I-PAC 2 Arcade Game Controller Interface (IPAC2)

Exactly what I needed. I was trying to make a credit card reader communicate with a tablet for a photo booth. This is the step between the two which makes that possible. When the crdit card swipes, it sends a pulse to this chip. The chip converts that pulse into a standard keystroke on a computer. I chose the letter "C". When the program on the tablet is triggered by the letter C, the software begins to run, and it is that easy.Full disclosure, I purchased two of these units. The first one never worked, to my credit, I believe we roasted it by accidentally hooking15v directly to it from the start. It then became a troubleshooting nightmare, because nothing was working, and we had no idea we fried it. Anyway, we ordered a second unit, and it was honestly, plug-and-play.Perfect solution to a specific problem I had. It is capable of doing much more than what I need from it, so I wish there was a simpler and cheaper version. That being said, 5 stars because it is cleanly assembled, solid craftsmanship, and does exactly what I need.

Wiring to me was easy and the software allowed me to have hot keys so my arcade (running off a PC) starts up without needing a keyboard. I also don't need a keyboard to select or exit games via the software "Launchbox"

Hands down the gold standard for DIY controls, no ghosting or delays on simultaneous key presses. The best part is this keeps configurations after power off unlike other similar products while also allowing dynamic mapping on a per application basis. Been using these for years and the quality is still impressive.

This interface module easily converts switch actions into standard PC-keyboard codes that many games use. I used two boards--one per game cabinet. It was easy to connect controls and have a PC display the corresponding keyboard characters. For example, if you connect a normally-open switch to an input and close the switch (the other switch terminal connected to ground) your computer "sees" the key code. The document lists the signal inputs and the key code each one generates. A USB cable provides the connection to your game-control computer.Two cautions. 1. Some key codes are nonprinting (ALT and CTRL). The I-PAC software lets you change the codes, though. 2. If you get controls with JST-connectors on the jumper wires, the copper strands are VERY small and difficult to strip carefully and to attach to the screw-down terminal strips (approx. 0.2-in centers). I suggest you use strips of pin connectors on 0.1-inch centers. (Amazon vendors sell them.)To make a group of connections, say for four joystick switches, cut a strip of 7 pins and pull out odd numbered pins. Solder the four tiny wires to the short pins and put heat shrink tubing on the four solder joint. Put the long ends into the screw-down contacts on the board and tighten the screws.

After wiring and setting up on a 2 stick setup, no matter how I configured it, player 1 side acted like player 2 and vice versa.

I own a few of these and have had no issues with any of them. These are pretty amazing little devices that are perfect for what they do -- mapping microswitches to keyboard inputs, and I don't believe there are any other products which do it better. These use a software created by the same manufacturer called WinIPAC which lets you configure which inputs each button should trigger. The best part about these is the software writes these mappings into memory on the device itself, so once the board is configured it will retain its mappings regardless of where it's plugged in. I use two of these boards on a single computer and it works as expected, however I found that I couldn't configure both boards at the same time and had to plug just one in at a time (but once they're configured that doesn't matter). With two boards you can map pretty much every keyboard input possible.

I used this as an interface for my Raspberry Pi 3. I needed a way to import signals from two 4-way WICO leaf joysticks for my homemade/RetroPie Robotron game.