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Joysticks

Started by chocky909, July 13, 2012, 11:01:34 PM

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chocky909

I grew up with a Spectrum and and Amiga so I got used to holding the base and hitting the (solitary) fire button with my left hand and operating the sick with my right. Most right hander people did the same. This is why I could never deal with arcade cabinet controls which typically have the joystick on the left side although some had the opposite layout too on the right side. I bought a nice Hori arcade stick for my 360 to play SFIV and also intended to play Speedball 2 and Sensi Soccer online but I just couldn't adapt to the reversal. I tried to cross my hands but it's not comfortable for more than a minute or 2.

Anyone else suffer from this debilitating condition and have you found a suitable controller to play those retro games?

This looks cool but I don't fancy forking out £150 for a bloody joystick.

http://eightarc.com/2012/qanba-q2-pro-battle-of-wits-arcade-stick

chocky909

#1
I can't believe that no one here has anything to say about joysticks. Surely I can't be the only guy that has this problem with modern arcade sticks. I was hoping everyone would be posting pics of their favourite joysticks from the 80s and 90s. Quickjoy, Quickshot, Kempston, Interface, microswitches, Navigator, Speedking, Zipstick.

mcbpete

I've got one of these -



Attached to one of these -



And it works a charm .....

EDIT: Oops just noticed you writing about it being the joystick->button layout order that's the issue...

As for joystick talk, remember when these monstrosities came out:


Marty McFly



the official Alien 3 joystick, or as I always called it, The Blister Generator.

bomb_dog


Buy one of these, and one of these, or make one of these or follow the tutorials at Build Your Own Arcade Controls and you could put the buttons where you want.

I used to find that Quickshots were great to use, but that the leaf switches wore out after a while, though saying that, the old microswitches gave way after only a slightly longer while too. I'm a lefty but found holding the stick with my left translated better to arcade controls. I always thought it worked better for us lefties, obviously not in your case. Weirdly, the speedking seemed to be the only stick that was pretty much designed for righties from the off....

Nasty.

mook

sort of on topic. i bought of these in the late 90s:


christ it was shite.

and there ends mook's guide to joysticks.

chocky909

Notice how all those old joysticks posted demand you use your right hand for the stick? How am I supposed to play Sensible Soccer on XBL using my left hand after all those neurons have fused forever in my brain due to playing 1000s of hours when I was 14?

I really don't think there is a left handed solution for 360/360/PC at the moment but that Qanba looks ideal if it ever gets released.

I loved that Speedking stick!

mcbpete

Everyone knows that this was the joystick of kings back in the Miggy days -


bitesize

My stick of choice in The Olden Days (i.e. for the Speccy) was the mighty Konix Navigator:

Kind of the forerunner to having sticks on pads I guess, with the small mounted stick on top and trigger for your triggerfinger and whatnot.

Jerzy Bondov

Quote from: mcbpete on July 16, 2012, 01:55:51 PM
Everyone knows that this was the joystick of kings back in the Miggy days -


There it is! I had one of these for my Atari ST, it was an absolute beast and saw me through hour after hour of Rainbow Islands. These things made such satisfying clicking sounds as well.

Neil

I had one of these sent over from America


Slaaaaabs



Quote from: Marty McFly on July 15, 2012, 12:09:23 PM
[img]http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x195/northern_gooner/alien1.jpg[img]

the official Alien 3 joystick, or as I always called it, The Blister Generator.

Oh fucking hell. I had one of those utter bastards.

Jerzy Bondov


I always used to see adverts for this little freak in ST/Amiga Format. Did anybody have one? Was it good?

Marty McFly

One of my fellow Amiga-owning cousins did. I didn't like it.

I do remember it being available in a fetching (not really) shade of green as well.. probably nicknamed The Greenfly by the mags.



I ended up using a Mega Drive joypad on my Amiga after my beloved Quickshot joystick died. This one:


Consignia

The thing I hated about joysticks was having to calibrate them. For someone spack-handed like me, it was easy enough to get them into an unuseable state for the duration of a session. I generally prefer pads, but do have one of these babies:


For playing arcadey games, like beat 'em-ups.

MojoJojo

Quote from: Jerzy Bondov on July 16, 2012, 08:16:15 PM

I always used to see adverts for this little freak in ST/Amiga Format. Did anybody have one? Was it good?

Amiga Power thought it was the best joystick. Because you could use it 1 handed (without resting it on a desk). I never used one.

I favoured a Python joystick. It kept with the innuendo.

The Plunger

Quote from: Jerzy Bondov on July 16, 2012, 08:16:15 PM

I always used to see adverts for this little freak in ST/Amiga Format. Did anybody have one? Was it good?

I had one of those, it enhanced the Sensible Soccer experience tenfold. Perfect for curling shots etc. Worked my way through three of the buggers.

On general joystick chat, did anyone ever actually own a 'Kempston' joystick ? Was always an option on Spectrum games, but I've never met anyone who actually owned one of the fuckers. And never saw one in the shops.

Marty McFly

Quote from: The Plunger on July 16, 2012, 09:18:23 PM
On general joystick chat, did anyone ever actually own a 'Kempston' joystick ? Was always an option on Spectrum games, but I've never met anyone who actually owned one of the fuckers. And never saw one in the shops.

I did! I had a Speccy before upgrading to the Amiga 500+. And my Speccy had one of these things sticking out of its back:


Quote from: Slaaaaabs on July 16, 2012, 02:42:56 PM


YES. We used to have one of those. With the twisty ring around the base of the shaft to adjust the stiffness OH SHUT UP YOU SMUTTY TWATS

Quote from: MojoJojo on July 16, 2012, 09:07:15 PM
I favoured a Python joystick. It kept with the innuendo.

We got a Python for the Amiga after the Cruiser broke. If you switched it to Master System mode, you could use one fire button to jump and one to fire in Leander. That was a REVELATION.

Quote from: Slaaaaabs on July 16, 2012, 02:42:56 PM



And the yellow buttons would get stuck. Bloody nightmare of a controller.

Comfort wise, the best controller was the N64 controller which incorporated the joystick.

DAZZA DIRTBOLLOCK

Quote from: chocky909 on July 16, 2012, 02:04:56 AMI really don't think there is a left handed solution for 360/360/PC at the moment but that Qanba looks ideal if it ever gets released.
Qanbas are great sticks (I have played on loads and have a Qanba Q4RAF myself). I expect this will be given 360 support before long: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/05/nyko-free-fighter-joystick-brings-flexible-controls-arcade-flai/



You could have a crack at making your own. The most expensive component is usually the PCB (for modern multi-console support you'd probably want the Paewang PCB, PS360 PCB, or even ChimpSMD PCB with a 360 PCB piggybacking it), but the cost will still escalate once you add components such as the actual joystick, buttons, wiring, etc, especially if you don't have many tools yourself to do it. The upside to this though is that you can design it in a way that suits you best and you can also use any old hollow case to install it in, such as a large lunchbox, a briefcase, or even the top of a table. People have even turned cereal boxes in to arcade sticks. :D


Jerzy Bondov

Do you work in the Joystick Museum?

Still Not George

Amongst other things, we operate a vintage computer and console store as a sideline.

madhair60

How much for an Amiga 500?

Jerzy Bondov

edit: Feel like a stalker now

Still Not George

PM sent. Not going to go into too much detail or drop links on here so as not to upset The Boss.