X-Arcade PS4 Adapter

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VideoGameCritic
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X-Arcade PS4 Adapter

Postby VideoGameCritic » September 24th, 2016, 9:13 pm

Today I received a PS4 adapter that should allow me to use my X-Arcade solo controller with my PS4. It's not working.

The first bit of strangeness is that this is not from X-Arcade at all, but from a company called Brook. There is no mention of X-arcade anywhere in the packaging, despite the fact I ordered it from them.

I have all the necessary wires, and frankly it looks pretty ridiculous how many separate wires and adapters need to be daisy chained. The converter came with a blue card that says:
"Follow the instructions to connect the converter to the PS3/PS4 console."

Real helpful right?
Am I missing something? Did they forget to include an instruction sheet? Are instructions supposed to appear on the screen?

I wrote to Brook and I might have to write to X-Arcade too.

It's a shame this thing isn't plug and play. I wanted to use it to help review the new King of Fighters game.

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Atariboy
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Re: X-Arcade PS4 Adapter

Postby Atariboy » September 25th, 2016, 3:52 am

Sounds like they forget a slip of paper. Did you check out the support page on their site?

You can thank Sony for this being necessary though. X-Arcade's adapter mess is all due to Microsoft locking down controllers with the Xbox 360. Sony saw it as also lucrative and proceeded to follow suit.

As such, you're stuck paying licensing fees. And that's assuming that the platform holder even wants to play ball, which as an X-Arcade owner back in the early years of the 360 that saw the mess that time about it, is anything but assured. They were willing to pay for a controller license back then, but Microsoft refused. I assume they didn't want to step on Hori's toes since I think they were it for 360 compatible arcade sticks back around 2006.

As such, bizarre workarounds to circumvent controller DRM are the order of the day.

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Re: X-Arcade PS4 Adapter

Postby snakeboy » September 25th, 2016, 12:41 pm

Is this the adapter here?:

https://www.focusattack.com/brook-super ... 4-adapter/

If it is, it looks like they recommend you update the firmware. If you click on the support tab, it gives links to the firmware update and instructions.

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Re: X-Arcade PS4 Adapter

Postby VideoGameCritic » September 28th, 2016, 9:41 pm

Turns out I was using a really old PS2 adapter which apparently doesn't work with this setup. I was fortunately to also own the 5-in-1 adapter (which included the PS2 connector) and that worked.

The X-arcade support has been pretty responsive. My last question to them is what buttons are used for the PS button and option button. The documentation leaves a lot to be desired.

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Re: X-Arcade PS4 Adapter

Postby VideoGameCritic » October 1st, 2016, 11:22 am

Turns out my X-arcade solo doesn't have a "share" button, which is fine except for the fact that to emulate the PS button (which I use to power off the system) you need to hold share and push start. The workaround is to use the PS button on the adapter itself, but that's hanging off your system.

This PS4 adapter, which I should write a proper review for, feels like a kludge. It works on a basic level (seems responsive enough) but the chain of wires looks comical and figuring out what buttons do what is a hassle.

If you already own the X-Arcade with some of the required wires (like the 5-in-1 adapter), then paying $30 for the PS4 adapter is probably worth it. But if you're starting from zero you may want to opt for a dedicated PS4 joystick. It'll probably be a more rewarding experience.


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