Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Gaming => Topic started by: ruffneck on July 08, 2003, 06:11:42 PM
-
My favourite one was Quickjoy/Spectravideo Megastar. Post your favourites too.
-
TAC 2 ...impossible to break.
Competetion pro 500 was exellent also (THE REAL ONES, not the cheap Look alikes... i still use my 15 year old competetion pro :)
Zipstick aint bad...if u have one of the orginals.
the bug is nice aswell if u got the hands for it.
-
Quickjoy Topstar
-
The Arcade Turbo. Fast, accurate, but unfortunately not that hard to break...
-
Slickstick was my favorit.
-
Slickstick was nice but to easy to break. The Totally Accurate Controller 2 (tac-2) is sharing first place with a standard Sega Master System controller ... for some games the Tac was better and for some the Sega pad.
-
Amiga PowerStick.
Hard pressed to find a smaller joystick for an Atari/Commodore/Amiga.
I can play games one handed with that thing.
-
There can be only One...
The Arcade ;-)
Look at that beauty:
http://lsp.hjem.wanadoo.dk/Thearcade.htm
-
Zipstick, Throw it at the wall in frustration and it lives!
But the Quickjoy Maverick was good too.
-
-
The Quickshot II Turbo from my Speccy days. Still got one, although the top fire buttons are completely knackered.
My current fave is the one that was being sold for the Amiga a few years ago, can't remember what it was called, but it came in miniture aswell.
-
Gravis! Both the digital and analog PC versions were near impossible to find. The digital Amiga version rocked and was sold everywhere. Well, "everywhere" relatively speaking, of course. ;-)
Right now, I'm still using my CH Flightstick, though. Best joystick EVER, though it's analog so it's crap for Amiga games.
OT: WinUAE needs a turbo button emulator! :-D
-
Zip Stick - the only real one. And you could take it apart and replace the micro-switches - they were crimped on not soldered! Excellent!
-
I may have a simplistic view, but I love the
Epyx 500XJ joystick. Too bad I don't think they ever made one for left-handed people.
This is the one that sometimes is referred to as the "coffin" looking one.
-
Slightly OT, how does one get something luike say... a sega genesis gamepad, to work on an Amiga, or maybe... Atari 2600 gamepad...
-
It's without a doubt TAC-2 for me. The one with the metal stick, the plastic one doesn't make the same familiar sound. :-D
When I first played the C64 the joystick of choice for everyone I knew was "The Boss". It did suck majorly though, but I guess we'd never used anything else back then. ;-)
I did have a Quickshot (I think it was called that) that was lovely, until I broke it in two during a frantic game of Ace on my C64.
And Cheetah's The Bug was great too.
-
@jeffimix
A Sega Genesis pad will work with any Amiga without modification. But only one fire button will work, there's probably hacks on Aminet that'll make the other buttons work like a CD32 pad, but not a lot of games support that (I think)
-
I may have a simplistic view, but I love the
Epyx 500XJ joystick.
Yep... Me too. I liked it better than the "gummy" Wico Ergo-Stick thing. Something about those durable click-switches, the short throws for movement in any direction, and the quick snap back of it. The beige/black Wico had problems with sticking in directions.
For conventional joysticks, I liked the big Wico arcade Red/Black sticks. Commanders, I think they were called?
The gravis analogs were awesome for all 3 games that supported analog... I also have an Epyx joystick that looks like a 500XJ that was cut up... It has two buttons, and an ANALOG stick. Strange thing, but works pretty well. Used to love it for FighterDuel. ;-)
-
Can't remember the name but my favourite was really this one;
An analog joystick in red and black (red in the buttom and black on top) It has a red handle with a white fire button (porno eh? :-)), hmm... and it also has an extra red fire button for the left hand on the black top... + a switch to toggle between the buttons... It says "TOP" on the black top... hmm... Some of the models has excangable handles -also in red... One with grib, one with a ball, and one with a coneish thing...
Well it is the best -unbreakable- joystick on the face of the earth
-
I think the TAC 2 if my favorit, even if I have destroyed many of them along the years I played much Amiga.
-
Competition Pro 5000 / it's various incarnations (not the 9000, however!)
The TAC-2 sucks heavily, I don't understand why it got such a cult status .. did people start hyping it because the case said "tested to 5 million moves and it didn't break"?
-
Got to be the Zip Stick for me!
Got about 5 of them over the years , mainly worn out my massive SWOS tournaments (Just like my Shift keys from too much Pinball!)
Now only 1 1/2 of them work. One one direction goes you just take 'em apart and change over the microswitches. Them were the days!
-
Gerbinist wrote:
There can be only One...
The Arcade ;-)
Look at that beauty:
http://lsp.hjem.wanadoo.dk/Thearcade.htm
The Arcade gets my vote too!
I still have the one I got for my C=64 back in 1983...
... and, yes, it still works!!
:-D
-
nothing beats the great arcade, it was as popular as the amiga itself! everybody i knew had this joystick for playing games on his amiga...
-
The ZIPSTICK!!!! Ultimate microswitch joystick ever invented.
-
Best of the BEST : SPEEDKING, specially for final whistle and related football SW, good at everything.
Lio
-
The Atari stick that came with the 2600, what a monster, if you could use that for long periods of time without soar hands your doing well, good stick ;-)
Quickshot 2 Pro i liked, also loved the Maverick pictured below, had used that for many a long session in SWOS...
(http://snil.s31.pl/svi/quickshot/qs128f.JPG)
(http://www.amigautils.co.uk/pics/_zipstik.gif)
Top of the list is the mighty Zipstick SuperPro, a complete joy to use and usally quite easy to fix if it ever broke down, solid and reliable beasty.
Best all round stick i've ever owned on Amiga :-)
-
I liked the wico boss. It had a molded grip and a firebutton on the top of the stick. That stick survived my C64, 128, A500, A2000 and finally my A4000. It is still going strong.
-
Konix speedking
(http://www.softhut.com/speedkdi.jpg)
(http://consoledatabase.retrofaction.com/accessories/pc/joysticks/konixspeedking/img2.jpg) :-)
-
[color=FF0000]WICO command control three-way deluxe[/color] -- can take basically any hardship apart from a nuclear blast :-)
Got one somewhere late eighties and it still works perfectly (i broke a TAC-2 in 2 months).
-
Slik Stik is my favorite. Very good for maze type games like Pac Man and shoot-em-ups. Unfortunately, they were also very easy to break. Simply accidentally dropping it on the floor would be enough to put it out of commission.
-
TAC-2 and those Black and Red ones from WICO, Arcade? two button funconality.
-
That would be my Competition Pro 5000 (in transparent if you please). A great stick, that mysteriously stopped working a few years ago. The Competition Pro was seemingly indesructible and was great for shoot em ups, beat em ups and driving games. The fact that you could override the autofire with the fire button made Turrican a doddle too.
Much missed.
-
@amigamad-
Wow... Looks like the Epyx500XJ was marketed outside North America as the Konix Speedking. I never knew. But the US Epyx500XJ is identical down to the decal stripes. It just has an Epyx logo (http://www.classicgaming.com/gamingmuseum/Epyx500XJ.jpg) on the back slanted face.
@n-ary-
YES! The Wico Command Control 3-way! That was the joystick I was meaning. :-)
The TAC-2 wasn't too bad, but I, too, broke a couple. And the TAC-3 was so awful I never bought another joystick by them. Easily the worst stick I've ever owned. Lasted about 2 days.
-
Mindscape PowerPlayer.
(http://centsible.com/images/scans/10105.jpg)
-
Well, I've got to go with the TAC2 as being my favourite - nice size and robust. I also liked the larger BOSS, it was grey and black with a single white button on the actual stick. I used to have quite a few joysticks but now I've only got one of those red and black WICO sticks mentioned above - it's really good for playing R-type as that game uses the second button.
-
-
you guys are wimps!
the 'Star Cursor' was by far the best joystick!!! :-P
made by an australian company that made arcade sticks/buttons etc...
-
(http://www.sentex.net/~mwandel/tech/wood_joystik.jpg)
hows that for a joystick!!
-
The Quickshot Maverick (with micro-springs) was my weapon of choice. ;-)
The Quickshot Python was excellent for filight sims but rubish for platformers.
-
The TAC-2 sucks heavily, I don't understand why it got such a cult status .. did people start hyping it because the case said "tested to 5 million moves and it didn't break"?
Blasphemy!!! :-o :-o :-o
Burn him! BURN HIM!!!! :-x :-x :-x
-
Of course, Telemach Pro, it seems directly took from a PacMan arcade machine: wooden box, magnet centered metallic stick with plastic handle, microswitches -the kind you can replace, even in the two buttons- Simply IMPOSSIBLE to break, heavy and comfortable. Will post a photo, I've been unable to find any in the web...
Saluditos,
Ferrán.
-
Yet another vote for ... you guessed it ... The Arcade:
(http://lsp.hjem.wanadoo.dk/images/Pictures/Thearcade.jpg)
My favourite joystick ever, they have a reputation of being quite sturdy too, but i've broken a few of them over the years :-D
You've gotta love the Dutch :-)
-
Come to think of it, here's mine with my miggy! (http://amiga.org/gallery/photo.php?lid=996)
-
whabang wrote:
Blasphemy!!! :-o :-o :-o
Burn him! BURN HIM!!!! :-x :-x :-x
TAC-2: Pro/Con-list
+ robust (I have seen many where the contact ball has broken off after a decathlon session, however)
+ fits in your hand nicely
- firebuttons that either make contact or not. firebuttons must work EVERY TIME, not "if you press them right". This is also a problem with the ZipStick, you need to press at the very center of the button, else they jam before making contact.
- some versions go loose (I mean loose as in 0 resistance and no centering)
- flimsy rubber pads that disintegrate
Hmm what more, I think that about covers it.
I'll keep my Comp Pro, thanks. :-) I still don't understand what makes the TAC-2 excel above others.
-
Powerplay black/multicolor Cruiser
-
Jope wrote:
TAC-2: Pro/Con-list
+ robust (I have seen many where the contact ball has broken off after a decathlon session, however)
+ fits in your hand nicely
- firebuttons that either make contact or not. firebuttons must work EVERY TIME, not "if you press them right". This is also a problem with the ZipStick, you need to press at the very center of the button, else they jam before making contact.
- some versions go loose (I mean loose as in 0 resistance and no centering)
- flimsy rubber pads that disintegrate
Hmm what more, I think that about covers it.
I'll keep my Comp Pro, thanks. :-) I still don't understand what makes the TAC-2 excel above others.
I've heard others complain about the fire button reliability of the TAC-2s, but my stick has allways worked fine. Agree about the rubber pads though...
-
My brother broke the shaft of the tac2. ;)
but then he installed a screw in place of it,
and ITS 10 TIMES MORE COMFORTABLE!!
you can move with only 2 fingers with ease,
since the resistance is much weaker
without losing centering ability.
I was unaware that my brother had changed it
so I thought this was how they was originally,
thus I went on a search to get more tac2s,
but when I finally got one,
I realized it wasn't as mega comfortable as my brother's, but still ok ofcourse.
if you have an unused tac2, try to replace the shaft with a just right sized screw,
or something similar...
and it might become a wonderstick like this I am using.
-
You can't beat the goold old Zipstick for SWOS playing. It's not the same without it.
I used to love opening a new Zipstick :-) Sad but true :-)
-
The best thing for home use by the makers of the ones in the Arcade machines, WICO! (http://lemon64.ayleen.nl/museum/adverts/wico_joystick_danish_advert.jpg) Nothing else ever even came close.
-
I'm wondering why there are no proper joysticks available for IBM-PC?
When I look in the shops all they have are these crap analogue sticks which just flop around, they have a ridiculous amount of "travel", they don't centre themselves when you let go of the stick, they don't have microswitches, you can hardly tell what direction it is in, they need calibration, etc. Such joysticks are completely useless, so I don't know why they bother to make them, or why anyone would buy one. They're as bad as a gamepad.
Surely there is a company that makes 8-way IBM-PC joysticks!?
-
sure! you wont find them in the shops! as most people only buy cheap crap :(
have you never heard of x-arcade? (as an example)
http://www.x-arcade.com/ (http://www.x-arcade.com/)
there are other similar sticks, for professional gamers...
the only way to go IMO :-)
-
@Jope
I agree, I hated the TAC-2. The firebuttons were
dodgy, and the 'throw' was too short IMO.
Unfortunately they did hold up well, so I often
found myself stuck with one as my only stick.
Better than nothing, I suppose! :)
-
I don't think I would say it's my favorite, but the Captain Grant (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3539210929&category=3545&rd=1) is a pretty competant joystick.
-
Philistines.
The lot of you.
Firstly, in response to this "crap joystick for the PC" remark, I give you:
(http://64.95.118.51/images/opti/7a/9c/cmhdPCGameDevicesAllSuncom_F15E_Talon-resized200.jpg)
(http://www.sim-news.com/features/2000/suncom_review/Pics/SFSThrottle.jpg)
These.
Now that that's cleared up, as to my stick, I'm proud to say I (apparenlty) stand alone with my Atari2600 Joystick! It went from the '2600, to a Vic-20, then to a C64, then to my A500, and I bade it a fond farewell when I sold my A1200.
And I played a hell of a lot of games as well...
-
The Atari 2600 joystick is IMO a beautiful work of spartan simplicity. I have a pair called 'Starfighter the Ultimate Joystick'. still work after decades of hard use, they were getting dodgy so I cleaned the contacts with a Q-Tip. They both work great now, although they do have very little resistance to movement, the spring back reasonably well. I'm wondering how necessary 2 buttons are for most amiga games though - or could I just keep using these little critters.
-
My favourite is TAC-2 (made in USA, not the ####ty chinese model). And adding microswitches to the buttons made it even more accurate and more gentle to the thumb :) I have upgraded mine with microswitches and autofire with led ;) Never got TAC-2 to break.. although when I got angry to some game, I pushed the joystick so hard that stick bended little :)
And if I'd had to pick the worst joystick ever, then it would be The Boss :) Awful stick... handle was rotating and you never knew which way it happens to be and the only button was on the top of the handle, which forced you to hold it from the top too making accurate controlling impossible :) And the turning radius was too big too..
EDIT:
The differences between USA and chinese TAC-2's are at least metal vs plastic stick and chinese version has much worse rubber thing that centers the stick, it's first too hard and then it changes it's strength with time. My US version has been just right from the beginning through the years :)
-
Well, don't recall the name, but design was... Interesting...
I'll describe it...
Quite big handle, comfortable to hand, single fire button...
And on TOP of that handle, small 3-4cm stick, that's used to control!
So, the "lower" handle was used only for fire button & holding the
joystick...
Rather interesting design, but it also worked :-)
I recall another stick with rather similar design...
It just had one really BAD design flaw; It had no diagonals...
Under the stick, there was "+"-shaped hole, that prevented use of
diagonals... Whoever came up with such hideous idea... :-)
Now thinking of it, the design is a bit similar as in "Terminator"
-joystick (You know, the grenade shaped one) but more comfortable...
-
ZipStick, SlikStick, Tac2, Wico Commander and witch the risk of my life I would also like to include the sweet original SEGA MasterSystem controll in my favourite 5. :-D
-
Oh, I see you all have forgot to mention the ultra ergonomic Wico Ergostick. A hand held, completely made in rubber sporting microswitches. This (http://www.altavista.com/image/res_detail?q=wico+ergostick&pg=q&stype=simage&objtype=timage&q=wico+ergostick&rpos=2&mmdo=4&sc=off&si=23af6d7df9812d7e&objid=300854377&type=IMG&hstq=) crappy image of this rare collectable was all I could find. I've played tons on one of these, however the Tac-2 is my favourite, unbeatable! It's true to its name, it's accurate although i agree to the fact that the firebuttons gives in after a while and you need to have a Tac-2 with the steel handle. The later revisions are crap!
-
Hmmm, $US100 for a joystick!? That would be nearly $A200 when exchange rates, delivery etc. is included.
Maybe I should get one of those Competition Pro adapters, they cost only about half as much, and I could use my trusty Multicoin Starcursor which would be a better stick than what they are selling...
Thanks for the link though.
-
Minuous wrote:
Hmmm, $US100 for a joystick!? That would be nearly $A200 when exchange rates, delivery etc. is included.
Maybe I should get one of those Competition Pro adapters, they cost only about half as much, and I could use my trusty Multicoin Starcursor which would be a better stick than what they are selling...
Thanks for the link though.
:-o
you get what you pay for... if i had the time to be playing arcade games again, i would probably pay that much or more too!
Multicoin Starcursor
thats the stick i had... ...and loved! and it certainly wasnt the cheapest!
-
A vote for good CD-32 game pad and (if it's possible) another one for good-old Sega Genesis pad.
-
zipstick?
slickstick?
tac-2?
never heard about them... i think...
:-? :-? :-?
maybe someone could post photos of them, please...
my vote is quickshot phyton and of course good old cd32 pad! nearly so good as the psx one :-D
-
Mine was always the old black Atari joystick with the square plastic base, fire button on the top left corner, and the rubber short stick :-D
You could hold that thing in both hands, and have a good solid grip while still being able to move the stick -- I could never get used to the bigger ones like the TAC or just about every other joystick.
Probably doesn't hurt that before my A500 I had an Atari 600, so we had lots of those sticks around :)
-
The differences between USA and chinese TAC-2's are at least metal vs plastic stick and chinese version has much worse rubber thing that centers the stick, it's first too hard and then it changes it's strength with time. My US version has been just right from the beginning through the years :)
Actually the Chinese made ones are OK although the original U.S.A manufactured one beats it in quality and longlivety. However the last years the TAC-2 where made they where manufactured in U.S.A again, and that version really sucked, no centering at all even straight out of the box.
-
Hey LP guess you are talking 'bout this one (just took a quick photo :-) It's a Wico Control Commander.
(http://www.geoart.dk/Wico_command_control.jpg)
I have had this since 1988, still in great condition!! UNBREAKABLE...
-
Dr.Bongo wrote:
Zipstick, Throw it at the wall in frustration and it lives!
I'm with you. I still have two of these.
I also have two "bugs".
And for games that needed it, the Quickshot(I think) CD32 controller was far superior to the crap that Commodore supplied.
-
Hmmmm...
THE Arcade joysticks was
my best joystick and offcourse
my own Joystick in that
early years hehe :lol: :-)
-
zipstick for arcade's...
Sega Mega Drive pad for rAcing
Kevin :-)
-
No doubt for me:
(http://www.ntrautanen.fi/computers/other/images/wico.jpg)
Bought it about 16 years ago for my Schneider CPC464 and I still use it today with WinUAE on my PC...
I made a VERY simple adapter (yes, you need an adapter ;-) ) to connect the 'Favourite Joystick from good old days' to the parallel-port of my PC:
interface: LPT Joystick (http://www.volny.cz/sumbera/lpt_joy.html)
drivers: PPJoy (http://www.geocities.com/deonvdw/)
(the PPJoy-site says the LPT Joystick is not supported, but it works perfecly) :-D
-
:-D Hello! I love the Amiga! I hope someday to buy another. My favorite joystick for my Amiga 2000 was the Gravis. I used it on flight simulators, RPG's, almost anything and the Sega Genesis controller for everything else. :-D