Are there any good prebuilt trackball controllers for PC emulator use?

[koifish | 556]

I recently developed an interest in playing some Major Havoc and some Golden Tee. I wanted to get a trackball, but I don't have time to build a controller like I did once upon a time, so I was hoping I could get a prebuilt. They don't really seem common, however; The only thing that looks to be recent is the Atari branded arcade sticks for PC that were sold at microcenter for a short time, and then the taito egret 2 mini controllers, which seem both small and expensive. Is there something I can get that's premade and is of decent quality so that I don't have to rig up a box and wire my own controls and such?

[Code Monkey | 2,009]

X-Arcade Tankstick, it's also compatible with some consoles.

 

[DefaultGen | 5,405]

I have an ancient X-Arcade trackball (smaller than the tankstick, PS/2 interface!) and it actually feels good. Pretty nice design for the whole thing too. I had a MAME cabinet with a U-Track that felt worse.

[VmprHntrD | 1]

How about an oversized (arcade sized) center set PC usb trackball?  Kensington makes one, their Expert Mouse Wireless Trackball.  Big red ball, ring around that is a mouse wheel and around that yet are 4 buttons for mouse control.  It's very easy to use for arcade trackball games and then use your other hand on whatever button is best to shoot.

[koifish | 556]

21 hours ago, Code Monkey said:

X-Arcade Tankstick, it's also compatible with some consoles.

 

 

16 hours ago, DefaultGen said:

I have an ancient X-Arcade trackball (smaller than the tankstick, PS/2 interface!) and it actually feels good. Pretty nice design for the whole thing too. I had a MAME cabinet with a U-Track that felt worse.

wow, surprised to hear that. I used to have a u-trac and thought it was really good. May be more than I can afford to buy/store ATM but I'll keep it in mind for future purchases.

14 hours ago, VmprHntrD said:

How about an oversized (arcade sized) center set PC usb trackball?  Kensington makes one, their Expert Mouse Wireless Trackball.  Big red ball, ring around that is a mouse wheel and around that yet are 4 buttons for mouse control.  It's very easy to use for arcade trackball games and then use your other hand on whatever button is best to shoot.

Knew of trackball mice but had problems with one I tried before. MAME seemed to not read it properly; My guess is the mouse wasn't made for that kind of use. That Kensington looks awesome though! Huge ball, could definitely work and they're cheap on eBay too, my favorite. I'll try picking one up and see if it is what I'm looking for.

[VmprHntrD | 1]

On 8/31/2023 at 2:20 PM, koifish said:

Knew of trackball mice but had problems with one I tried before. MAME seemed to not read it properly; My guess is the mouse wasn't made for that kind of use. That Kensington looks awesome though! Huge ball, could definitely work and they're cheap on eBay too, my favorite. I'll try picking one up and see if it is what I'm looking for.

The diameter of the ball is around 2 1/4 inches and as long as (with any non arcade ball) you keep the sensors clean inside it seemingly works excellent for games that would want a ball or I would think even a spinner too which has a similar function.

[koifish | 556]

On 9/2/2023 at 8:23 PM, VmprHntrD said:

The diameter of the ball is around 2 1/4 inches and as long as (with any non arcade ball) you keep the sensors clean inside it seemingly works excellent for games that would want a ball or I would think even a spinner too which has a similar function.

Indeed! I got a USB expert mouse (it must be old cuz it's in that off-white color that all computing hardware used to be) but it works like a charm. The only game that fails is segasonic the hedgehog. The game seems to not care for the ball; often it gives what seems to be wrong input responses, among other problems. Other stuff seems ok however. Pretty happy with it overall!