Two-Button 2600 joystick

[tkarner]

When playing Spy Hunter, I didn't like having to use the button on

joystick 2 to use the secondary weapons. Very clumsy. So I got to

work and came up with this (see pictures).

 

I started with a 3rd party joystick (didn't want to butcher an original

Atari stick). I installed a small momentary switch on the left front,

just where your index finger would be. I connected the switch to

a joystick cable salvaged from a broken joystick. This cable connects

to joystick port 2 on the console. I decided not to hardwire this cable

because it could get in the way when using the stick for other games.

So I used a 1/8" mono audio jack and plug to make the connection.

Since only two wires need to be connected (orange button and black

ground) the mono plug is all you need.

 

I know, it's not an earth-shattering invention but it makes playing

Spy Hunter much more enjoyable. It also works great for Stargate/

Defender 2 because that game also uses the button on joystick 2 for

secondary weapons.

 

Now here's a question, do any other games also use the button on

joystick 2? Since I went through the trouble of building this thing,

it would be nice to use it for more than two games.

[CPUWIZ]

Nice.

[PacManPlus]

Stargate

[Simon]

I created a two-button joystick over 10 years ago, because playing "Turrican" on a Commodore 64 was quite uncomfortable as you had to use Space-bar for the different weapons besides the normal gun.

 

I simply took a Competition Pro and used a second joystick cable from a broken joystick. I wired the second button of the Competition Pro to the fire-wires of the second cable.

 

This worked with many games, as most routines on the Commodore 64 checked the Space-bar like the joystick-fire of port 1. This means that you could either press Space or Fire in Port 1 as they were wired by Commodore as being the same. My joystick used the fire-button instead of the normal Space-bar. :-)

 

BTW: The directions of joystick in port 1 can often be 'emulated' on the C=64 keyboard with the keys "<-", "1", "2" and "CTRL" if I remember correct. This depends on the way how each program checks the inputs...

 

The joystick still works today... Quality lasts!

 

Simon