, use Page-Up and Page-Down to center the screen) as well as all the other OptiMAME enhancements.am sent me an email indicating "Another victim of your site!" :) am's cabinet uses a 21-inch TV with SCART RGB input, using Tom Engdahl's VGA to TV converter circuit. This is a keyboard hack project, with some permanent and some swappable controls. Interesting approach, and well worth a visit. This makes 103 projects now! :)The Capcom Coin-Op Classics CD promised with purchase of a HotRod including the legal Capcom roms and a customized version of MAME32 is now shipping from Hanaho! There's a bit of a backlog, so it may be a while before the CD catches up to everyone.What? Pole Position with a joystick or keyboard isn't cutting it? Someone might have the cure for what ails ya coming soon ... :) Ask me no questions I'll tell you no lies, but this weekend might have some good news! :)
- Crystal Castles cabinet /w jamma harness & power supply 10$(or free w/o pwr supply). I'm in Irving, Tx. Come and get it,or I'll have to break it up over the weekend. Jeff Hewitt
- Happ Controls Airplane Joystick
- An interesting item... NINTENDO SUPER SYSTEM ARCADE
- Crystal Castles Trackball assembly
- RocketCADE is selling some components - a Hagstrom LP24 (slightly-used) and a HappControls serial trackball interface
- Free cabinet:
From: Teaganm
Topic: FREE: Asteroids Cabinet in Connecticut
Sent: Thu, 9 Dec 1999 18:13:56 -0500
Free Asteroids cabinet. Just the stripped cab. Must be picked up by next week or it turns to firewood. Email teaganm@yahoo.com for details.You might have noticed the pace of updates slowing a tad - it's the holidays and end of year catching up with me. I'm a computer geek by trade, and last minute end-of-year activity at work is eating into my spare time :) Good news however is that my private email address that I use to correspond with people is finally stable again.(!) Also, a couple of folks have sent me stuff that I need to convert to HTML before I can post it, which will be a small bit before I have the time. Look for Gerald's arcade cabinet, and some good advice from Scott on monitor adjustment. Gah, 106 messages in my "arcade FAQ" folder to sort through! More to come!
12/7/99 Happy Channukah!
Andy Warne's I-PAC (Interface for PC to Arcade Controls) is now available! "The I-PAC is a small board which allows connection of arcade controls such as buttons and joysticks to a keyboard port on a PC motherboard. It was designed to use inside an arcade games cabinet with the PC board also mounted inside. It was designed so that a normal keyboard would only be needed for game loading and configuration, not for gameplay." I was lucky enough to get my hands on one of Andy's I-PAC's, which I unfortunately haven't been able to hook up yet. Over the holiday break I'm going to build a test rig, and the I-PAC will be the first interface I test with it :) In a nutshell, it's a $56 non-programmable interface designed around the MAME standard - $56 includes shipping and cable, and looks to be an excellent choice! The web page is temporary until Andy can get a permanent site up.Andy G's updated OptiMAME to be in synch with MAME V36 beta 11. Also included his take on a generic 15khz driver is back, supporting triple buffering, 256 height games (SmashTV, Terminator 2, R-Types, use Page-Up and Page-Down to center the screen) as well as all the other OptiMAME enhancements.am sent me an email indicating "Another victim of your site!" :) am's cabinet uses a 21-inch TV with SCART RGB input, using Tom Engdahl's VGA to TV converter circuit. This is a keyboard hack project, with some permanent and some swappable controls. Interesting approach, and well worth a visit. This makes 103 projects now! :)The Capcom Coin-Op Classics CD promised with purchase of a HotRod including the legal Capcom roms and a customized version of MAME32 is now shipping from Hanaho! There's a bit of a backlog, so it may be a while before the CD catches up to everyone.What? Pole Position with a joystick or keyboard isn't cutting it? Someone might have the
