Adafruit Bluefruit EZ-Key -12 Input Bluetooth HID Keyboard Controller?

SlobberMonkey

I've been having a great time playing around with PiPlay. Right now I'm only interested in playing the classic arcade games through MAME. Now I'm looking for controller options and was wondering if anyone new if the following setup would work?

https://learn.adafruit.com/bluetooth-arcade-stick

Questions:
* Once built, how difficult would this be to setup
* Are 12 "keys" enough (up, down, left, right, fire.... plus navigation in menu?)
* How many buttons are recommended for arcade games
* Are there better wireless options out there
* Would it be responsive enough

mholgatem

I haven't used it, but I would trust it. Adafruit is pretty good. While it won't be 'competition' responsive (they only trust wired controllers). It should still be quite responsive. If you are using for just one player, then yes, it should be enough. 4 directions, 6 buttons, plus 2 extra buttons (coin1 + esc perhaps?) If you are using it for 2 players, I would look for another module.

SlobberMonkey

Thanks for the reply. Do you know of another bluetooth module that would support 2 players?

I'd entertain the idea of a wired setup as well any suggestions on that?

mholgatem

if you are going wired, use the gpio. There are several great libraries out there that make it super simple.
You could also go with the teensy++ 2.0 which is a usb module. (http://www.pjrc.com/teensy/) the ++ version has 46 input/output pins, which would be plenty.

mholgatem

you could also connect teensy to a bluetooth module like this

SlobberMonkey

Thanks again for all the great feedback. The Bluefruit and all the other parts are in transit from Adafruit. From looking at the Bluefruit documentation you can connect multiple units to the host so it may be a viable solution for two players as well.

I'm thinking of building a control box from these free plans http://www.arcadecab.com/Store/Single_Base_Details.htm

SlobberMonkey

My controller is all setup and connected to the Pi using the "Bluefruit EZ-Key - 12 Input Bluetooth HID Keyboard Controller". The controller works in the main menu and the within the MAME menu but once the game starts the controller inputs are no longer detected. I have successfully completed the controller setup from the main PiPlay menu. Once the game is launched I hit Tab on my connected main keyboard and select controller setup but none of the controller actions are detected. Any suggestions on how to get past this hurdle?

fsa317

That is weird, I'm using the EZ-Key and it's working great (actually using two of them). Have you tried any other emulators?

SlobberMonkey

No, I haven't tried any other emulators, I'll give that a try. Which Pi and PiPlay version are you using? I'm using a Pi 2 with the PiPlay 0.8.0 Beta 8.

fsa317

I'm on a Pi B+ (the original) and Beta 7.

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