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The Return of Cheep!

Nathan Strum

Entry posted by Nathan Strum

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So, what I'd planned to post about yesterday, was that I've built my first CheepTech project in awhile...

 

new_cheep_roids.jpg

 

What is it? Well, it's an Asteroids controller for the 2600/7800 of course! Doesn't it live up to all of your wildest expectations?

 

No?

 

Not even the duct tape?

 

Man... there's just no pleasing some people.

 

If it looks familiar, then you've probably been bored enough to snoop around my CheepTech site and found this page. What I did, was gut out the old home-made switches, and put in proper arcade switches. I figured since I already had the box built, there wasn't any point in building another one (although at some point, I'll probably build something a little more aesthetically pleasing, and a bit more ergonomic).

 

The reason I decided to do this, was because of the upcoming reviews I'm working on. In order to do Space Duel and Asteroids Deluxe justice, I felt a proper controller was in order. Besides that, I already had a box full of arcade parts from various unfinished CheepTech projects, so it didn't cost me anything.

 

The controller is working great, so I also went and modified the other one that I had with new buttons as well, since at some point I'll need a second player to properly review Space Duel. If you want to make your own, I put some instructions up on the CheepTech site. It's one of the easiest projects you can build.

 

The nice thing about these controllers, is that there are a lot of games you can use them with. Besides the ones already mentioned, there's also Thrust+, Gravitar, Suicide Mission, Track & Field, Decathlon, Space Invaders, Demon Attack, Megamania... pretty much any vertical shooter for that matter. It'll also work well (eventually) with Stellar Fortress and Rip Off, too. And... if you have a Stelladaptor, you can even use it with MAME. :D

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batari

I made one of those Asteroids controllers in Jr. High shop class around 25 years ago, out of translucent blue acrylic plastic. I was so proud of it that I took a photo, and although the controller is long gone, I believe I still have the photo somewhere. The pushbuttons were purchased from Radio Shack. Unfortunately the pushbuttons were small and rather hard to push, so it took a lot of getting used to.

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Nathan Strum

The lack of decent Radio Shack buttons were the reason we tried making our own buttons. That must have been around 25 years ago, too. I was thinking of maybe using black Corian to build a new case, but I don't know if I can get a small enough piece.

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batari
The lack of decent Radio Shack buttons were the reason we tried making our own buttons. That must have been around 25 years ago, too. I was thinking of maybe using black Corian to build a new case, but I don't know if I can get a small enough piece.
I'm pretty sure you can get Corian samples - just pretend you're thinking of remodeling the kitchen and you might get them for free :)
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