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Cool,arcade controller project on Kickstarter
#316502 - 10/28/13 09:36 PM
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DMala |
Sleep is overrated
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Re: Cool,arcade controller project on Kickstarter
[Re: jmarsh]
#316515 - 10/29/13 04:00 AM
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> Check out the arcade controller this guy has come up with. I got in as an early > adopter and can't be more excited to see this in production! > > http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2034467396/howler-arcade-controller > > First time posting here so hopefully I got the right forum...Had to share!
Not trying to be negative, I'm genuinely curious... is the only difference between this and something like an I-PAC or a Keywiz the LED support? Don't get me wrong, it's a cool idea and all, but I can't see myself building a cab where the buttons all light up like a Christmas tree.
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Re: Cool,arcade controller project on Kickstarter
[Re: jmarsh]
#316516 - 10/29/13 04:00 AM
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Hmmm... seems cool, but it's way too expensive for just a mainboard/do-it-yourself project. I'd rather back a full controller. My best investment ever was the xarcade upgrade kit for my hotrod. I only wish it had come with 2 arcade buttons and a smaller button (to place it in program mode.
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Re: Cool,arcade controller project on Kickstarter
[Re: URherenow]
#316524 - 10/29/13 11:13 AM
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It is not hard to build your own controllers using a MiniPac. Here's the ones i made a few months ago:
(the previous one with a wheel in place of the spinner knob)
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they look great. nice work!! [nt]
[Re: Geoman]
#316525 - 10/29/13 12:48 PM
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> It is not hard to build your own controllers using a MiniPac. Here's the ones i made > a few months ago: > > > (the previous one with a wheel in place of the spinner knob)
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R. Belmont |
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Re: Cool,arcade controller project on Kickstarter
[Re: DMala]
#316527 - 10/29/13 04:32 PM
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> Not trying to be negative, I'm genuinely curious... is the only difference between > this and something like an I-PAC or a Keywiz the LED support? Don't get me wrong, > it's a cool idea and all, but I can't see myself building a cab where the buttons all > light up like a Christmas tree.
In conjunction with a compatible front end and maybe a derivative MAME build there's a lot you can do with that, like only lighting up buttons that are active for a given game. That would really improve usability of some of the denser panels I've seen
And of course, additional competition never hurt any product category.
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CptGuapo |
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Re: Cool,arcade controller project on Kickstarter
[Re: Geoman]
#316528 - 10/29/13 05:22 PM
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Hey, very nice ones, Geoman! Very creative.
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"Mythology is what grownups believe, folklore is what they tell children and religion is both."
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DMala |
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Re: Cool,arcade controller project on Kickstarter
[Re: Geoman]
#316529 - 10/29/13 05:36 PM
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Nice! What is the box made from on those? It doesn't look like wood.
I've had plans for forever to build a little stick like that, with just a dedicated 4-way, a spinner, and a few buttons. Someday I'll even get around to actually doing it.
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Re: Cool,arcade controller project on Kickstarter
[Re: R. Belmont]
#316530 - 10/29/13 06:00 PM
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> > Not trying to be negative, I'm genuinely curious... is the only difference between > > this and something like an I-PAC or a Keywiz the LED support? Don't get me wrong, > > it's a cool idea and all, but I can't see myself building a cab where the buttons > all > > light up like a Christmas tree. > > In conjunction with a compatible front end and maybe a derivative MAME build there's > a lot you can do with that, like only lighting up buttons that are active for a given > game. That would really improve usability of some of the denser panels I've seen > > And of course, additional competition never hurt any product category.
You can already do this with a combo of something like and iPac, LEDWiz and LEDBlinky, but what this guy is trying to do is combine all of that into one product at a much lower price point. For someone like me who is going down that road with my cabinet, it's pretty attractive. The only question will be quality and feature set when it's released.
And yes competition is always good.
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Re: Cool,arcade controller project on Kickstarter
[Re: DMala]
#316531 - 10/29/13 06:21 PM
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Re: Cool,arcade controller project on Kickstarter
[Re: vitaflo]
#316533 - 10/29/13 06:25 PM
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> > > Not trying to be negative, I'm genuinely curious... is the only difference > between > > > this and something like an I-PAC or a Keywiz the LED support? Don't get me wrong, > > > it's a cool idea and all, but I can't see myself building a cab where the buttons > > all > > > light up like a Christmas tree. > > > > In conjunction with a compatible front end and maybe a derivative MAME build > there's > > a lot you can do with that, like only lighting up buttons that are active for a > given > > game. That would really improve usability of some of the denser panels I've seen > > > > And of course, additional competition never hurt any product category. > > You can already do this with a combo of something like and iPac, LEDWiz and > LEDBlinky, but what this guy is trying to do is combine all of that into one product > at a much lower price point. For someone like me who is going down that road with my > cabinet, it's pretty attractive. The only question will be quality and feature set > when it's released. > > And yes competition is always good.
I'm not trying to be a jerk here, but the ipac and all of those devices are kind of over-priced in this day and age. They weren't when they came out, but now you can buy a generic avr board for around 20 dollars. Considering this thing is coming out now, and it retails for 95 bucks, it is waaaaaay overpriced. You'll notice that both Andy and Randy are now offering low-cost boards in response to this.
I actually looked into making a commercially viable product and determined that pre-made avrs are so cheap now it doesn't make any sense as short run batches cost considerably more.
Example:
Get a teensy, they are 16 bucks. Now program it to show up as a mouse, keyboard, joystick or all three and configure the pins to your liking. Ok in terms of inputs you are done.
Not enough inputs? Buy another teensy... they are only 16 bucks afterall.
Want a rgb driver? Buy another teensy!
Yeah that's a lot of teensys but keep in mind this thing is retailing for 95 bucks. You can get 6 teensys for that and if you need more than 6 you need to scale back your control panel.
I'm not endorsing the Teensy btw, it's just the first low-cost avr that popped into my head.
I don't really understand the high cost of the board tbh... he's using solid state chips, which are hard to solder and therefore add expense. Why? Space definitely is NOT a factor in our hobby and the old school gigantic avr chips can be had for a couple bucks a pop these days.
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Re: Cool,arcade controller project on Kickstarter
[Re: URherenow]
#316536 - 10/29/13 09:17 PM
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> Hmmm... seems cool, but it's way too expensive for just a mainboard/do-it-yourself > project. I'd rather back a full controller. My best investment ever was the xarcade > upgrade kit for my hotrod. I only wish it had come with 2 arcade buttons and a > smaller button (to place it in program mode.
So that xarcade upgrade kit is worth the price...? my poor 'PS/2' hotrod SE is in a corner at my home, getting dust, and I'd love to give it a 2nd life
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Re: Cool,arcade controller project on Kickstarter
[Re: MAMu_]
#316538 - 10/29/13 10:12 PM
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> So that xarcade upgrade kit is worth the price...?
It absolutely is worth it. Easy to install and extended the life of my HotRod SE when I obtained my i7 replacing a very dated P4.
The HotRod SE still works as good as the day I bought it - Well over a decade ago.
It works perfectly under Windows 7 32 and 64-bit via USB.
See my post here from a couple of years ago respecting the upgrade: http://www.mameworld.info/ubbthreads/sho...part=1&vc=1
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Re: Cool,arcade controller project on Kickstarter
[Re: HowardC]
#316541 - 10/29/13 11:03 PM
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> I don't really understand the high cost of the board tbh... he's using solid state > chips, which are hard to solder and therefore add expense. Why? Space definitely is > NOT a factor in our hobby and the old school gigantic avr chips can be had for a > couple bucks a pop these days.
lol considering the alternative to solid state is thermionic valves, I think solid state is a good choice
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R. Belmont |
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Re: Cool,arcade controller project on Kickstarter
[Re: Vas Crabb]
#316543 - 10/29/13 11:31 PM
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> lol considering the alternative to solid state is thermionic valves, I think solid > state is a good choice
Yeah, but a cabinet interface with 12AX7s would sound *way* better.
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Is there a similar US control panel product being made?.......
[Re: Geoman]
#316547 - 10/30/13 12:50 AM
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Re: Cool,arcade controller project on Kickstarter
[Re: R. Belmont]
#316548 - 10/30/13 12:51 AM
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> > lol considering the alternative to solid state is thermionic valves, I think solid > > state is a good choice > > Yeah, but a cabinet interface with 12AX7s would sound *way* better.
Depends how burly you want it to sound. I would prefer an as-yet-unknown-to-me, and perhaps non-conceived, design that generates only only non-crap harmonics.
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Re: Cool,arcade controller project on Kickstarter
[Re: R. Belmont]
#316549 - 10/30/13 01:48 AM
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> > lol considering the alternative to solid state is thermionic valves, I think solid > > state is a good choice > > Yeah, but a cabinet interface with 12AX7s would sound *way* better.
And he is right - soldering in a little BC337 is far more fiddly than a 12AX7.
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Re: Cool,arcade controller project on Kickstarter
[Re: Trebor]
#316552 - 10/30/13 03:26 AM
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Seconded.
My only complaints with the kit are:
1) a couple of the wires were too short (call it a defect in the particular kit I recieved) but I had some wire laying around to splice it.
2) It's wired for more buttons than a HotRod SE has, but doesn't come with extra buttons.
3) Along the lines of #2, there is another set of wires that just hang around in there now because a button for them wasn't included. This is for putting the x-arcade board into program mode. It does have plastic covers over the connectors so I just slide those back and tap the wires together myself when I find the need to use that feature.
USB!!! not needing an old keyboard attached to use it is heaven. You only need to attach a keyboard when programming the keys in the other modes (there is a mode that can't be changed, that uses standard MAME keys, and a couple (3?) modes that you can program to whatever keys you want).
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Re: Cool,arcade controller project on Kickstarter
[Re: HowardC]
#316556 - 10/30/13 06:51 AM
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Hey guys, I'm Josh, the creator of the Howler Arcade Controller Kickstarter project.
I don't think you are being a jerk for questioning the price of the boards. That is what I did when I wanted to build an arcade a few months back and found it would be over $250 for the joystick controllers, optipac controllers and RGB LED drivers. That is why I made my boards.
I am not developing them to make money, the market is so small I would be a moron to think I could make money at it. I made the original and posted it on some arcade forums and people asked if they could buy one so I started the kickstarter project.
In reality, for the quantity 100-200(if I am lucky) boards that will come out of this funding it will probably cost around $75-$85 dollars to have made in such low quantities. That doesn't include shipping or packaging or the power supply or USB cable. It obviously does not count the 100s of hours I have put into it either. I am just doing it because I am a nerd and I love this shit. The same reason that mame or hyperspin or gamex or LEDBlinky exist. I donated to the hyperspin community and some of their members have backed my project.
I just think it is awesome that we have these great communities of nerds like myself so I can go back to being a kid again, fighting my buddy to be Michaelangelo on the TMNT arcade machine or beating his ass in Virtua Fighter. My 5 year old nephew came to visit and I was playing duck hunt with him and he couldn't stop talking about it for weeks after. That is why I made this project.
Thanks,
Josh
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Re: Cool,arcade controller project on Kickstarter
[Re: engg100]
#316767 - 11/02/13 09:30 PM
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> Hey guys, I'm Josh, the creator of the Howler Arcade Controller Kickstarter project. > > I don't think you are being a jerk for questioning the price of the boards. That is > what I did when I wanted to build an arcade a few months back and found it would be > over $250 for the joystick controllers, optipac controllers and RGB LED drivers. That > is why I made my boards. > > I am not developing them to make money, the market is so small I would be a moron to > think I could make money at it. I made the original and posted it on some arcade > forums and people asked if they could buy one so I started the kickstarter project. > > In reality, for the quantity 100-200(if I am lucky) boards that will come out of this > funding it will probably cost around $75-$85 dollars to have made in such low > quantities. That doesn't include shipping or packaging or the power supply or USB > cable. It obviously does not count the 100s of hours I have put into it either. I am > just doing it because I am a nerd and I love this shit. The same reason that mame or > hyperspin or gamex or LEDBlinky exist. I donated to the hyperspin community and some > of their members have backed my project. > > I just think it is awesome that we have these great communities of nerds like myself > so I can go back to being a kid again, fighting my buddy to be Michaelangelo on the > TMNT arcade machine or beating his ass in Virtua Fighter. My 5 year old nephew came > to visit and I was playing duck hunt with him and he couldn't stop talking about it > for weeks after. That is why I made this project. > > Thanks, > > Josh
Congrats on making your funding goal.
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Re: Cool,arcade controller project on Kickstarter
[Re: jmarsh]
#317902 - 11/26/13 08:10 PM
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Hey Everyone,
Less than 2 weeks to go and we are 270% funded! I have added a new video to the project page "LED Show" that shows how the LEDs will work. I just want to thank everyone again for their support!
Thanks,
Josh
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Re: Cool,arcade controller project on Kickstarter
[Re: jmarsh]
#318268 - 12/06/13 06:17 AM
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Only 2 days left for this Kickstarter Campaign, thanks a lot to everyone for all your support!
Josh
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