There was a time in college that I wanted to buy a Golden Tee arcade machine because…well…it’s just about the coolest game ever. I also hated going to Clodfelters and paying up to $20 to play the damn thing when I was getting crunk. So my roommates and I had it all planned out. We were going to get one off of eBay and to recoup our costs we’d hold tournaments and leave it coin-operated for everyone to use. It was a brilliant plan, but no one wanted to front the money for it. We were, after all, poor college students who spent money on booze, bud, and boobies. But don’t get me wrong. I enjoy playing other arcade games like Mortal Kombat and Pac Man, but Golden Tee was the bomb and something I was good at.
So you can imagine the tingling sensation I felt in my pants when the X-Arcade Tankstick arrived at my doorstep. I knew exactly what I wanted to play the moment I unboxed it. Even now I won’t play anything other than Golden Tee. Even though I can purchase adapters for use on any game console, I still haven’t done so, but maybe you will. In case you didn’t know X-Arcade is a gawd among retro-arcade enthusiasts. The level of accuracy the sticks and trackball provide are phenomenal. Not to mention the fact that combo moves are way easier on an arcade machine than any game console controller. But the fact that I can play thousands of classic arcade games has me tickled pink. There are also four pinball flipper buttons in case you’re into that sort of thing.
The Tankstick is one big, badass, mofo. It weighs 20lbs and 30-inches across for two players. It’s made from stripped parts off of old arcade machines, which is a cool bonus. I’ve never had a product that was built so tough. It has a lifetime warranty and X-Arcade boasts that the Tankstick is indestructible, but I’m not even going to attempt to prove them wrong. I like my video games too much to risk having to wait for a repair or parts.
Setup was a breeze and I plugged the Tankstick into my MacBook via USB and everything was good to go. No drivers. To hook up to your PC just plug in via USB and PS/2 and you’re ready to rumble. It may take some time to configure the eight button clusters to your specs depending on the game you want to play, but it’s easy to do thanks to the instruction manual included. The Tankstick includes four built-in memory slots and three can be programmed for whatever games you enjoy playing the most. X-Arcade was kind enough to include 18 full version arcade games, 12 Atari classics for the PC and six full versions of Midway titles like Gauntlet, Rampage and Joust. Don’t worry, Mac fans. Just get MAME and you’ll be fondling those sticks and buttons all night long.
What are you waiting for? Buy one now!
I’ll update this post tomorrow with more pics. My landlord hasn’t come by to replace the overhead lights so the lighting is horrible for pictures right now.