Discuss - 169

[antsbull]

The Konix Speedking.

Still have mine, it still works and just feels right. I also have a competition pro. I like it. Just not as much. It hurts the palm of my hand after a while.

You beat me to it! EPYX actually sold this as well, as the 500XJ, and I used to drool over it in the EPYX catalogue I had, that had a hand in a leather glove holding it

Then one of mates got it for his C64 and it was everything I thought it would be.

[mrmessy]

I thought this conversation felt familiar....

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1591&p=27476#p27476

2006!?

[Doddsy]

Tell you what - the 2nd Hand Prices of 80's Joysticks are quite pricey these days...

[greenberet79]

Worst goes to the Kempston Joystick on the Speccy 48k. Ridiculous adapter in the back - all you had to do was look at it and it'd reset the computer!!

I don't think there was an actual Kempston Joystick, was there? Wasn't it just the Kempston Joystick Interface - which supported all Atari-style 9 pin joysticks? Kempston sort of became the standard joystick input method for most Spectrum games after a certain date.

Some of those interfaces were pretty bad. The first Kempston compatible joystick interface I had came with my first Quickshot Joystick. The position of the joystick port had the plug hanging over the actual keyboard!

However, there were loads of really good Kempston compatible joystick interfaces available for the Spectrum. My brother and I also had Ram Turbo Interface, which was ace, and didn't wobble at all. Solid.

You're right. I had the Quickshot 2 with a Kempston interface. Til this day I thought it was Kempston made. (It WAS 30 years ago though!)

[Antiriad2097]

The RAM Turbo is an ace bit of kit, as it supports Kempston, Sinclair and Cursor joystick protocols via hotkeys on boot. Works with just about any game that supports sticks due to that, as well as any that let you define keys thanks to Sinclair/Cursor support. The added cartridge port is a bonus too, and it lies flat out the back so the plugs don't get in the way.

[paranoid marvin]

Quickshot 2 Turbo ... looked great, sold thousands, broke after about 1 week's play. The only stick that stood up to decent amounts of play was the Comp Pro 5000, and even then the 'leaf' switch versions had to be opened up and the connectors bent back into place. The micro-switched versions were much more reliable , but made a bit of a racket, but there is truly no stick that stands up to the rigours of Kick Off, Hypersports and the like. Probably the only other joystick that comes close is the original Atari 2600 stick, which is surprisingly sturdy.

A few friends had the Konix Speedking, but after prolonged play it got uncomfortable to hold and the metal stick shaft (apparently) could break. The stick that came with the Amstrad and +2 was utterly awful, same with the official Commodore stick (like a crap version of the 26000 joystick) the Cheetah 125 was ok but broke relatively easily and the Zipstick (or 'Tunes' joystick) was a Comp Pro wannabe, but had a tendancy to move to the diagonals.

I don't know if it was the poor quality of the sticks, or if games were more demanding, or we were simply too rough, but back in the day most joysticks needed replacing after a short while. And when you consider that a new stick was the equivalent cost of 1 or 2 games (maybe 1 full price , 1 budget) it wasn't something you would want to be having to be buying too often.

Actually another pretty good stick back in the day was the controller that came with the slim-line VCS. Not very sturdy, but comfortable to hold in the hand and played pretty well.

[lavalyte]

Never understood why anyone used the 'banana grip' joysticks... apart from looking like a jet fighter control, they are terrible for most games.

[greenberet79]

TBH I didn't get on with joysticks. I was a Keys man all the way.

[psj3809]

TBH I didn't get on with joysticks. I was a Keys man all the way.

Totally agree. Can be far more precise on the keys, never was a joystick fan

[greenberet79]

Has anyone used the 8bitdo retro controllers? They look great. They've just announced more -

Code: Select all

https://www.destructoid.com/the-switch-finally-has-an-arcade-stick-with-8bitdo-s-new-controllers-442581.phtml

[paranoid marvin]

TBH I didn't get on with joysticks. I was a Keys man all the way.

Totally agree. Can be far more precise on the keys, never was a joystick fan

Did you never play an Ultimate game?