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Unleash your stories – Kevin Lee

While some may be content with products offered on the market, when students like Kevin Lee can’t find what they’re looking for – they design their own.

Kevin’s story

Kevin is a third year Mechatronics student, and has been a long-time fan of 1v1 competitive and retro-themed video games. After developing a passion for fighting games, which require precision and timing as well as mental wit when battling against opponents, he realised his keyboard didn’t offer the capability required to gain a winning edge.

Like many gamers, the problems that came with using a laptop keyboard were numerous, including keyboard ghosting, bunched up keys, and controlling “WASD” keys in comparison to a joystick. In his own words – “button meshing is not fun”. After exploration into the arcade controller market, he realised that most options were either overpriced or simply not aesthetically pleasing.

So, using the Unleash Space’s Maker Space, Kevin has created his own arcade game controller, or fightstick. The entire casing has been made with materials and equipment from the Maker Space. The laser cutter was perfect for making the precise cuts his design required, and the multitude of other hand tools allowed for shaping thicker multi-density fibreboards and finishing touches.

With the help of our informative creative technologists and electrical DIY kits available online, Kevin is now close to finishing his project and it is functioning as intended. While improvements remain to be added, he is excited to use the fightstick for playing games.