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Favoured Joystick model?

PostPosted: Sat Sep 01, 2012 10:33 pm
by tezza
I've just being playing with a couple of Wico Command Control joysticks. They were sitting in a donated box at the back of the garage. I didn't even know they were there until today! They are better than any of the other joysticks I have.

Did you ever use Wico Command Control joysticks? What was you favourite joystick brand/model in the day?

Re: Favoured Joystick model?

PostPosted: Sat Sep 01, 2012 11:59 pm
by kevman3d
I (ahem, probably more like my parents) used to always buy Quickshot joysticks - probably mainly because they were so cheap (and usually lasted about as long as you'd expect something cheap to) for the old ZX Interface 2, and of course on my brothers Commodore machines at the time...

That said, I still have a couple laying around with the rest of my junk - I think...

Re: Favoured Joystick model?

PostPosted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 11:44 am
by matsondawson
I prefer the standard Atari ones, most others give me RSI.

Re: Favoured Joystick model?

PostPosted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 4:38 pm
by SpidersWeb
I had a QuickShot growing up, didn't really try enough to have a favourite though - most the games I played were keyboard based :/

Stopped by TrashPalace last week though and picked up two mint condition SpectraVideo 9 pin joysticks though (and a QuickShot 15 pin for the PCs).

Re: Favoured Joystick model?

PostPosted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 7:02 pm
by acsi
My favourite was the Epyx/Konix 500EJ.

It was easy to hold and lasted me well. Unlike the quickshot's I'd had before it.

Re: Favoured Joystick model?

PostPosted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 9:58 pm
by tezza
Yes, I only ever remember the Quickshot ones in the day. They seemed to be ubiquitous. But then I wasn't a big gamer and in fact never actually owned what you would term a "games" computer in the 1980s. I went from System 80 to PC XT clone, with an NEC 8201a as a portable notetaker. The first one I owned was a C64 breadbox bought second hand in the early 90s...more for my step-son than me.

Re: Favoured Joystick model?

PostPosted: Tue Sep 04, 2012 10:13 pm
by YetiSeti
I just preferred the Quickshot 1 & 2 (and Turbo). They were cheap enough to replace after being ruined on games like Daley Thompson's joystick wrecker.

The worst joystick ever was for the Amstrad (although I'm always forgiving of Amstrad). It was as responsive and manoeuverable as <insert the worst car you've ever had without power steering>. Unfortunately the second joystick port was on the side of this joystick so someone always got the suck joystick in two player games.

http://pelikonepeijoonit.net/articleIte ... &wrongVer=

I can't find the website any more but there use to be a good one with pictures of all the Quickshot models.

Re: Favoured Joystick model?

PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2012 8:15 am
by SpidersWeb
Ahhh I didn't realise my Spectravideo sticks I got were actually original QuickShots.
Quickshot 1 in black.

Re: Favoured Joystick model?

PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2012 10:26 am
by WelshWizard
not really a favoured joystick, but used a quickshot 2 or the good old Atari classic

Re: Favoured Joystick model?

PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2012 6:42 pm
by Carcenomy
I've used loads, but probably the best from a reliability perspective has been the old Star Cursor. Australian made, fully microswitched, wiring is totally straightforward making it perfectly repairable. Not the most comfortable thing ever mind you... I have two of them. One works great, the other needs a couple of new microswitches to have it back to 100%.

Otherwise, I've got the SVI Quickshot IX (awful), the SVI Quickshot QS-131 (average), some weird SVI thing that looks more like a stopwatch than a controller (self explanatory), a Battlestation II (HUGE and AWESOME) and a heavily modified Quickshot Professional arcade stick (not very professional or arcade). It was originally fitted with two cables and was meant for sharing between two people, had a switch for moving between Atari/Commodore/etc mode, MSX, Master System yada yada but all that part died so the PCB has been cut and modified to make it a standard two button joystick.

Realistically if I was going for the best thing ever, it'd be the Battlestation's sticks and buttons in a single user package. You can't argue with real arcade hardware.

Re: Favoured Joystick model?

PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 8:55 pm
by EmulatorCoder
I hated those "Flighter Pilot" joysticks ,they where just no really great for most games, but they where so easy to get back in the day, I never really saw a game pad for the C=64 for example, it was always Quick Shot

Re: Favoured Joystick model?

PostPosted: Fri Feb 01, 2013 9:26 am
by lizardb0y
My joystick collection includes the Epyx 500XJ, Suncom TAC.2, Star Cursor, Wico Command Control (bat style), and the more modern X-Arcade Dual. Other than high-end Sunwa based arcade sticks and the famous Competition Pro I can't think of any better joysticks ever on the market than these.

Of these the Epyx 500XJ and Wico Command Control are my faviourites for computer gaming, while the X-Arcade is a shoe in for all my arcade gaming needs. The Star Cursor is great as far as the stick and microswitches go, but clumsy to hold and use. The TAC-2 is a short throw stick, like the original Atari CX-40, and was never to my taste, but I am told it is the best of the short throw sticks.

I also own what I believe to be the worst sticks ever made; The Sinclair SJS-1 and the Comodore 1311. Of these I think the 1311 is the worst. It has a tragic triangle design that completely ignores the stick's purpose - being held by human hands.

Re: Favoured Joystick model?

PostPosted: Sat Feb 02, 2013 1:45 pm
by Carcenomy
Might be worth pointing out about now that the Competition Pro is still available in classic DB9 flavour, I intend on ordering a couple at some point to replace the Star Cursors.

Re: Favoured Joystick model?

PostPosted: Wed Mar 26, 2014 7:41 am
by am1933
My favourite joysticks are Wico red ball, Atari standard, Suncom TAC2, Wico Boss, Suncom Starfighter and Competition pro.

If pushed- straight choice between Wico red ball and Suncom TAC2.

Re: Favoured Joystick model?

PostPosted: Fri Mar 28, 2014 12:06 pm
by asphix
People always talk about the Quickshot, but I'm sure I remember one from the mid 80s called a SureShot.

Ours was for the BBC B. It was black, rectangular with 2 red fire buttons on the base. I believe the stick itself could be unscrewed (for some reason) and it was of an incredibly sturdy design.

I've never found any information on these so if someone remembers this joystick as well - at least that proves my childhood wasn't a complete blur.