Joystick of Choice?

[lynchie137]

Quick question: Why did so many of the 3rd party joysticks have suction cups on the bottoms of 'em?

[djc]

Quick question: Why did so many of the 3rd party joysticks have suction cups in the bottoms of 'em?

So you could stick them to your coffee table / desk and use them like an arcade stick. A lot of times, the first thing I did back in the day was remove the suction cups because I like holding a joystick in my hand #NotAEuphemism #OkayTotallyAEuphemism

[lynchie137]

Quick question: Why did so many of the 3rd party joysticks have suction cups in the bottoms of 'em?

So you could stick them to your coffee table / desk and use them like an arcade stick. A lot of times, the first thing I did back in the day was remove the suction cups because I like holding a joystick in my hand #NotAEuphemism #OkayTotallyAEuphemism

Hahaha. I see what you did there. Just be careful you don't bust your joystick after heavy use..

[lynchie137]

I also had one of these bad boys as a kid. Used to stick my thumb in the little cup on top of the shaft and use it like that. it was a pretty cool little joystick that I got lots of use out of before it eventually crapped out. Which makes me ask why these 3rd party companies couldn't just put microswitches in their joysticks instead of those cheap little contact points that would wear out after a short period of time for the most part???

[DocHix]

I agree with several others regarding Best Electronics. The guy who runs it essentially bought out an entire warehouse full of unopened Atari stock in the late 80s. He also started fabricating his own improved parts for consistent fail items...his upgraded Atari 5200 lifetime controllers are a good example. You can buy pretty much every conceivable part for nearly every Atari product ever made. If you love Atari, you owe it to yourself to snag a copy of his phonebook sized catalog...amazing!

https://www.best-electronics-ca.com/

[snakeboy]

I actually made my own Atari joystick a few years back (which is surprisingly simple btw) using real arcade parts, and after using that it's kind of tough going back. However, if I had to use an original Atari stick, it would probably be the Wico bat or TAC-2.

I have seen the upgraded joysticks from Best, and I'm really tempted to get one ...

[VideoGameCritic]

I'd like to see this joystick you made!

I have two that sound similar that I bought from the Goat Store way back in the day. Yeah it's a real online store.
https://www.goatstore.com/

[snakeboy]

I used a prefabricated hinged box I bought on Amazon, stained the sides, and my wife burned the Atari logo onto it. I also added buttons for up and down for games like Asteroids.

20210604_160348.jpg (131.99 KiB) Viewed 661 times

[Nevermind]

We had a Quickshot Maverick as kids. The three of us hammered it for years. It was a great arcade style stick. From memory it was multi compatible with different systems by flicking a switch. Only two buttons, but adequate at the time. A close second is the Dreamcast arcade stick - solid, stylish and effective. Playing Mark of the Wolves I can just get lost in the experience.

[ASalvaro]

my favorite since my Atari 800xl days in the mid 80s!