Do you remember the original Transformers, He-Man, or G.I. Joe? Do you relate to the Goonies? If so, then congratulate yourself for growing up in the 80s. You probably begged your dad to give you your meager allowance in quarters so that you could blow it all at the local arcade. Those blocky-pixel days of yore may be gone, but there really was nothing like hanging out in the arcade. Massively multiplayer games back then consisted of games that supported FOUR players at the same time! (like Gauntlet or many Capcom fighters)
Every 8-bit console back then had a “home version” of popular arcade games, but the full cabinet games back then had a particular feel, which just could not be duplicated at home. Thanks to today’s powerful computers, you can now emulate nearly every arcade game ever made.
To achieve a truly authentic arcade experience at home, you should have a genuine tabletop arcade joystick. Several vendors have created them in the past, but these had several limitations: either the joysticks were too small for multiplayer, or there was no trackball.
Those who remember the days of arcade glory know, however, that a gamepad really can’t compare to an arcade stick. A proper joystick is more accurate than any D-pad or analog stick and leveraging five fingers on arcade buttons rather than a single thumb with a gamepad makes long and complex combos far more doable.
X-arcade has been making high-end authentic arcade-quality controls for several years, and have released their latest flagship product, the X-Arcade Tankstick. The sticks and buttons used by the company are industrial quality and the cases are famously over-built and absurdly sturdy.
The newest addition to Xgaming’s award-winning lineup remains faithful to it’s arcadian ancestry and injects the most complete and authentic home arcade gaming experience into your home.
X-Arcade’s newest (and fully featured) Tankstick incorporates two complete arcade sticks, fourteen black industrial-grade surface buttons, a large white trackball, two player buttons four side “pinball” buttons, and a single red LED. The housing is made of the same materials used in authentic arcade cabinets: sturdy plywood covered in black formica laminate, and the top of the console is covered in formica, with black T-molding along the trim. The edges have been routed and joined to create perfect seams. Along the bottom are several high-quality rubber feet that keep this monster in place.
Along the back is a four-position switch, two configuration buttons, two USB cables (one for keyboard, and one for mouse), a 9-pin serial port (used when connecting the unit to a console adapter), and a female PS/2 input (used when programming the unit from a standard keyboard). The switch is used to toggle between one of four memory banks (one of which is programmable), so you can easily transport this beast between your console and several PCs without having to do a lengthy reconfiguration each time.
One of the back buttons are used to disable the X-axis on the trackball, which is a useful “cheat” for games like Golden Tee, so your swing doesn’t drift. I wish there was a way to disable the X-axis, so the trackball could better emulate games that use arcade knobs, such as “Discs of Tron”.
Combines Dual Joystick + Real Arcade Trackball!
Measuring in at 30 inches from side to side, and packed with 20 LBS of heavy-duty industrial grade materials, the X-Arcade Tankstick ™ is a true arcade console built to last. You don’t have to take our word for it either, we back up its bullet-proof physique with a Lifetime Warranty.
You can even connect to your existing game systems in minutes and enjoy arcade-style play on your favorite next generation titles!
Bring The Ultimate Arcade Experience Home
Your X-Arcade™ Kit lets you relive the arcade classics classics like Galaga™, Ms. Pacman™, and gaggles of others on your PC or Mac™. Your Tankstick™ is also fully compatible with Gametap™ classic gaming service.
X-Arcade Tankstick™ Features
The Trackball located in the center of your Tankstick™ allows you relive a museum of arcade classics on your PC or Mac™, but since it’s recognized as a standard mouse–you can also enhance any of your favorite games that support a mouse, with no drivers or software required.
Enjoy Golden Tee Golf™, Tiger Woods PGA Tour™, Marble Madness™, Centipede™, Simpson’s Bowling™ and more with an indestructible arcade trackball ripped from a standup arcade machine! It’s like having your own personal time machine with guaranteed fun for the entire family!
X-Arcade Tankstick™ Indestructible Benefits
- Indestructible Arcade Authenticity With Lifetime Warranty
- 20 LBS Of Authentic Arcade Parts Ripped From A Real Arcade Machine
- Nifty PS/2 and USB Support
- Trackball Functions As A Standard 3 Button Mouse
- 4 Left/Right Pinball Flipper Buttons
- Enjoy the endless possibilities of retro arcade and next-generation games
- Enhance connections with your kids by hookin’ em’ on your favorite classics
- Feel like a superhero without the need to dress in tights
- Play Head To Head Fighting Games Like The Local Arcade.
- Withstand Thousands Of Hours Of Button Smashing Action.
- Fully Programmable For Support On Gametap™ Service
- Play Thousands Of Your Favorite Arcade Games Of All Time
- Add-On Adapters Work On Any Game System (no console support for Trackball)
- The Most Awarded Arcade Joystick On The Planet
What’s Included
- X-Arcade Tankstick™
- 30 Day Money Back Guarantee
- 100% Fully Serviced Lifetime Warranty
- Toll Free And Online Live Technical Support
- 18 Full Version Arcade Games:
- 12 Atari® Classics for PC Use: Asteroids®, Asteroids™ Deluxe, Battlezone®, Centipede®, Crystal Castles™, Gravitar™, Millipede™, Missile Command®, Pong™, Super Breakout®, Tempest® and Warlords®.
- Special Bonus: 6 Full Version Midway Titles! Gauntlet®, Defender®, Smash TV®, Robotron®, Rampage® and Joust®.
- Note: 2 USB ports required for high performance gaming
- Joystick/Buttons compatible with existing X-Arcade Adapters
- Trackball operational on PC/Mac™ only
Built Like A Beast And Backed By A Lifetime Warranty
The X-Arcade™ is built to be bulletproof, and so is the warranty that comes with it. XGAMING’s Lifetime Warranty covers your X-Arcade™ for LIFE. It’s that simple.
In the event that your X-Arcade™ video game controller can’t take a beating or is defective, XGAMING will either fix it, send you replacement parts, or send you another one. They’ll even pay the tab for all the shipping charges! Oh yeah!…. you’ll also get Toll Free Support, Online Live Help, and a 30 Day Money Back Guarantee.
Each of the Tankstick’s joysticks can be configured as an 8-way or 4-way stick (4-way sticks were originally used in games like Pac-Man, with no diagonals possible). X-arcade even encourages users to open the thing up to perform simple maintenance or customizations. The sticks are very responsive and have satisfying clickability. My only wish is for a fire button on the stick itself, which would make Discs of Tron and several other games much more usable (one hand is on the aiming trackball, and the other on the stick, and you must remove one of your hands to press the fire button). The button could even be covered with a cap so you didn’t accidentally press it on games that didn’t require it.
Each player’s eight buttons are custlered in an arrangement similar to classic Street Fighter or DoA cabinets (two rows of three, with the third row having two buttons). This layout will be comfortably familiar to anyone who has played these types of games, with your right thumb hovering over the third row, with your other fingers resting on your punch or kick of choice.
The extra side buttons are intended for use on pinball games, and by default are the left and right mouse buttons. Navigating using this method alone can be slow, as you have to move your right arm to the right side of the Tankstick to perform a right-click.
The trackball provides a very realistic arcade experience in games like Centipede and Missile Command, and the cursor is just as slow as you remember. Fortunately the trackball is mapped as another mouse, so you can easily crank up the sensitivity.
Because the trackball is essentially a USB mouse, it can be assigned a different device number every time it is plugged in. You can assign a MAME game to use Mouse 2, but the Tankstick may be assigned as Mouse 3 the next time you plug it in.
Since the Tankstick emulates a keyboard, there are only so many keypresses that can be registered at any one time (around 10 or so). The Tankstick pretty much emulates a keyboard, so if you open up Notepad and start mashing buttons, then you’ll get a bunch of seemingly random characters that pop up on the screen.
Configuration is much simpler when using a home console, and you must purchase a separate adapter for the particular console you are using. Simply plug the included 9-pin serial cable to the adapter, and then plug the adapter into your console. Switch to the appropriate memory bank, and you’re off. There is no reconfiguration of the buttons, however, but the default layout is just fine. No console adapter currently works with the trackball (i.e. mouse), so only certain games translate well with the Tankstick (First Person Shooters are basically out).
Currently there are console adapters for the Xbox, PS2, Nintendo Wii, and Gamecube. X-Arcade is currently working on an Xbox 360 adapter, but Microsoft’s new rules for third-party controller support have made this difficult. The Xbox 360 desperately needs a quality stick for DoA4 and Xbox Live Arcade.
The Tankstick comes pre-configured to work with they default MAME keyboard layout, so you can pretty much plug it in and go. One of the left “pinball” buttons are used to “insert coin” for player one, and the right side is used for “insert coin” for player two. After inserting your virtual coins, you can then press the Player 1 or Player 2 button to begin, much like being at a real arcade machine. You would think that only 1 “insert coin” button would be necessary, which is true for most arcade games, but some games (like Gauntlet) have their coin slots assigned to a particular character.
For the most part, the default configuration works great and is rather intuitive. You may want to customize your stick to coincide with personalized MAME configurations. For example, you may want to change Player 1’s stick from letters to arrow keys, which can be helpful when selecting a game (otherwise when you press UP on the stick, MAME will show you all of the “E” games you have installed.
Another anomaly you may want to fix is the fact that there are no single “escape” or “configure” buttons mapped. You can always exit out of a running game by pressing “player 1 insert coin” and “player 1” buttons at the same time, but this has led to closing several games when feverishly inserting coins trying to continue my game before time expired. MAME’s configuration screen can also be brought up within a game by pressing “player 2 insert coin” and “player 2” at the same time, which has caused similar disruption. Having a dedicated button for each of these functions would make things a little more trouble-free.
Programming the Tankstick is actually rather simple. To program the Tankstick, first you must select one of the three programmable memory banks with the 4-position switch on the back. You then plug any standard PS/2 keyboard into the female PS/2 port on the back of the unit, and then press one of the back buttons to toggle the Tankstick into programmable mode. You then press the button on the Tankstick that you would like to remap, and then press the corresponding key on the attached keyboard. The Tankstick’s red LED will flash indicating a good program, and you continue on until you’re satisfied. When you are finished, simply press the rear “program toggle” button to bring the stick back into play. You will, of course, have to make sure that your MAME configuration file matches the new keys you’ve just assigned.
X-Arcade has made quite a name for itself among retro gamers, and rightly so. They have a great reputation for producing practically indestructible authentic arcade controllers, and the Tankstick is the most fully-featured product yet.
There are still some improvements to be made, and there are a few features I’d like to see. The only way you’ll do better is to create a controller yourself, which will take many hours hunting down the parts you need, an electronics degree, and master carpentry skills.
The X-Arcade Tankstick is arguably the most complete arcade-authentic joystick you can buy right now, and is a perfect start for a dedicated arcade cabinet.
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