X-Arcade Tankstick

First off if you are reading this review, you must know that I have some geek cred. That translates to me having some technical ability. I purchased the Tankstick with understanding and intention. I dug up an old PS/2 adaptor thinking I would need to remap buttons and all sorts of craziness. So understand that user experience will vary reviews.That said... I love this friggin X-Arcade Tankstick! I had taken a poor man's approach at recreating the arcade experiences of my youth. So we are talking a compact PC in an IKEA Alve corner computer Armoire aka the "Hideaway Mancave." I took a gamble dimensions wise, but the beast of an aptly named Tankstick fit perfectly. It is a solid piece of machinery with enough responsive feeling buttons and controls. Ironically, some of my arcade experiences involved wasting a quarter on a busted 2nd Player joystick (and getting whooped in Street Fighter). The Tankstick feels like it can handle 250 pound Bruno's button mashing (although I admit I would not be willing to test that theory...sorry Bruno.). I feel the arcade authenticity.Initially, I thought it odd that the Tankstick would be recognized as a keyboard and mouse. Now, I find it brilliant. I don't have to worry about controller conflicts with my USB NES pad, XBOX360 / PS3 controllers, etc....and do not have to worry about third-party software key mappers with Flash games (sort of an added perk). My set-up felt easy. I didn't have to reprogram buttons (although I like the option to), circumvented the second USB connection for the trackball with a USB hub, and mapped all the buttons using the Hyperspin front-end (a nice user interface BTW).My experience of course will vary greatly depending on why you bought the Tankstick. My intentions did not consider the option of console gaming (although it is an option). The Tankstick is a large controller, and not something you can have lying around your living room (unless your single with a YOLO mindset). I admitted to having technical ability, but feel the setup is fairly easy (don't be afraid the reference the manual!). Obviously, I am very happy with this purchase.

I purchased this to use with my xbox, along with an xbox adapter. The construction is good and the joysticks and buttons work very well. However, the trackball is useless unless you hook the unit up to a PC. Nowhere in the description of the product on the Amazon website does it say that the trackball doesn't function on the various gaming systems. I was looking forward to playing centipede and millipede with the trackball, however that's not going to happen. I did find a $20 adapter cable to hook the trackball cable to one of the joystick ports on the xbox but as far as I can tell none of the buttons on the tankstick would function with the trackball. It sounds like a great product for the PC or Mac, but if you want to use it with an xbox or one of the other gaming systems I think you would be better off with the cheaper $80 version without a trackball.

I just received it so I haven't had to to use it constantly, but it controlled really well for the dozen or so battles I tested it with. I don't know what some people are complaining about, it feels like an arcade stick and not just cause it is an arcade stick, but the buttons and joystick are extremely close to actual arcade parts. I was able to pull of hadokens, dragon punches and supers without any issues. The reason I won't give it 5 stars is because you need a PS/2 Keyboard to program it, using an USB keyboard with a PS/2 adapter did not work. So I'm forced to buy another keyboard just to be able to program the keys...not cool. Awesoming packaging though, even the brown shipping box is customized. Very nice touch. Feel kinda bad about the 4 stars, but that Keyboard thing is really lame.Update: Have been using this for a long time now. Brought this up to 5 stars, why? Well I went ahead and bought the xbox360 adapter with the PS2 converters and now, instead of the arcade stick being read as a keyboard, it is now read as two xbox360 controllers, which means compatible with all new games (could not use it for 2 players in Street Fighter V, Marvel Vs, Capcom Infinite, etc...) The usefulness and value of this skyrocketed with the upgrade, especially since the trackball can still be read as a mouse with the upgrade (however you will lose the keyboard connector, no longer can you connect a keyboard to the arcade stick for the PC to read it as an extra keyboard.) However, the value comes how durable it is. I have given this thing a beating and, so far, no issues what-so-ever. Love it.

If you have an x-arcade tankstick do bot buy. For whatever reason would not allow to enable the xarcade2jstick file so is worthless with the controller. Works good with any other controller though.

Overall, this is a pretty nice controller. It has most of the buttons that you will ever need. I would have liked perhaps just one more button in between the Player 1 & Player 2 buttons and calling it or labeling it a "HOME" button.My controller shipped with the Up direction on the Player 1 side being too sensitive. My character in Street Fighter would jump all the time even if you didn't touch the joystick. Fortunately, it's not too difficult to adjust this setting, however it does require you to open the controller up. The manufacturer does provide instructions, including a Youtube video on how to do this and the manufacturer does state that this does not void the warranty.This controller will work for just about all games, however there is a few that you would be out of luck on. Example: I liked the old Ikari Warrior games but the original arcade machine had what was called a rotary joystick. You wouldn't be able to replicate that here but this is a minor complaint. I also used to like Smash TV. You can setup the controller to use both sticks to play single player but you would be out of luck for 2 players. Again, minor complaint.It's a heavy unit but not too bad. It definitely stays in place and wont slide around on you.Overall, it's a nice product.

Très Précis, Fait pour durée. Nécessite un peu de connaissance informatique (minime), le résultat est INCROYABLE. Une vrai arcade.

Great controller for home made arcade cabinet.Works flawlessly and built like a tank.

Decent arcade stick but it came broken/unassembled and their customer support is terrible. They couldn't even tell me how to assemble the memory selector switch in the back and I wrote a big email to describe it and got a three word answer with bad grammar telling me they're not going to help me.Anyway, I ended up figuring out how to sort of assemble it but just pray that you don't need to contact them for help for anything because they're horrible. I would have just returned it to their Amazon store but it was such a huge package that I didn't want to deal with it. They say lifetime guarantee but don't expect much especially if you live outside of the USA.Onto the actual stick: the arcade sticks on these can't hit diagonals very well so they seem more like 4-way joysticks than 8-way. I planned on replacing them with IL and Suzo Happ sticks anyway along with cherry switches for the buttons and it feels like it should now. UPDATE: I just noticed that the left player 1 stick wasn't screwed in straight but player 2 is. Obviously I can't fix it since it's screwed right into the wood. WTF?Also, the hardware in this seems outdated. They should allow you to play on more devices without having to buy one of their expensive adapters. I could always gut the PCB out and replace it with one that'll do PS3 (possibly even a PS4) for a lot less. It should be included for the price you pay and the fact that it's filled with subpar parts. It's a good thing swapping out parts won't void your warranty... if they'll even help you replace parts under warranty.If you can just build your own, do it! I wanted to but my plans fell through so I just bought this. My brother used to have a dual arcade unit in 2004 and not a lot has changed. Apparently these new units have revised PCB boards to combat lag. Seriously though, who still uses serial connections? I haven't seen one since that dual stick. He gave his away so I had to buy my own. I really wish they would have updated the ugly design on the stick and it isn't cheap if you want to order art to overlay ontop of it from the States.I can't recommend this stick to serious retro gamers when there are people on forums that'll make and sell you a case for a fraction of the price that you can put your own parts in.I have had some days to test it out with Emulation Station on my Raspberry Pi and it seems to work well I just need to try some games that support the trackball (which only works in mame 2003 and advanced mame).Honestly, I had been waiting a long time for a nice arcade stick and rather would have made my own custom stick with parts from FocusAttack than give XGAMING any of my money especially when they don't acknowledge my issues here on Amazon.Update 2: I contacted XARCADE directly for the second time and they claim if you don't buy it directly from them they told me it wasn't sold by them. Despite the seller being named XGAMING, so they wouldn't honour the lifetime warranty because it was bought off Amazon. They did offer to replace the switch for $15 USD though. I already bought their tri-mode input lag board.

Kudos !! Amazing product!

Use it all the time