XGaming X-Arcade Dual Arcade Joystick

Connecting the X-Arcade Joystick Keeping it simple

As we mentioned on the previous page, no drivers are necessary for installing the X-Arcade Solo or Dual joysticks.  In fact, the X-Arcade joystick will not even appear as a controller - it's actually read by the PC as a keyboard.  To accomplish this, we need to look at the back of the unit where we find two connectors, a PS/2 input and a serial output.  There is also a MODE switch and an oddly placed button, but we will get back to these later.

To properly connect the joystick, a PS/2 keyboard is needed, which gets plugged into the open PS/2 port on the back.  USB keyboard users will need to get a USB-to-PS2 adapter to make the connection, and these can usually be found cheaply in most electronics stores.  Next, take the two cables that are in the package and combine them to make one long cord.  Push the serial plug into the joystick, tighten the end-screws, and then attach the other end to the keyboard PS/2 port on the back of the PC - where your keyboard was originally plugged into.  If connected correctly, a red light in the upper right corner of the joystick should light up.

When you're done, it should look like the picture on the left.  The X-Arcade becomes a junction between the keyboard and the computer.  For those inclined to do so, XGAMING also provides a USB adapter (at an additional cost) which can be used to connect to the PC instead.  All in all, it's a simple procedure that shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes.  After that, all you'll need to do is boot up the system.  As we mentioned earlier, the X-Arcade joystick is technically read as a keyboard, and for a quick functionality check you could open up Notepad and hit the buttons and you'll see characters appear.  This is also a good way to find out the current key mappings as well.

Connecting the joystick to consoles is not much different, although there's no need for any input devices to be plugged in.  For consoles, the appropriate adapter connects to the end of the serial cable, which then branches off into two joystick plugs, each of which is conveniently labeled.  It then works just like a standard gamepad, with the various buttons assigned to the arcade buttons.  However, newer game systems can feature both digital and analog controls, such as the D-Pad and thumbsticks found on a Playstation 2 controller.  Using the side button on the X-Arcade joystick, you can switch quickly between analog and digital modes, but in general XGAMING recommends that users use the standard controllers for games that require use of both.