Monday, September 3, 2001
Thanks to the extremely quick replies from Kelsey working at Oscar, I have figured out how I am going to set up the spinners for my cabinet. I will most likely go with model 1 which can be connected to the serial port. Alternatively, I could go with the model 2 spinner and connect it through an OptiPAC which would then again be connected through the serial port (up to 4 spinners can be connected to an OptiPAC, allowing for further upgrades in the future). The problem is, that if I buy a model 1 and then decide to upgrade in the future, I could run into some wiring problems, thus a model 2 would probably be the smart way to go, but the OptiPAC controller would have to be added to the cost of the spinner.
As of September 3:
Model 1 = $49.00
Model 2 = $45.00
OptiPAC = $39.00
Therefore, Model 2 + OptiPAC = $84.00 for a spinner with future upgradeability...
Model 1 = $49.00 - no upgrade ability unless modifications to the spinner were made.
It's a toss up right now and might be a spur of the moment decision when I decide to purchase the spinner, but I'm definitely going with the spinner from Oscar. I just haven't run across a dual-spinner cabinet, nor do I see a reason to add 2 spinners. Playing games like Arkanoid requires only 1 spinner, so until I find a reason to have 2 spinners, I might just go with Model 1 using a dual-mouse driver.
The top picture to the left shows the know I'll probably go with (there are other knobs available). The 2nd picture shows a Model 2 spinner connected to an OptiPAC.
I also had a bit of free time on my hands, so I made a new mock-up of the control set-up I'll probably use (very bottom picture - old mock-up is the 3rd picture). I used a NeoGeo template for the layout of the red button along with the top row of yellow, green, and blue. I then looked at a Streetfighter layout which has them laid out in a row of 3 with another row directly below. I'm not quite sure which one I'm going to use. The 1st mock-up (with the numbers and letters) probably is more ergodynamic with the buttons in the 2 rows slightly off-set to make up for the different lengths of your fingers, but you have to think that the people who design the arcade games know what they're doing when they lay out the game for a massive rollout. I'll probably end up using some scrap wood to test both layouts and see what works best. But I've pretty much settled on the fact that each person will have 7 different buttons, each configured for each separate game.
As of September 3:
Model 1 = $49.00
Model 2 = $45.00
OptiPAC = $39.00
Therefore, Model 2 + OptiPAC = $84.00 for a spinner with future upgradeability...
Model 1 = $49.00 - no upgrade ability unless modifications to the spinner were made.
It's a toss up right now and might be a spur of the moment decision when I decide to purchase the spinner, but I'm definitely going with the spinner from Oscar. I just haven't run across a dual-spinner cabinet, nor do I see a reason to add 2 spinners. Playing games like Arkanoid requires only 1 spinner, so until I find a reason to have 2 spinners, I might just go with Model 1 using a dual-mouse driver.
The top picture to the left shows the know I'll probably go with (there are other knobs available). The 2nd picture shows a Model 2 spinner connected to an OptiPAC.
I also had a bit of free time on my hands, so I made a new mock-up of the control set-up I'll probably use (very bottom picture - old mock-up is the 3rd picture). I used a NeoGeo template for the layout of the red button along with the top row of yellow, green, and blue. I then looked at a Streetfighter layout which has them laid out in a row of 3 with another row directly below. I'm not quite sure which one I'm going to use. The 1st mock-up (with the numbers and letters) probably is more ergodynamic with the buttons in the 2 rows slightly off-set to make up for the different lengths of your fingers, but you have to think that the people who design the arcade games know what they're doing when they lay out the game for a massive rollout. I'll probably end up using some scrap wood to test both layouts and see what works best. But I've pretty much settled on the fact that each person will have 7 different buttons, each configured for each separate game.
