Pittsburgh, Penn.-based Xgaming Inc. on Friday announced the forthcoming release of the X-Arcade Trackball, an “industrial-grade” gaming trackball aimed at Mac and PC users. The X-Arcade Trackball is expected to ship in mid-November for US$99.95.
The X-Arcade Trackball is the third gaming peripheral to be offered by Xgaming, which specializes in the manufacture of controllers that replicate the coin-op arcade experience. The original X-Arcade is a huge, twin-joystick apparatus compatible with Macs, PCs and through the use of adapters, various console systems. That was followed up in 2003 with the X-Arcade Solo, a single-joystick variation. That same year, Xgaming announced the X-Arcade Trackball and now, more than two years later, is actually ready to ship it.
Xgaming has manufactured the X-Arcade Trackball using the same materials you’d find in an authentic arcade game. It uses an ambidextrous layout: A center-mounted trackball is accompanied by three buttons on either side. And while it’s recognized by the system as a USB-based three button mouse (and supports any game accordingly), the X-Arcade Trackball is no lightweight, clocking in at 15 pounds.
Xgaming Inc. will ship the trackball with a collection of twelve “classic” arcade games on a PC CD-ROM, but the controller will work with any Mac game, including game emulators like MacMAME.