5200 Controllers... Oh the Humanity

[JB]

Using your big toe for a fire button works really well. And a hell of a lot better than a side button. (notice that nobody else made a controller with a side button? there are rear-mounted L/R buttons, but no side buttons other than the 5200 and 7800... and maybe the APF)

ColecoVision and INTV used side buttons too. Vectrex is the only console from that period to NOT use side-fire.

 

Anyways, that's a dangerous argument to make, given nobody even used JOYSTICKS after the 7800. Or left-hand fire.

Your logic can easily be applied to ANY pre-NES controller design(everyone pre-Nintendo pretty much designed a new controller each time, with everyone post-Nintendo gluing bits onto the NES pad each time).

 

 

But... the motion to press the 5200's left fire button is EXACTLY the same as the motion to press the 2600's fire button. At least, the way I use it(bend the thumb at the knuckle). The big difference is that moving the buttons to the side places your the stick over your palm instead of your fingertips, which is a MASSIVE improvement.

 

 

 

But then you need a 5200 controller that at least has those buttons working, which isn't always the case. In hindsight, putting those controls on the controller wasn't such a good idea, IMO. I'd prefer they had left them on the console.

I vastly prefer start on the controller.

I'd say it''s the single biggest upgrade in console controllers after 2 fire buttons.

Of course, it doesn't do anyone any good when it doesn't WORK...

 

But... even with the Wico... I find the control still bad enough that I don't even try to play games like Missile Command and Galaxian. I'm not a big Galaxian fan, but I find the 2600 controller better for Missile Command. But I hear the one-ton trackball is good for the 5200, if you can find one and want it bad enough.

Ironically, I think Missile Command controls incredibly well with the stock 5200 controller. It's one of the few games that actually makes good use of the analog stick.

 

 

 

 

So here is my question to the 5200 fans: Is there any reason to own a 5200, since all the games can be played (better) on an Atari 8 bit?

Qix. 5200 does it better. In fact, it has the best non-emulation port available, far as I know.

 

See, here's the (largest of many) problems with using a joystick designed in the mid-70s... you only have one fire button, and no amount of 3rd-party redesigns can change that.

Qix REQUIRES 2. Single-button Qix is Qix in name only.

 

 

 

 

If you haven't guessed... I love the 5200 sticks. Reliability is my only gripe.

Self-centering I see as a non-issue, since I got in the habit of hand-centering sticks well before I met the 5200.

Side-mounted fire buttons never gave me any trouble.

 

Not that I advocate the construction of anti-Redemptions to use 5200 controllers in place of the barbaric monstrosity that is the VCS stick, but... I DO advocate using Gemini controllers in place of the barbaric monstrosity that is the VCS stick.

[BydoEmpire]

I find them pretty comfortable and responsive for most game. The fire buttons do cramp my hands after a bit, but at least they have a soft touch, and imho the 5200 controllers are MUCH better than the Inty, Colecovision and 7800 controllers. The non-centering stick causes problems for some games (Centipede, etc), but most games they work fine. Even Pac Man controls perfectly. In fact, I think Pac Man on the 5200 controls better than Pac Man CE on the 360. =) As for reliability, I've just had good luck. I have two sticks - one that came w/ my flea market 5200 and one from Best Electronics. Both are fine. I have had to adjust the pot inside the 5200 a couple times. All in all, I think they've gotten a bad rap for usability.