Once in awhile you come across a piece of hardware that's so impressive-looking that it makes your wife yell at you. Okay, she didn't yell, but she did say over the phone, "Sweety, (her code word for "idiot") there's a huge box here waiting for you." I was at GDC at the time, and wondered what it could be. It was only when I watched some Tekken in the Sony booth that it hit me. The X-Arcade joystiq! Joystick, sorry.
I came home with a Jet Blue Flu so everything was a little hazy. The cats looked like car batteries and my wife had grown a foot or so. In the midst of my fevered dementia I saw the box that was "waiting for me" in the corner. It was huge. One of the car batteries jumped on top of it and meowed. I passed out.
When morning came, the cats were cats, and the wife was shorter than me again. But the box was still huge. 27" x 12.5" x 8" to be exact. Maybe XGaming Inc. sent me two controllers. Opening the box was impressive. One large, two player controller straight out of the arcade. I mean straight out of the arcade. From the first glance you can tell the hardware got some serious TLC when it was designed. The box was plastered with review blurbs and flashy WHAMBAMPOW lettering that would actually be a turn-off to a sophisticated gamer, ahem, such as myself, were I to spot one in the store. Overall, though, the X-Arcade 2 player joystick makes a hell of a good first impression.
The box comes with the controller, a PC connector that allows you to use your keyboard with the stick, and the manual. The manual will get you up and running, but if you run into problems you?ll need to go online or call support. To XGaming Inc.?s credit, they put the toll-free customer support number up front and center.
For the purpose of this review I tried out two games ? Soul Calibur II for Xbox and Joust for PC, which is included
on a disc in the box.
Setting the stick up is as simple as hooking in the included serial cable, and turning on the console/PC. No software
to install at all. True plug and play.
But how does it play?
Simply put, like the arcade.
First up was Soul Calibur II for Xbox. I was up and running instantly. I could jump right into the game with just a
few minutes of adjusting to the button layout. It really did feel like the arcades of my youth. From the hollow,
frantic clicks of the buttons, to the sound of the stick sliding around, it was a great way to start my experience with
the X-Arcade stick. I?ve read reports of response time being slow, but I didn?t see it. I actually played better right
out of the gate, going 18 levels into arcade mode before losing to Seung Mina. The stick helped me access special moves
that my fingers are usually too clumsy to pull off on a standard contoller. I was delighted.
But it only got better when I played Joust. One of my all-time favorites. There?s just no
other way to say it ? the classic arcade coin-op plays just like the classic arcade coin-op, with the X-Arcade 2 Player
stick. The included disc also comes with Defender (never a fave with all those wonky button moves), Gauntlet, Rampage,
Robotron 2084 and Smash TV.
The X-Arcade stick is not perfect for all console games. Fighters, classics, shoot em ups, side scrollers ? all of
these will work just fine. But stuff like Halo and Crimson Skies are better off with the original controllers. For an
idea of what the device can emulate take a look at the pics below. The ?Select? buttons on the side can be used to
shift between digital and analog control (they?re also good for pinball video games):
Just to make sure you?re happy with the stick, the makers included 3 programmable slots for PC use. Programming the
buttons is a lot like programming your remote. Press one button on the keyboard, while you press another one on the
stick. Wait for the light to blink, and you?re done. Switching between memory slots is done by sliding a switch on the
back of the device.
The device comes with a lifetime guarantee, if you fill out the online registration form. You can see why when you
take a look at the craftsmanship. Wood case, arcade-quality controller technology, thick plastic knob ? all of it
screams quality. If the coin-op games are meant to handle thousands of people groping it for thousands of hours then
you can be pretty comfortable that your X-Arcade controller will last.
I highly recommend this controller to diehard gamers. You need to have the real estate to store it when it?s not in use. But after one gaming session, you?ll always use it. So it all balances out. If you always wanted an arcade in your house, this puppy is a great first step. At 150 bucks, it?s better than spending a few grand on coin-op machines that will take up hundreds of square feet.
