You may remember the old arcade game parlors and coin-operated arcade consoles dedicated to playing games such as Ms. Pacman, Donkey Kong, Robotron, Missile Command and many other simple but fun action-filled classics. One of the keys to the success of these old-time games, aside from the simplicity and action, was the industrial strength of the controls. Massive and sturdy, they were meant to withstand even teenager’s abuse. Pound on the buttons, slam the joystick and spin the heavy trackball, all in a effort to shoot down the enemy spaceships before they get you. Or set your gorilla up for smashing down tall buildings before the soldiers get him--and other games of non-stop action.

You’ll find all this and more in X-Arcade Tankstick. The controller features two joysticks and 24 large, solid buttons variously placed on and around the cabinet. Four of the buttons are located on the sides of the cabinet and can emulate flipper buttons for the pinball games, two buttons on top are dedicated to "One" or "Two" player action, one button in the back of the cabinet locks horizontal scroll improving your play action in some games, and another button in back is used for programing. A massive trackball occupies a prominent front and center position on the console. The trackball feels rock solid but spins easily, sending the cursor flying smoothly across the screen. The twin joysticks are large and ready for rough action.

X-Arcade Tankstick uses two cables to attach to your PC or Mac: one for the joystick/buttons and one for the trackball/mouse. Either connection can use a USB or PS/2 (keyboard/mouse) port. For Windows XP users, no special drivers are needed--the console just works. The controller can be used with a PC or Mac, or it can be attached, using the appropriate adapter cable, to any of several popular gaming consoles such as the Playstation 2 or 3, Xbox, or WII. Functionality may be different for some arrangements. For example, the trackball is operational on PC/Macs but not on gaming consoles. The X-Arcade Tankstick is powered from its PC/Mac or game console connections, so there is no need for a separate AC adapter.

Out of the box, the X-Arcade Tankstick is set to work with many of the old classic arcade games by using the MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) specifications that are designed to reproduce on your computer the behavior of various arcade machines. Included with the X-Arcade Tankstick are 12 Atari PC Classics, such as Asteroids, Battlezone, Centipede, the old original Pong and six full version Midway games such as Defender, Robotron, Rampage (complete with gorilla) and Defender. Hundreds more arcade games are available through www.mame.net, and these games should keep you happy for years to come.

The console has three memory banks available for user programing. Programing allows you to match button and joystick assignments to different game actions. For example, if you want a specific button to represent a jump action or a specific joystick position to represent a turning action that is different from the default configuration, you can program these changes. For some games you might have a more complex set of button/joystick assignments, but not to worry--the console is designed to remember these assignments even if the power is turned off, so you won’t have to reprogram them. We thought it would have been helpful if Xgaming, the company that made the X-Arcade Tankstick, provided some type of button overlay to remind us what the label of each button is in the default MAME mode and provide blank overlays which we could fill in for the programed modes.

The trackball acts as a mouse in all computer applications and the buttons emulate some keyboard keys such as shift, CTRL, ALT, space and a few assorted numbers and letters. We must admit, though, that using the console as a substitute for our mouse and/or keyboard is a stretch since the console occupies a lot of desk geography.

X-Arcade Tankstick comes with a 23-page printed manual and toll-free and on-line technical support. There is a 30-day money back guarantee, and the company is so sure of the strength of their product they offer a lifetime warranty that includes paying postage both ways.

Using X-Arcade Tankstick was fun, giving us the feeling of solid control, much more so than using a small handheld controller or keyboard and mouse. And to top it off, there’s the nostalgia of reliving the days of the old arcade machines.

  Click Here to Return to the Main Column Archive Page