Joysticks

[reklen]

I recently purchase a TI computer at the Seattle Retro Gaming Expo. It was complete in box, with five cartridges. Now I need joysticks. What would you guys recommend? I remember the official ones, weren't that great, but they are affordable. There are also ones called "The Power System" Are these better? I don't want to waste my money. I know there is an adaptor for 2600 joysticks, but they are pricey. what do you guys recommend?

 

 

[Shift838]

The Waco sticks are good and not too bad in price. They will work with an Atari adapter and you can build your own adapter. Www.mainbyte.com has the wiring diagram.

[Opry99er]

Wico sticks are the schizznit. There are 3 for sale, $9 a pop on the Atariage Marketplace forum right now.

 

No ball tops though, or them bitches would be mine.

[+Ksarul]

The Power Sticks are tiny but work relatively well. They also plug directly into the TI without an adapter. The same goes for the Slick Stix, although based on some recent experiences folks here have had, the contacts on those may be starting to deteriorate (and can probably be restored, but I haven't tested my set lately to be sure it is a general deterioration issue or just bad luck with one or two pairs of sticks). These also will connect directly to the TI. Other than that, you have the option of Atari-compatible sticks with an adapter. As already noted, it is pretty easy to build the cables for that--and the adapters themselves are usually in the vicinity of $10, which is not much more than the parts cost.

[Keith99er]

Or go full-on TI99 retro with these bad boys...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/321875077200

[+Schmitzi]

Hi,

 

just have a look here, I think it could be a good deal, maybe. You´ll need adapters for that sticks.

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/242791-wico-joysticks/?p=3322390

 

smithee

[reklen]

I tried the powers sticks and the slick stick. The characters just go down, and the buttons don't work at all.

[Shift838]

you could always make your own arcade style joystick and wiring them up with ATARI pinouts and use an atari adapter.

[reklen]

I think the joystick port might be broken. I tried the Slik Stick, The TAC-2, and the power sticks, they all plugged in, but the only direction that worked was going down. This happens whether the alpha lock is on or off. All three of these joysticks worked fine on my Ataris. How would I fix a plug, would I clean it with alcohol, or am I missing something.

[Opry99er]

The TI joysticks are wired differently. You may know this.

 

The joystick adapters from Wico and others adjust for the different pinouts.

 

If you are plugging a TAC-2 into your TI directly, you will likely experience heartache.