USB dial/spinner controllers for MAME?

[norkusa]

Was playing some Araknoid on MAME this past weekend and the whole time I was longing to play it with a spinner controller instead of my mouse. Are there any USB controllers like that available? I've seen some parts so you could make your own, but nothing pre-assembled.

[Nikademus1969]

I would like to know this too...playing Tron with the mouse is really just not the same :(

[bcombee]

I recently saw a reference to someone use the Stelladaptor from AtariAge (http://www.stelladaptor.com/) along with a 2600 Driving Controller to control MAME. In the distant past, I used a Logitech Wingman Warrior (with it's serial interface) as it has a nice spinner and worked well in TRON and Major Havoc.

[DefaultGen]

.....

[Nikademus1969]

This knob feels fantastic


I'm sorry...but that is funny :-D

[Cryomancer]

Unfortunetly, the 360 arcade gamestick's spinner is USELESS in windows. I SORTA got it to work ok for pachinko in mame, but even that was jumpy. Totally useless for arkanoid unless someone makes a new driver.

[k8track]

This knob feels fantastic: http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/powermate/

My friend uses one for video editting and i've always thought it would make a great pong controller :)

I have to seriously advise against buying that product for playing paddle games in MAME. I bought the PowerMate a few years back based on info that was in a thread here at one time. It is digital, not analog. It may work fine for other applications, but seriously sucks for game playing. I tried it a few times when I first got it but realized it was useless. I've tried to find a better replacement, but it has always eluded me.

If anyone is familiar with this product and still wants it, I'd be happy to sell you mine in a heartbeat.

[namzep]

You could always use an Opti-PAC with a spinner hooked up to it. Of course, that's only if you're looking to spend $100+ for the setup.

[Clownzilla]

The Stelladaptor\2600 paddle combo does not work well for games using a spinner. I tried that and it didn't work right. The only solutions that I know of is the Optipac with a spinner hooked up to it (will require some panel construction) or an X-Arcade trackball. The X-Arcade trackball is sturdy and will work if you disable the y-axis in the game your playing. It also works well for light gun games.

[jb143]

If your at all technically inclined you can take apart on old mouse and rig it up as a spinner. Just attach a spinner disk to the roller in the mouse that the ball spins(the one that makes it move left and right) You should then be able to adjust mouse sensitivity to get it to match your game. I think you can do this from within mame for each game.

[norkusa]

The Stelladaptor\2600 paddle combo does not work well for games using a spinner. I tried that and it didn't work right. The only solutions that I know of is the Optipac with a spinner hooked up to it (will require some panel construction) or an X-Arcade trackball. The X-Arcade trackball is sturdy and will work if you disable the y-axis in the game your playing. It also works well for light gun games.

I actually have the X-Arcade track ball. I originally bought it to use with MAME on my modded Xbox but the emulator doesn't recognize it, so I never use it. I guess I could use it with Arkanoid but it wouldn't be the same. It's a spinner or bust for me.

Has anyone tried using using that Mad Catz controller on a Mac? I'm using that instead of Windows, so there might be a chance MAME OSX recognizes it.

[Ze_ro]

You could always use an Opti-PAC with a spinner hooked up to it. Of course, that's only if you're looking to spend $100+ for the setup.
I've yet to see any worthwhile spinners that aren't in the $100 range. It seems that if you want a spinner (or a trackball for that matter) worth using, it's going to be expensive. I never really understood why, as the things aren't particularly complicated... I guess it's just such a niche market.

Here's one (http://www.happcontrols.com/amusement/gameparts/95265700.htm) from Happ that has USB built in... you'd need to build a panel to house it, but the mechanism itself seems pretty self-contained, so it wouldn't be TOO hard.


If your at all technically inclined you can take apart on old mouse and rig it up as a spinner. Just attach a spinner disk to the roller in the mouse that the ball spins.
I've considered this myself, but I'm not convinced it would be worth the effort... You'd have to build the entire spinner shaft from scratch, as the plastic thing in the mouse would not spin well enough for arcade-type usage, and would be too weak to be directly manipulated anyways. In the end, you'd probably end up with mediocre results, and have put more effort into it than if you had just bought a good spinner to start with.

--Zero

[IronBuddha]

If your at all technically inclined you can take apart on old mouse and rig it up as a spinner. Just attach a spinner disk to the roller in the mouse that the ball spins(the one that makes it move left and right) You should then be able to adjust mouse sensitivity to get it to match your game. I think you can do this from within mame for each game.

That's probably you're cheapest option, here's link for how to do it.
http://spystyle.arcadecontrols.com/01/index73.htm

Here's one I was wondering if it's any good
http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=268&zenid=b71907f14db9efe9fcde896ab873e07b

$69.95 I think is a good price, for the price of other spinners you could have a steering wheel added to this one.

[Ed Oscuro]

Hah, I just typed "USB Dial" into Google because I was wondering if these exist, and came across this thread.

I think these would work nice for games like Time Soldiers / the Ikari games / SAR / Heavy Barrel / etc.

[InsaneDavid]

If your at all technically inclined you can take apart on old mouse and rig it up as a spinner. Just attach a spinner disk to the roller in the mouse that the ball spins(the one that makes it move left and right) You should then be able to adjust mouse sensitivity to get it to match your game. I think you can do this from within mame for each game.

That's how I reworked the steering wheel in my Pole Position conversion.