OLD
CHANGE HISTORY
7/28/99
OLD
CHANGE HISTORY
7/28/99
I'm wounded!
Ok - so it's just a strained wrist. Tried to catch a falling computer one handed. I'd planned to have some more updates including at least one new project online today, but it'll have to wait a day or two. Meanwhile, I've begun a little bit of the step-by-step guide (which many of you noticed on the bottom of the contents frame). Added the beginning of the first part today. It's going to be a work in progress for a while yet.
7/27/99
Ok - so it's a small bit of fame, but it's my first interview :) Kinox - the Emu Scene - has interviewed yours truly. My 15 minute of fame can be found here. (Oh yes they also interviewed Richard Ragon of HotRod fame, which will be a good read after you read mine of course :)).
Got an email from Chris with his arcade joystick for the Mac. It's a slick gamepad hack in a plexiglass box, and some nice pictures. Added to the examples page. Thanks Chris! This brings us to 64 projects!
Chris's page referenced a project I didn't have listed, so now it is :) Paul's Arcade Controls is a very thorough guide to how he created his Mac Arcade Control panel. Thanks again Chris :) Now up to 65 projects!
Several months ago, macgyv sent me updated pictures of his joystick panels that look great. Better late than never, you can find them on his updated page. :) Thanks macgyv!
As you can see over on the left, I've begun work on a step by step guide :) Nothing there but the empty pages so far, but you can tell where I'm going by the names of the pages. Comments welcomed.
(There will probably be further updates this evening)
Stephan's page isn't loading these days, but if you go to this alternate address it works.There's been a lot of discussion on the message board recently on interfacing multiple spinners. There's also been a couple of folks wondering if you could do it with a keyboard interface to allow multi-player spinner games. I'd like to direct the more technically inclined to Stephan's write-up of exactly this topic. It's a fairly complicated beastie, be warned. Anyone want to give it a go and summarize it for the layman?SNESKEY is an interface for hooking up a variety of game console controllers via the parallel port. Shortly before SNESKEY went quiet, Benji added support for arcade controls to the driver. He indicated he'd be adding the documentation when he could, but then seemingly disappeared. Accordingly, I've put up a page with that information as best as could be gathered. The three folks who sent me the information (Benji himself, Louie, Amos) have helped put together what I think is an accurate picture of how it works. Thanks you three!More to come of course :) I slugged through about 100 backlogged emails and answered most of them. This has given me many things to update for the FAQ. Look for a new section shortly, and maybe a surprise or two :)
Got an interesting email from Arcade Solutions - They will be at the Classic Gaming Expo in Las Vegas on August 14th and 15th, for the debut of the Arcade 2000!
The Arcade 2000 is a full sized arcade cabinet with 19" SVGA monitor, stereo speaker system, 2 8-way arcade sticks, 1 4-way stick, spinner, trackball, a gob of buttons, and a flip down gas pedal and mountable steering wheel! I want one! There are some big plans for additional tweaks, can't wait to see them.
The cabinet is a joint production of Arcade Solutions and Arcade 2000 Inc. The Arcade 2000 will be running Hasbro Interactive's Atari Arcade Hits #1 sent to them early by Hasbro just for this occasion.
The photo above is a prototype of the control panel for the cabinet. If you're going to be in Vegas on August 14th/15th, stop on by and visit Andy and Jeff :)
Things are still in the early stages regarding a web presence and such, but for a sneak preview of the full press release (and there's more to read there) visit the Arcade Solutions preview of the Arcade 2000. Next, head over to the still-in-development official Arcade 2000 page. Got a suggestion or comment? Email the Arcade 2000 team.
Been to the message board lately? If not, you're missing out on some excellent discussions. Some recent highlites include:Often, things on the message board end up being permanent features of the FAQ (such as the $20 PowerRamp mini-review - courtesy spazzman) - but often not until days or weeks have gone by. Want to keep up on the latest, or better yet, have something to contribute? Drop in on the message board! (/end-of-spiel :))
- Wingman Warrior's available for $22! Quantities are seriously limited, so buy now if you want one. -- Courtesy Tom61!
- The VGA-TV project is alive and well, and there's a message about some cards that have been tried with the latest driver. -- Courtesy A.Geezer!
- A discussion on multiple spinners, USB interfaces, various finishing techniques (1 & 2), and more!
A couple of people have been concerned about delays in receipt of their HotRods. Note - people have received HotRods, just a few people have complained about delays. I asked HotRod about it, and here's their response:We are very sorry about the delay in the delivery of the HotRod Joystick. In a last minute decision we decided to alter the Joystick a very small bit, and include the ability for our customers to get into the HotRod cabinet to service the inside.In my opinion, good news indeed! :) My beta-HotRod is openable, and I'm always more in favor of an open system than a closed one.Previously we had sealed up the HotRod controller with staples so that you could not get into the units. This decision came down at the very last minute, effective immediately, and we actually opened up all of the boxes in our warehouse that were on there way to destinations. This effected the delivery dates for a lot of customers currently awaiting delivery of the Joystick.
The good news to this is that you can now be allowed into the bottom of the HotRod without voiding the warranty, because of this modification. This allows items like switch replacements, some tweaks and adjustments, and even some repairs depending on how rough you are with the Joystick! :)
We have fully completed this new modification now, and the joysticks will resume shipping first thing Monday morning full speed ahead.
Brian sent in his writeup of his arcade joystick for all to see. Yet again, I sit back and go "wow, there are some really talented people out there." Brian's joystick features two joysticks, trackball, and the first spinner I've heard of built using Twisty Grip's build your own instructions! It's a great piece of work, and is inspiring me to get off my hiney and finally build something myself. Thanks Brian! This makes 62 projects now, not including 2 MIA's! :)Tony has put up a page with his homebuilt arcade joystick. It uses a cheap gamepad from BestBuys, and the Happ Ultimate joystick. That makes 61 projects now :)A while ago, Michael sent me a PDF (Adobe Acrobat) version of the TwistyGrip build-your-own spinner instructions. TwistyGrip gave me the go-ahead to post it, so it's added to the files section. Thanks Michael & TwistyGrip!Added Rocketcade - the ultimate MAME machine to the arcade cabinets section. Rocketcade will use a Hagstrom LP24 encoder and will feature a rotatable cabinet. It's very much a work in progress but looks very promising. That makes 60 projects :)Heard back from the Audon folks about their keyboard encoder. I asked them about ghosting problems - their response:Ghosting - the kbe-1 does not suffer from any ghosting problems. It also has a 16 key buffer, so that upto 16 keys can be pressed at the sameThey indicated they also will ship to the US for UK £12. If anyone uses this encoder I'd love to hear feedback :) Added to inputs page.
time, and each key code will be sent to the PC sequentially.Vetra Systems has a whole range of keyboard encoders available with a variety of capabilities. They have the SmartWye series (non-programmable) ranging from $50 to $130, the SoftWye series (programmable) for $99, and good news for Mac folks, the McEncoder series for $90. Feedback from anyone dealing with them welcome! Added to inputs page.Vetra Systems also sells keyboard and ps/2 splitters, for an insane amount of money - ranging from $180 to $300+. Added to inputs page.
Same as the 13th. News here, rest of the pages updated later :)Going to be in LA this weekend? HotRod will be at the LA computer show in booth #760 building 4, LA Pomona Fairgrounds on Saturday July 17th and Sunday the 18th. If you're in the area, stop on by!Tristar is back at a new ISP, same URL. They've got an improved Same as the 13th. They're one of the vendors of the Smart Joydapter, N64 & PSX adapter for the PC. There's also a separate link to what they're calling the PC Smart Joydapter. I don't know if it's a separate product or not. They're saying there's an update to the product, with added USB port functionality, and over 20 buttons(?) supported. This means all the buttons will work. Anyone who ordered the older version can get the newer version free of charge! No word on force feedback/rumble pack, which makes the build your own version still superior :)Check out Doug's Arcade Center! It includes a removable force-feedback steering wheel, network connection and TV out option, a custom front end that he's made available for download (still beta), other cool features and a psychedlic bezel and marquee :) Definitly an inspiration for my project!My site is not about emulation. The game/arcade controls we build work just as well with Doom as with MAME. However, I do have an interest in emulation as do many visitors here. I have written an open letter to Sony in small hopes that it will encourage Sony to understand that emulation can financially benefit them.Lunch break, more coming today hopefully, including more projects from other people, more keyboard encoder news, and ...? Probably be up by this evening.
Going to do a somewhat wimpy update today, with a news only update. Sub-pages will be udpated shortly (weekend probably)Got an email from MercCat's Game Room. It's a new site with an emu cabinet, restoration section, and more :) Welcome to this loony club MercCat!Thinking of using the PowerRamp as the basis of an arcade project, or even as a standalone joystick? Normally $39.99, they're on sale now for $19.95! Buy 2! Buy 3! Thanks to Steve for the update! :)Looking for one of the several Y-mouse and related adapters from P.I. Engineering in the UK? Check out Steadland's International, who have passed on their pricing to me:GBP = Great British Pounds Sterling, but if you're in the UK you probably knew that :) Prices include shipping, discounts for volume, shipping to rest of Europe slightly higher.
- Mouse adaptors GBP46.70 + VAT
(WHYM-0001 Dual Serial and WHYM-0002 Dual PS/2)- Keyboard adaptors GBP46.70 + VAT
(WHYM-0004 Y-Key Key)- Monitor adaptors GBP65.00+ VAT
(WHYM-0006 Y-See Two)The new message board looks solid, please use it (it's the default board when you hit the message board link) for all new messages. I ported over most of the threads from the past several days that looked like they might still have some life to them. The funky spacing is not the script's fault, it's mine - I keep tweaking it trying to get it to add one line of white space after each thread, but it looks like the whole script may have to be re-written for that, so don't expect it anytime soon. :)Got an email from Audon Electronics - they have available the KBE-1 Keyboard Encoder. It's a non-programmable keyboard encoder with a keyboard passthrough, 102 keys in a 16 x 8 matrix. Think of it as a keyboard hack, with the matrix already set out for you and a keyboard pass through meaning no need for a keyboard splitter! UK 54 pounds. I don't know yet if they ship to the US.The Wall Street Journal did an article on the recent retro-gaming trend and arcade cabinet collecting. Check it out here.I have a bunch of email *still* to go through, and apologize to anyone who hasn't gotten a response from me yet. I answer all email I get, albeit not always very fast :) More to come soon . . .
Changed the inputs page to the interfaces page. Did some minor revamping, then added a new section on y-adapters. Information on splitting the serial port, keyboard port, PS/2 port, and connecting PS/2 devices to the USB port. This last has some interesting possibilities for people wanting hot-swappable arcade controls. Done with your trackball? Swap it out for the spinner, without having to power on/off (which you'd have to do if you were using a PS/2 port). There's also a PS/2 to iMac usb port, allowing Mac folks to use PC PS/2 input devices!Brent Geery of RetroStik fame sent me an email a while ago, about a problem he encountered with a keyboard hack. Read the full details, but the gist is that the LEDs on the keyboard hack were dropping the voltage causing problems in some situations. Removing the LEDs solved his problem. Thanks Brent!Fixed Retrocactus' URL and name (was listed as Plastic Cactus). Added Steve's page with his stand alone control panel and his plans for an incredible arcade cabinet.
Got Lance Taylor's MAME Machine address thanks to Glenise and NYLatenite. :) Lance has a second project beginning!Added links to three more HotRod reviews on the reviews page. All positive reviews so far :)
Thanks to those of you who responded with message board and link checking information, I much appreciate it. A very big thanks to Alex for his help! He pointed me to a freeware link checker called Xenu and it is exactly what I'm looking for. I'll be spending the rest of the evening fixing bad links it looks like, there's a ton :) Please note bad links on the changes history page won't be fixed. The report Xenu generates could not make it simpler to track down problems - highly recommended to any web page author. Big thanks Alex!Tristar64, one of the vendors of the joydapter, as well as other Nintendo accessories, is refusing all web access now. Either I've been banned :) or they're down.In case you haven't seen it elsewhere, check out this picture of a stack of HotRod's being prepared for shipping :) Now, what happens if you play with the URL a little bit? :)I'm hoping someone out there can help me find some of these missing links... If they don't surface, I have old mirrors of some of them I will put up, unless I hear from the author that they don't want me to. I'm looking for (old links listed):
- Bilder's Arcade Machine
- Digital Museum for Arcade Cabinet Design and Artwork
- Lance Taylor's MAME Machine
- Pete's Game Haven
- More to come as I slough through the list of bad links :)
Got an email from Simon Nield that pre-programmed chips to interface N64 and PSX controllers to your USB port are now available from FineFaze! You'll need to build the circuit still (which has been slightly modified in case you've already built it), and use the driver from FineFaze :) FineFaze is considering selling fully made interfaces, but needs to know if the interest is there first. Email them if you're interested. The chip costs £15 (pounds sterling?) including world wide shipping, and they'll accept international money orders. Windows 98 support only for now. Check out both the above links for full details. Anyone who does this let me know how it works!163 emails in my "Arcade Faq sort pile" and a bunch of links to poke around in. More to come!
I heard back from DoubleSpace about the Universal Arcade Interface. They are expecting to have prices and pictures up in a week or so.Six new arcade projects added to our lists :)This brings us up to 57 linked projects! (56 if you don't count Jason's Arcade which I still haven't re-located)
- LaserRot's MAME machine - a Berzerk cabinet hack, with an interesting twist with a front vertical panel for easy access.
- Wouter's arcade machine - a beginning project but worth a visit. This one located in South Africa. He's found a local source for components if anyone else in those parts wants to give it a whirl.
- Empyre's Emulation Cabinet - another beginning project, located in England, done in an Electrocoin cabinet. Nicely done web site.
- Brent's Consolecade - a slightly different twist, this project is an Atari 2600/Colecovision cabinet!
- NYLatenite's Gamer's Paradise - Tripod's giving me coniptions so I can't tell you too much right now, but they have a nice step by step guide in the works.
- Breaktime's Arcade PC - a Neo Geo cabinet conversion from Killraven, a regular on our message board :)
Brian has done for System 16 what he did for MAME - Check out cabSystem16!A brief update on the HotRod page tells us that they are now shipping orders on a first come first serve basis - from the amount of orders, looks like they'll be putting in some long hours :) Feedback from anyone getting one is welcomed.A couple of you have written in with some bad/incorrect links, and I sure appreciate it. I'll be squishing those ASAP. The number of links on this site is prohibitive to keep track of manually any more. Does anyone know of a good free or cheap link checker I could use? Please let me know.
Check this out! Got an email from DoubleSpace to come see their new product - from the web page:The Universal Arcade Interface connects a PC to a an Arcade Cabinet. The interface is a simple "Plug And Play" device with an upgradable microprocessor for future developments! With the Universal Arcade Interface anybody can play all their favorite games in one cabinet. What's the point of recreating Arcade Games on a PC using a keyboard or joypad when you can play them all on your own Arcade Cabinet? Get real here - emulated games are about the look and feel of the game and the only way to do that easily is using our interface. You can even run extension cables out your arcade machine and plug your computer in externally and with a monitor and keyboard splitter you can leave your PC connected up and use your cabinet as a big Joystick at the flick of a switch… MAME or CALLUS never looked so good!The system emulates key presses, and claims to have none of the ghosting problem inherent with keyboard hacks. As far as video, you have to use the NTSC or similar option of your emulator/game, or the optional (read that as more money) sync convertor. Read full details on their web site. I'd love to hear feedback/opinions on this from everyone!Home page - Direct link to the Universal Arcade Interface
