IPad Air - connecting to an arcade stick, Icade maybe?

murphyebass

Has anyone used the Icade for Ipads yet?

I recently won an Ipad air which I'm debating whether to keep or sell.

I like the idea of the Icade but its cheap so I can only imagine the parts are terrible.

That said it got me thinking. Is there a way of connecting my yellow buttoned Namco arcade stick to the ipad or changing the buttons etc on the Icade with better parts maybe?

Theres a good lot of shumps on the Ipad that would be fun if the set up was right for me. Personally I dont like the touch screen controls.

cheers

ps .. edit. seems to be a lot of videos of jailbroken ipads and a way of connecting a ps3 controller but I dont want to jailbreak the device tbh. I reckon if there is a way of connecting the ps3 controller though without jailbreaking the Ipad theres probably a way of connecting the Namco arcade stick with a PS2 to PS3 adapter of sorts.

Steve X2

Here's one of my iCades.
http://www.retrovia.ie/showthread.php/6177-What-s-inside-an-Ion-iCade

Don't use it at all really any more but there are some decent games and emulators on iOS for it.

murphyebass

Steve SI wrote: »

Here's one of my iCades.
http://www.retrovia.ie/showthread.php/6177-What-s-inside-an-Ion-iCade

Don't use it at all really any more but there are some decent games and emulators on iOS for it.

Thats very cool. I'd never have put a pink stick and buttons on it but it really pops. Love it!

Is it hard for someone like me with absolutely no experience of changing parts on these things to do or is there soldering etc needed.

Also where would I get the proper parts?

The Ipad I got is an Ipad Air. Would it work on an Icade? It says up to Ipad 4. I dont even know what an Ipad Air is number wise. Maybe just a lighter version of 4 which I assume means it'll work grand.

And lastly I really dont want to mess with the Ipad itself ie jailbreaking it incase I do ever want to sell it on or give to a family member.
This app "gridlee" does it work on an Ipad if its not jailbroken or is that a silly question.

thanks a mil!! Sorry for all the questions.

Steve X2

It works fine on my iPad 2 and iPad Air. It even works on the iPhone if you want
All it does is connect to the iPad using Bluetooth so it’s nothing fancy, it’s just a Bluetooth controller and I know some people use it with android tablets as well. To swap out the buttons with decent ones you will need to enlarge the button holes with a dremel or other cutting tool to allow the larger Sanwa or Seimitsu buttons to fit in. That’s fairly easy as you just go slowly and you’ll be fine. You can use the wires already inside to connect if you like but I soldered on some new wires and connectors. As for the joystick, that required a bit more work as I replaced the mechanism but not the metal bar and had to use some Sugru to mount it inside the case.
Have a look at the link I posted above as I put a load of pics in that to show how it looks inside the iCade.

As for the jailbreak, I don’t see why you wouldn’t do it as you can just restore it if you want to sell it on and that’s that. The iPad Air is a powerful little device, it’s pretty darn good at running a lot of MAME games and they play great on the iCade controls so it’d be a shame to miss out on that.

CiDeRmAn

I have an iCade that's been gathering dust here, if you are interested.
I can stick it in the Marketplace and you can make an offer or trade if you like.

Casey120

I don't think the parts are terrible and never bothered to upgrade altough I have seimitsu and Sanwa parts laying about , the buttons are a bit stiff but the stick is pretty usable actually.


Keep it stock and enjoy it for what it is, I say .

murphyebass

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

I have an iCade that's been gathering dust here, if you are interested.
I can stick it in the Marketplace and you can make an offer or trade if you like.

Give me a week just to think whether I want to keep the Ipad Ciderman. If I do keep it yeah we'll work something out. I'd rather not spend the £30 odd sterling they're going for on Amazon so yeah give me a week. Cheers.

murphyebass

Steve SI wrote: »

It works fine on my iPad 2 and iPad Air. It even works on the iPhone if you want
All it does is connect to the iPad using Bluetooth so it’s nothing fancy, it’s just a Bluetooth controller and I know some people use it with android tablets as well. To swap out the buttons with decent ones you will need to enlarge the button holes with a dremel or other cutting tool to allow the larger Sanwa or Seimitsu buttons to fit in. That’s fairly easy as you just go slowly and you’ll be fine. You can use the wires already inside to connect if you like but I soldered on some new wires and connectors. As for the joystick, that required a bit more work as I replaced the mechanism but not the metal bar and had to use some Sugru to mount it inside the case.
Have a look at the link I posted above as I put a load of pics in that to show how it looks inside the iCade.

As for the jailbreak, I don’t see why you wouldn’t do it as you can just restore it if you want to sell it on and that’s that. The iPad Air is a powerful little device, it’s pretty darn good at running a lot of MAME games and they play great on the iCade controls so it’d be a shame to miss out on that.

Had a look at the pics there, only flicked through them the first time, and yeah there seems to be quite a bit to it for a non diy lad like myself. If I do get one I think I'll just try the joystick and buttons first and see from there how I get on.

On the jailbreak thing I thought it can ruin the device thats why I wouldnt do it. But if its perfectly safe to do without bricking it yeah I'd have no issue with it as you say once you can restore it to factory settings.

Does that gridlee app work without a jailbreak though no?

cheers.

CiDeRmAn

murphyebass wrote: »

Had a look at the pics there, only flicked through them the first time, and yeah there seems to be quite a bit to it for a non diy lad like myself. If I do get one I think I'll just try the joystick and buttons first and see from there how I get on.

On the jailbreak thing I thought it can ruin the device thats why I wouldnt do it. But if its perfectly safe to do without bricking it yeah I'd have no issue with it as you say once you can restore it to factory settings.

Does that gridlee app work without a jailbreak though no?

cheers.

Gridlee app works on the ipad but you would have had to have bought it from the app store. And it was pulled a year ago
I'm not sure if it's back on it or if there is an alternative.
Happily, I think the iCade works with Android devices and they will let you install anything you like.