keyboard encoder?

Question

Iron

I want to buy arcade buttons and sticks ( tyts ). You need to connect them to a PC. There are several ways to do this:
1) Use a ready-made device ( hop ), but it costs more than 2k with delivery, which is expensive, as for me
2) Unwind an old but working USB keyboard, remove the controller from there and solder your buttons. I have already begun to work in this direction, but there is a problem - the number of simultaneously pressed keys is limited and is clearly not enough for 2 people.
3) Unwind an even older, but working PS / 2 keyboard and do the same as with USB. PS / 2 keyboards have no limit on the number of simultaneously pressed keys, but where can I find a PS / 2 port now? Minicomputers like Pi don't have it, laptops don't either.
4) Buy two of the cheapest USB gamepads and solder the wires to the pads. The advantages of this solution are that all buttons can be processed simultaneously, a pair of the cheapest gamepads costs 400 rubles, it is defined in the system as a full-fledged gamepad. Of the minuses - it is likely that it will be difficult to solder to the board and the design will be flimsy.
I would like to organize a game for two, and this is about 24 buttons
. Are there any other options? Maybe based on Arduino or Pi or something else?

Answer 1

The joystick must be defined as a joystick in the system and in games.
I did it from the keyboard - it's inconvenient. I had to take out Enter and Escape to control the game, and not every game can “tune in” to the buttons that you put on the joysticks.
And the simplest joy can be assembled on LPT or USB-LPT - a minimum of strapping and everything works.

Answer 2

There is not quite based on Arduino, but close to it: This is the so-called v-usb library .
With all desire, such a controller will cost around $ 10 and killed time to understand the operation. But ready-made projects from the specified site can help.