I’m thinking of making a website dedicated to arcade sticks, focusing on arcade stick tech database, news, gallery, reviews… etc.
Not just arcade sticks though… converters… controllers, etc.
arcade-stick.com URL is available and I’m thinking of biting onto it. I don’t want to handle the webmaster side of things, but I want to handle content. What do you guys think?
I don’t mind helping, although I don’t have much to offer =
No webmaster-ing skills either.
I want to focus/have a historical gallery of every single retail arcade stick/fighting stick ever made.
So this would lead back to the SNES/GEN/TG16 era… until no.
To start you off rofl
lol…
Seriously, I have a crap load of sticks… I think it’s finally time for me to do something with them. arcade-stick.com !
I just need a webmaster/graphic designer that can help me start it off… hrmmm let me tinker with a few things…
markman, i think that’s a fantastic idea, and i couldn’t think of anyone more suitable to start up a website like that. you should go for it! I’m a bit of an arcade stick fanatic myself. I’ve got 10 arcade sticks, and want to buy the new SF4 ones that you’re making, so i’m almost equally obsessed about them as you are 
Excellent idea. A one stopp all info archive gallery and review on Arcade Stick History.
I’m in. My site making skills are on the ho-hum side (check my page if you’re curious) but I’d be all for contributing, posting, and updating. You ought to snatch up that domain now.
Keep me in mind, if you haven’t found a webmaster to jump in as the captain of this crusade, I’ll see if I can find some designers willing to contribute probono.
Great idea!
I can help with a review about Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution Stick by Hori
I’m deep into web development, and this sounds like a good idea. Once the site is up and running and bringing in traffic, you could always offer advertising space to folks like Lizard Lick, Akihabara Shop, Norris Arcade Sticks, or even Hori and MadCatz…
I like the idea of the parts database. I think it would be cool if Slagcoin would join in and merge his site into this new one. I would love to see an in-depth tutorial section with nice large screenshots of the process of building a stick.
Looking forward, an online marketplace/shop to sell completed arcade sticks would also be a good idea…
its basically a work in progress but i’ve been working on something similar on my friend haunts’ site http://www.iplaywinner.com/stock-gallery/ (this section is just a retail stick summary and is continually growing)
tutorials for stick mods, pcb solder points, faceplate templates, joypad mods, etc. are already in the works as well.
but yeah if you ever need any help on anything markman, you know i’m always down. :tup:
I can help if needed, done plenty of web design and site running for years.
I am a web designer by trade. Your project sounds like the perfect project for a content management system, such as Joomla or Drupal. The cool thing about a CMS is that the web designer (administrator) can set up the site and contributors can add content to the site. Check out Joomla.org and Drupal.org to see what I am talking about. If you like what you see I can help in setting up the site and such. CMS’s are the future of web design in interactive websites.
Hey MarkMan, I saw your post on GAF as well. Hit me up in PM, I have a couple ideas, lets talk about this.
haunts/akuma001 and everyone, thanks. Lets make this happen. I really want to make this a community effort and provide ANY/all information out there.
there should be a DIY section too
i’m pretty new to sticks, but i’d love to help markman!
the DIY is pretty well handled by slagcoin. His resource is pretty much THE resource on that for now. I want to focus on retail sticks/stick historica first… and building a community for arcade sticks.
oh i just meant in terms of mods. cause mods are not currently very well documented. not as in “hey you there, wanna build an arcade stick?” more like a section for common mods to manufactured joysticks
Dont for get about joystickvault.com … LOL But yeah no site archives ‘commercial’ sticks though. Sounds cool.
It’s a great thought, Mark. My collection is non-existent now, but if you ever need help with content, just ask. I’ll be to help out if/when I can.
~Paik
I’m sure people would love to see your collection. You have a resource I do not think anyone else has.
I have some advice I think you should consider seriously. You have maybe bitten off more than you think at this point, or maybe you know there could be a lot of work already. This advice may seem overwhelming now, but trust me when I say it will be well worth it. Some of it may also seem patronizing, but you need to be sure to consider these things; you may be perfectly aware of these things, but I would like to make sure.
To summarize, like a computer programmer, you need to PLAN FIRST. If you are serious about making this site, you will want to invest a bunch of time early on to ensure things come together well and save a great deal of time in the future. You have done well already to ask for help, and you will probably need it in making this kind of site.
First thing, figure how to take pictures uniformly well. Set up of a small studio; make a background, maybe using a panel and some paint (figure what background color is best); use a lot of clean lighting. Get/make a rig to set your controllers upon (I mainly note this because it can be a pain to take pitures of joysticks upsidedown). Get a decent camera and understand how it works; know about exposure (you will want a long one); use the little flower button (so few people seem to know about it); use a tripod. Have a decent picture program (you especially want to adjust brightness and contrast, and will need cropping). Knowing how to photograph one thing well means you can do it over and over nicely and quickly.
As for the site itself, it sounds like you will be wanting a catalog-style structure for much of it. Besides like the front page and blogging-type stuff, make (probably with the help of others) an object/fields-oriented site. The objects will be things like sticks, controllers, and converters. The fields (many of which will be unique to each type of object) will include things like:
reference_name
Picture(s) Top: *
Picture(s) Bottom: *
Picture(s) Side: *
Picture(s) Inside: *
Title: like Hori Real Arcade Pro 1 (HRAP1)
System(s): like Playstation 2
Year(s): like 1998
Company: like Hori or Madcatz (maybe hyperlink them)
Official Site: reference to official page for the product
MSRP: like $129.99 or 12999 yen
In Production: Yes or No
Stock Joystick(s): like Sanwa JLF or Sanwa Knockoff
Stock Joystick Gate(s): like Square or Circle
Joystick Quantity: 1 or 2
Stock Play Buttons: like Sanwa OBSF-30 or Sanwa Knockoff
Stock Option Buttons: like Sanwa OBSF-24 or Sanwa Knockoff
Play Buttons Quantity: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8
Option Buttons Quantity: 2, 3, 4, or 5
Turbo Switches: Yes or No
Layout: Sega, Hori, Vewlix, or Other
PCB-Type(s): Common Ground, Common Line, or Multiple Line
Quick Disconnects: Yes or No
Wire Gauge: like 24 AWG
Box Shape: like Rectangular
Box Material: Plastic, Metal, or Wood
Panel Material: Plastic, Metal, or Wood
Height: *
Width: *
Depth: -
Weight: *
Ratings: (this will be different fields based on how you would like to rate things)
Modification Guide(s): like href=site Tingboy or a reference within the site
Description: the large document describing it
Try to figure all the fields you would like to have early on. Going back and determining more data can take up a ton of time.
Why do all this work with fields? For one thing, you can make a search for the site. But the more important reason is that the site can build itself in many cases and you will avoid a ton of redundant work. All you will have to do in adding each product is fill in the data into a document or something like that. On the other side, the site will (should) take the reference_name and use the data to build a page for each product based on the defined template.
Each page should reference the specific layout (like a table) and will take the data and build the page for it. If you want to change the way each page looks, all you have to do is change this building template. If you want to add new data, you just throw the new data in the controller’s reference data and maybe change how the template displays it. If a piece of data has not been specified, the page should then display something like “N/A”. You do not necessarily need to have all the data display either. If you want some unique display, you could also add bg_color or classes or other things to the fields.
This stuff could also make submissions much easier.
Find some people who can put this structure together and the site should come together smoothly and you should avoid a lot of trouble and wasted time.