I figured that I would give everyone who might be curious about the building process I go through, since I am sure some of you are curious as to how I make my Pop’n Music controllers.  These controllers were done over a weekend during the summer, and many of them are still available for sale.

First we take the wood…. (two 8′X4′ pieces of 1/2″ birch plywood, cut up to 6 sizable pieces to fit in my car)

Then we cut 16 tops (Also pictured, my protective gear)

Then we cut 32 long side pieces (this part is a pain!  Also pictured is my beverage.)

Then I take the 16 tops and 64 sides and lay them out stacked on top of each other, making sure each pair of short and long sides are the same length.

Then we glue!

And we glue some more! (And I need to clean this area, as you can see the clutter of spray paint and random scrap wood)

This is what’s left to glue. I give the current batch that’s glued 3 hours for the Gorilla Glue to cure, then I unclamp them and work on as many of these as I can do at one time.

The finished shells.

I just created a page with some Pop’n Music controllers I have in stock and on hand. I worked on these along-side the 6 or so owed Pop’n Music controllers, which will begin shipping, which should make those of you currently waiting very happy. :) Here’s a link to the (currently barebones) in-stock controller page.

You’ll also notice on the Pop’n Music product page I added 10 common countries, and its shipping price, as a drop-down menu that can be added to your cart. This means that international customers can now order without waiting for a shipping quote from me!

Also, don’t forget to check out the Desktop Arcade Flickr page, where you can see the pile of Pop’n controllers I built a couple of months ago while I was waiting for my buttons to arrive from China. You can also browse a huge selection of past solid color controllers, and most past art controllers. (There also might be a secret project or two on there. Shhhh!)

The orders shipped and shipping this week are the last of the ones with my current batch of buttons.  I have 4 outstanding Pop’n orders, which will be shipped as soon as the new buttons arrive from China this month.  This puts me in a good position to quickly ship new orders, as the order queue hasn’t been this low in a long, long time.  If you are considering ordering, now is a good time!  If you have any questions or concerns, you can always email me, Steve@desktoparcade.com and find out if the queue is still looking good.

I am also in the process of shipping the last of the IIDASC orders, so that those who have been waiting as long as they have, and have been as patient as they have been can finally play at home the way Konami intended us to play.

Orders have been coming in for Pop’n Music DASCs, and I am currently working on purchasing more buttons from my supplier, since we are near the end of our current stock of Pop’n Music domed buttons.  They should arrive in the next couple of weeks, and I will be able to ship the newest orders pending the delivery of parts.  New orders will continue to be completed as quickly as possible and will ship upon my receiving the buttons in a first ordered, first completed fashion, so now is the perfect time to order!

When the new buttons come in, I will also begin taking orders for sets of Pop’n Music buttons for those who want to build their own controllers.  Button sets will be $70 plus shipping with 14 microswitches, a bunch of incandescent bulbs for the buttons, and the lampholders of course.

If you’re interested in ordering and have any questions before paying, feel free to email me, Steve@desktoparcade.com .  Those of you who have ordered recently, boxes have been worked on and completed, we have board wired, and you can email me individually for order updates if you’d like.

As always, thanks everyone!

Greetings, all!  Desktop Arcade is still in the Pop’n Music controller business, and I’m still doing joysticks and IIDX controllers on request.  I owe 4 IIDX controllers that are horribly overdue, and this current batch of Pop’n controllers everyone’s waiting on has been dribbling out the door, and I’ve got 8 of them just about ready to head out the door, pending me putting their bottoms on and testing them.  I want to thank everyone who has been patient, as when my buttons finally arrived, I became ultra busy with school and some family-life stuff, which took more of my time away from Desktop Arcade.  I’ve got a bunch of people emailing me interested in ordering, and if I haven’t replied to you yet, you will hear from me in the next couple of days.

For those of you who haven’t already, I suggest keeping an eye on my public Twitter account, www.twitter.com/dumpsterkeeper .  There, current customers will be able to catch updates on shipments, especially now that I have to drive to a Fed-Ex location to ship, whereas with DHL they used to do pick-ups right from my doorstep.  I post a lot of nonsense and banter to it, but with the weather getting better, I will be giving everybody a look inside the inner-workings of Desktop Arcade, including shots from inside of my work shop (once I do some spring cleaning in there, it’s a mess!) So, for those interested in keeping an eye on things, or getting a peek at what a day is like around here, I definitely suggest following it.

I’ll be posting on here a lot more, as I plan to change the website and add a lot of new features to it.  I plan on starting a new section of the website, probably entitled “D.I.Y. Desktop Arcade” which will sell parts (buttons and microswitches for now… in the near future, IIDX turntable assemblies and possibly plexiglass key panels will follow) and I will also be posting tutorials you can use to help build your own joysticks, Pop’n Music controllers, and some other projects I’ve built or planned on building over the years.

I sure hope you’ll all join me over the next few months, as I rebuild Desktop Arcade, and try to build a helpful community for people like myself who love video games and love building stuff, and decide to put those two passions together.  Five years ago, I decided to bring affordable Pop’n Music controllers to Bemani fans all over the world, and now I want to bring those same high quality buttons and components I’ve used in my products to anyone who wants them.  I’ll have pricing and other information available soon.

Your friendly, neighborhood Bob Vila of Bemani,

Steve Handelman