A cool joystick I buit

arfink · Post by **arfink** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 9:28 pm

Here are some pictures of a cool joystick I built. It's not totally done, but it plays extremely well. Thus, it probably will never get completed, since I can't keep my hands off it.

Here are some pics:

http://personal.stthomas.edu/arfink/front.jpg
http://personal.stthomas.edu/arfink/moneyshot.jpg
http://personal.stthomas.edu/arfink/bottom.jpg
http://personal.stthomas.edu/arfink/hack.jpg

This last one is the device I hacked up to make the PC interface. You all should know how to do that, but if you really have a burning desire to know exactly how I built that part I can explain/photograph it too.

As a side note, I am currently building a second one that will be cooler than the first one, with a snazzy paint job and a better woodworking job too! Stay tuned!

dudex77 · Post by **dudex77** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 5:03 am

cool stuff it must be nice to play neogeo games with, though i have to say the woodworking towards thejoystick looks a bit messy. are you going to close off the bottom or not bother? is this you first one?

arfink · Post by **arfink** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 11:24 am

Yes, this is my first, and yes I plan to finish it up and paint it. It looks a little sloppy around the joystick, but it's actually quite strong and if I were to paint the plexi-glass covering the unit it would be absolutely unnoticeable. I know, because I have started another one for a friend. The paint job is black background with red paint imitating blood splatters and I hand brushed the kanji for "death" on it too. Very shiny and amazing looking, I will put up some pics soon. The paint was put on the backside of the plexi to protect it, so I had to paint the kanji bakwards so it would look forwards on the front. I did the blood splats by dripping big blobs of red Rustoleum here and there and then I mixed up some of the paint with some paint thinner and splatted it around with a toothbrush. I also then loaded the toothbrush with just plain thinner and sprayed a little on, and then left it to dry at an angle so that the paint would "run" and so that there would be some transparency to some of the drips. Looks just like the blood smatterings they use in manga and anime.

Unidentified Assilant · Post by **Unidentified Assilant** » Sat Apr 14, 2007 3:33 pm

Looks pretty good

I'd like to build an arcade joystick but it always seems so dear just to build one.

arfink · Post by **arfink** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 11:35 am

What, for the cost? Well, step 1 is "Say no to Crack. er.. Happ." Happ delivers poor performance at a high price. I will admit, Happ does make the most indestructible units on the face of the planet, but I don't subject my controllers to such things as atomic bombs and sugar-loaded 12 year olds. You would be best to look at Sanwa or Seimitsu for your controls, they are reasonably priced and perform much better than Happ controls. I had a head-to-head competition with a friend of mine who is generally better than me at games like Street Fighter. We played SF Alpha 3, but I gave him a Happ setup and I got the Seimitsu, and I wiped the floor with him, because the Japanese controls are so amazingly fast and accurate. For a good price and an amazing selection, go to this website:

http://akihabarashop.com/

Also, shipping to the USA and Europe won't cost you an arm and a leg either, and this guy only takes an 800 yen commission for his services. He is very reliable and honest- highly recommended.

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Sat May 19, 2007 3:27 pm

Quite similar to the SNES joystick; fairly cheap to buy, and probably not hard to mod from. Got mine from E-bay a while back. Similar joystick too.

arfink · Post by **arfink** » Sun May 27, 2007 5:09 pm

Is it internally similar? I don't know about you, but most commercially available arcade joysticks for consoles, especially older consoles, are really pretty bad. This here is the real deal, all top quality parts. I have some new pics coming up very soon now of my final version. It's sleek and black, truly drool worthy. Maybe a YouTube video of it in action could be arranged if you all think that would be worthwhile...

Leave em hangin'...

Mon1018 · Post by **Mon1018** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 8:49 am

Very nice entry. Similar joystick and Awesome!