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Howler Arcade Controller is now LIVE on Kickstarter!

engg100

By engg100
in Cabinets and Projects

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engg100 Rookie

engg100

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Hello everyone,

The Howler Arcade controller is now live: Check it out on Kickstarter:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2034467396/howler-arcade-controller

Here is the Video:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2034467396/howler-arcade-controller/widget/video.html

Here are a few details:

The Howler Arcade Controller is a 4 joystick, 26 button, gamepad controller, keyboard controller, mouse controller, 96 channel LED driver USB composite device designed for interfacing to controls on a home arcade system.

Thanks,

Josh

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djvj Collaborator

djvj

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Looks cool, but too bad I have 36 buttons (not including directionals) on my cpanel, which that thing only supports 26. I wonder why he stopped at 26?

"Computer games don't affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we'd all be running around in darkened rooms, munching magic pills and listening to repetitive electronic music."

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djvj Collaborator

djvj

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I actually just emailed him asking if there would be other versions available with more buttons or a shift function or anything.

Heh, so did I :P

"Computer games don't affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we'd all be running around in darkened rooms, munching magic pills and listening to repetitive electronic music."

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engg100 Rookie

engg100

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Hey guys, the reason there is only 26 buttons is because the board would be HUGE with more than that. I am using spring pin connectors and in order to have an RGB LED for each button and joystick there are more than 150 connections!!! The good news is that you can have multiple boards in a system. I plan on supporting up to 4 boards. The test system I show in the picture is actually running 2 boards in it so I can ensure that multiple boards are working properly.

If you guys have any other questions or concerns let me know! and thanks for your support, the Hypersin community is GREAT!

Also, only up for 8 hours and already at 14% of funding! I hope I reach my goal so I can stock these controllers indefinitely!

djvj Collaborator

djvj

Posted
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Ok that's a little better then. I'd still rather see more buttons and a bigger board. But it's your design. I backed ya.

"Computer games don't affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we'd all be running around in darkened rooms, munching magic pills and listening to repetitive electronic music."

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DonCorleon Rookie

DonCorleon

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Done. I told you I would pay $100 for it when you first mentioned it, and now I have.

This Kind of work is essential to the hardware side of things moving forward.

Love the work so far :)

THK Grand Master

THK

Posted
Posted

Nice! I want one, though..... I already have a box with two Mag-stick Plusses, buttons and an iPac gathering dust for a few years now. But this looks awesome, what buttons & sticks are you using in the video?

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engg100 Rookie

engg100

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Over 50% there, the hyperspin-fe community is frickin awesome.

@THK I am using Happ Competition with these handles from paradise arcades:

http://www.paradisearcadeshop.com/paradise-arcade-custom-parts/586-iki-il-happ-rgb-shaft-kit-with-slip-ring.html

The buttons I am using are just the white spectralite that I modded and put in my own RGB LEDs because it was much cheaper:

http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=73&products_id=343

I hope this gets new people excited about retro gaming and arcade cabinet building!

Once again, thanks everyone!

If you want you can help a guy out by sharing the link on twitter, Facebook, reddit or any other forums that may have interested people: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2034467396/howler-arcade-controller or use the bitly link for twitter: kck.st/HhLK0A

Also, if you wanna follow me on twitter @wolfmizzle or mention the controller #howlercontroller.

Josh

engg100 Rookie

engg100

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Whoa! All of the "Early Adopter" rewards are gone. I did not think that they would go this quickly so I added an "Early Procrastinator" reward for only $6 more. It includes the howler arcade controller, power supply, and USB A-B cable.

Thanks again guys!

Josh

Deadly Apprentice

Deadly

Posted
Posted

Maybe a suggestion for ya? The beta "appears" to have a surface mount USB connector. I see in the video you were very careful to have your finger behind/ontop of that connector. I've spent a lot of time doing validation on Engineering Sample boards and these surface mount connectors are highly problematic and IMHO not the way to go. I highly suggest the USB connector be a through hole.

engg100 Rookie

engg100

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@Deadly

Thanks for pointing that out. I also noticed that the SMT micro USB connector was pretty crappy as well (and a biatch to solder). I have changed this connector on the Production boards to a normal USB type B through hole connector. You can see it on this pic of just the connectors:

post-23258-142870607838_thumb.jpg

I am just finishing up layout right now so if anyone has any other suggestions, let me know!

Josh

engg100 Rookie

engg100

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@zolta420

I have tested the buttons with Future Pinball and they work great. Once I get the Production version I will test out how the accelerometer works for tilt and bump functions. I will be mapping the accelerometer to an analog joystick axis which you can configure in Future Pinball.

In other news, my project has been featured as a kickstarter "Staff Pick" It is at the top of the list!

http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/categories/technology?ref=sidebar

DonCorleon Rookie

DonCorleon

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Congrats dude. I have No doubt that you will get all the backing you need. Also, the people here, I think, would be more than happy to help you out if you need a hand software or firmware wise.

I'm excited :)

Sent from my GT-I9100T using Tapatalk

Keelis Apprentice

Keelis

Posted
Posted

This is awesome! Might be a dumb question, but can I use this along side an Ipac4 (since it's only 28 buttons, would I be able to set the player buttons and joysticks to your controller for the LED control and then run all extra buttons that I wouldn't need colored LEDs in off of the ipac)?

THK Grand Master

THK

Posted
Posted

Congrats! Must give you a good satisfying feeling :cool:

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