Where Are the Joysticks For Retro Gaming? 262
Doctor O writes "With all those nice emulators for classic gaming around (such as MAME, VICE or Stella) I want to establish monthly retro gaming evenings with some friends. The problem is I can't find any good joysticks for that purpose. There's a new version of the legendary Competition Pro, but judging from the many one-star reviews on Amazon, it's terrible. I found the USB version of the classic Atari Joystick, but it doesn't seem to be available and would have prohibitive shipping costs to Germany anyway. So, Slashdot to the rescue — where are the suitable USB joysticks for retro gaming?"
Re:I hear ya.... (Score:3, Insightful)
Exactly. And what's sad is that his "joke" has a better score than the original post. For shame, mods.
Build your own... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Gravis? (Score:2, Insightful)
I'd go for X-Arcade sticks if money is no object, alternatively you could do what I did and get a console from an old street fighter II arcade machine (14 buttons and two sticks - I picked one up for about US $10 2nd hand) and connect it to something like the ultimarc i-pac. My SFII console is stuck to a cabinet, but it's not hard to make or modify a box to make it stand alone.
These options give you the possibility of replacing faulty microswitches and buttons cheaply, and make them the only way to go if you and your friends clock up serious hours, and both options will work nicely if you decide to go to a full cabinet so you can really go to town on the joysticks like a real arcade machine.
You can use an old keyboard but you'll be lucky to get more than about 6 buttons and one stick before you start running into conflicts, and you won't get the performance of X-Arcade or i-pac controllers.
Hope this helps.