In keeping with my previous posts, I’ve been building small prototypes to get a feel for the woodworking and to get the components working. I completed a prototype of using just a spinner. While the trackball is good for games with x and y axis’, the spinner is good for single axis games like Pong and Arkanoid.

Prototype1

Here is the video of me building it:

I ended up using the same type of Michael’s store wooden case for the prototype as was used with the trackball.
The spinner you can see at Ultrimarc, it’s a really nice arcade parts company. Here is the product. Additionally, you need to get the knob and optionally a flyweight.

The knobs come in a few different shapes and colors. I went with red, as I may as do a blue one for the player-2 blue side, in order to play games like pong together.

The flyweight is optional, but it is useful for keeping the spinner moving longer. They come in small and large sizes. I got the larger one.

Building the spinner into the arcade couldn’t be simplier. It goes directly into an arcade button hole.

When using the spinner with the RetroPie software, you do need to configure it a bit. See this site for more information.

Let me know if you decide to build one, it’s a really nice addition to the normal joystick and button configuration.

The song used in it is from “They’re so Incredible” by the band Revenge. Link

The images are from Moby Games: Link

and from Print Magazine: Link