Hardware Check! - X-Arcade Dual Arcade Stick

I gotta come out of the closet in this one.  I'm a huge arcade nut.  Every time I go into any store, be it a gas station, a pizza buffet, a home decor store, I cannot help but pop in a quarter into one of those machines, trying out whatever games they had.  If it's any by Namco, Capcom, Konami, Nintendo or Sega, you bet your buttocks that I'm jumping on to those games.  I've always wanted to build my own cabinet but I never gotten to it since I never designed the blueprint and have yet to get the funds and the help to get it done, but if I could then Hell to the Yeah I'd get it done!  If there is an arcade cabinet I find left untouched, I'm gonna go touch it, then stick my quarter in it, work the joystick and... oh wait I'm doing a hardware review.

The gods of arcades!

The arcade/retro gamer side of me has been on the hunt for arcade sticks.  The first two arcade sticks I purchased were Pelican brand sticks, both universal, one actually real arcade, but those weren't enough.  Of all the joysticks I have found these days, pretty much all of them are pretty expensive and are hardly worth it.  I mean you pay about $80-$150 for what?  A one player joystick that only works for their respective system?  Sure you can probably play it on PC but unless you got a joy to key emulator, don't expect it to work for everything.  It just seemed more trouble than it's worth.  Then came X-Arcade, the saving grace for arcade nuts like myself.

X-Arcade are the manufacturers of these godly pieces of joy in a form of sticks.  I actually looked up these guys a long time ago and have always wanted to buy those arcade sticks.  Then when I finally got a job, I used the money I've earned to get myself a Dual Joystick, which costs $129.99 with a free controller adapter (I'll go in depth on those later) being a PS1/2 plus a PS3 for an extra $15 (same if you choose the 360) for a total of $144.90, plus the free midway arcade compilation disc.  That's quite the price for what seems to be a simple joystick, so what exactly makes this worth the purchase?  The obvious thing to take notice at is its appearance.  The dual joystick looks just like what you would expect to see on any arcade machines in general.  The buttons are sleek and comfortable, as well as the stick itself.  The feeling of it brings me back to the old days where I would play Galaga constantly, and it's also good for fighting games as well.

Like the PS3, it's expensive but slick!

As for how it functions, it's the most convenient arcade stick available.  Initially, it includes a cable that plugs into the USB port or the PS/2 ports of your PC.  Why the PS/2 port (you know, where your keyboard goes)?  It's because the arcade stick is actually programmed to act as a keyboard.  Instead of being recognized as a game pad as almost every controller for any computer is programmed as, any X-Arcade stick you use will be recognized by any computer as being a keyboard instead.  What this means is that for any game you want to play, including modern titles like MUGEN, Super Street Fighter 4 or (if you're really inclined) Team Fortress 2, you can simply assign the button commands to the "keys" of the arcade stick.  This eliminates the need to adjust any sensitivity, installing a variety of drivers, updating it when it hits the dirt, provides absolutely no need to use a Joy to Key emulator, etc.  This also means that it can work on about any windows OS, including Windows 7.  This alone is a brilliant design choice that adds to the convenience this arcade stick brings to the table.  Oh and for those who are wondering, the arcade stick has an external PS/2 slot so you can still use your keyboard and Mac computers work with this.

Kevin Smith approves!

The other brilliant design choice was to make it to where any of their arcade sticks can be used on just about any game system you throw at it.  Ever since the Sega Dreamcast, X-Arcade has developed a variety of controller adapters working from the Sega Dreamcast to the X-Box, each adapter being $19.95 that can support both the Solo and Dual/Tank sticks.  There are also adapters available for the Playstation 3 and X-Box 360 for $14.95 for one, or have two for an additional $9.95.  Unfortunately the two consoles require a PS1/PS2 adapter in order to work, so unless you are getting that for free, this will be pretty price to buy alone.  The compatibility it offers however is just as flawless as it is on the PC.  All it requires is simply replacing the USB plug with the adapter, plug it in, (press two required buttons if you're playing on PS3 or 360,) and you are good to go!  It's also the only joystick I know that actually gives you the option to switch between having the stick using the D-Pad functionality to the left analog stick or the right at any time.

In terms of actually playing the thing, I have played a lot of games with this, mostly those on MAME.  I did get a midway compilation disc which included Gauntlet, Rampage, Robotron 2084, Joust, Defender, and Smash TV.  I was playing each of them on my Windows XP system and it didn't go very well because the frame rate, video and sound would be all over the place.  So I decided to download them for MAME instead, and man the arcade stick is so awesome to use.  The controls respond at the exact press of the button and the clicking move of the stick, giving you precise controlling.  I've also played Street Fighter 4, Soul Calibur 4, and Final Fight Double Impact with this arcade stick on the PS3 to gain the same results.  What I'm saying is, it works perfectly!

Great Fun!

The final verdict?  It's entirely worth every penny!  I have enjoyed this arcade stick from day one and I proudly have it in front of my bed as it is one of the best purchases I have ever made in my life.  It's the joystick I've been looking for all these years.  The only downside I can think of is not having enough money to get the tank stick that has the track ball built-in, which can be useful for games like Missile Command and Marble Madness.  The fact that this arcade stick is surviving with full compatibility to the PS3, 360 and Wii to name a few makes this much more worth while than ANY joystick I have seen in stores.

After realizing this blog post is lacking some comedy, here's something funny.  :3