jfdav Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 (edited) I ordered the stick only, to use with Stella on PC and maybe the C64 Maxi. Tried Stella and noticed the button mapping is off compared to my regular genuine Atari sticks with USB adapters. Googled button mapping and ended up here. Tried the windows control panel tester and immediately seeing the issue. Sigh. I'll try the screws I guess. Haven't tried playing anything except Demon Attack yet, but had to use the orange ring D-pad right to fire Edit: And yeah, that corner button is WAY to easy to hit by accident. Edited March 30 by jfdav Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZSUKM007 Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 I am not a fan of the addition buttons on the Mini's joystick. Keep getting kicked out of games when I accidently press one. Tried playing DK and Mario was running on his own without a hand on the joystick. Defect or a hidden feature? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pac-Man Senior Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 My THECX40 has these problems too. Now I have to decide between the screw trick and a complete return to sender. I'm sure that is has nothing to do with the THE400 hardware. Today I tested THECX40 on my THE64 mini. First Fort Apocalypse. No problems with all these diagonal movements. Then Jumpman Jr. It's mostly perfect but suddenly the joystick has problems with "down". I tested it several times. It occurs regularly. The same in Bruce Lee on the THE64 mini. It works, then it doesn't work and Lee cannot make any attack because he lays on the ground when pushing right or left. I tested Pac-Man on THE64 and sometimes he refuses to go a specific direction - especially down. I had exactly this problem with Pac-Man for the Atari 2600 on my retropie - with THECX40. Oh man, this is so unlucky because I was so looking forward to this joystick. I really hope that there is a solution. All other aspects of this joystick are fine for me. It feels okay in games when directions are not blocked or wrongly interpreted. Retro Games are simply no joystick heros. My competition pro for THEC64 mini simply broke after merely a year of use. My 40 yo original competition pro is still alive. Times have changed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetmanUK Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 (edited) 22 minutes ago, Pac-Man Senior said: My THECX40 has these problems too. Now I have to decide between the screw trick and a complete return to sender. I'm sure that is has nothing to do with the THE400 hardware. Today I tested THECX40 on my THE64 mini. First Fort Apocalypse. No problems with all these diagonal movements. Then Jumpman Jr. It's mostly perfect but suddenly the joystick has problems with "down". I tested it several times. It occurs regularly. The same in Bruce Lee on the THE64 mini. It works, then it doesn't work and Lee cannot make any attack because he lays on the ground when pushing right or left. I tested Pac-Man on THE64 and sometimes he refuses to go a specific direction - especially down. I had exactly this problem with Pac-Man for the Atari 2600 on my retropie - with THECX40. Oh man, this is so unlucky because I was so looking forward to this joystick. I really hope that there is a solution. All other aspects of this joystick are fine for me. It feels okay in games when directions are not blocked or wrongly interpreted. Retro Games are simply no joystick heros. My competition pro for THEC64 mini simply broke after merely a year of use. My 40 yo original competition pro is still alive. Times have changed. It's worth trying the screw fix, if it doesn't work well enough for you then you can still return in. They won't be able to tell you've opened it if you are careful. As I've said, for me it's improved it greatly, but sadly it's still not perfect, which is extremely disappointing. Another disappointment is that that the main fire button is not button 1 in windows, it's button 3! 🤷🏻 So if you are using an emulator that doesn't allow you to change the button then right on the ring is fire/button 1, totally unusable! I've got round this by using a keyboard to joystick mapping program and defining keys as joystick controls in the emulator (VICE64). Messy but works! Such a shame. This joystick is almost great. Perhaps a revision to the hardware to fix the down problem and a change to the windows buttons and it could still be. Edited March 30 by JetmanUK 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Preppie Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 Got mine and I've had no trouble with the joystick, but I do have the hands of a lady. Not had a problem hitting the shoulder button by accident either but I guess that depends on how you're used to holding the stick. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+remowilliams Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 What's odd about the additional buttons (and has been since I first saw this thing) is that if you take three seconds to look at how people hold a CX stick you'd know that many of these buttons are going to get accidentally pressed. A Lot. I have hit the accidental diagonals already, I suppose I'll try the 'screw loose' method. The same method used to design the extra button placement... 😄 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pac-Man Senior Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 4 hours ago, JetmanUK said: It's worth trying the screw fix, if it doesn't work well enough for you then you can still return in. They won't be able to tell you've opened it if you are careful. As I've said, for me it's improved it greatly, but sadly it's still not perfect, which is extremely disappointing. Another disappointment is that that the main fire button is not button 1 in windows, it's button 3! 🤷🏻 So if you are using an emulator that doesn't allow you to change the button then right on the ring is fire/button 1, totally unusable! I've got round this by using a keyboard to joystick mapping program and defining keys as joystick controls in the emulator (VICE64). Messy but works! Such a shame. This joystick is almost great. Perhaps a revision to the hardware to fix the down problem and a change to the windows buttons and it could still be. That's a good description: "almost great" 🙂 I guess I'll keep the joystick and try the screw fix. This joystick is great for so many games. Today I played a bit the built in Crystal Castle. No problem at all. I don't get it. Why are there games that don't show this "down" problem I have in Jumpman or Lee? In Lee today I was on this ladder that goes automatically up and down. And at some point the control "down" wasn't possible any more. Another "good" example is Hovver Bovver. I'm in the top corners on the left or right and I cannot go down. It's so weird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DamonicFury Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 Even after loosening the screws, going right is a real problem for this stick. Playing the games with the AtariVCS stick is acceptable. But it’s a real problem that the pack-in stick is so wonky. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pac-Man Senior Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 I just loosened the screws on my joystick. It's better but still far away from good. Before loosening the screws I was nearly impossible for me to push simply down in the windows controller settings. After loosening it was possible. But my best diagnostic is Pac-Man (via Stella PC) Game 7 (kid mode). There you can cruise test circles with Pac-Man without getting disturbed by the ghosts. And very often my joystick has problems to go up and directly left the next crossing. Perhaps I will loosen a bit more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetmanUK Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 22 minutes ago, Pac-Man Senior said: I just loosened the screws on my joystick. It's better but still far away from good. Before loosening the screws I was nearly impossible for me to push simply down in the windows controller settings. After loosening it was possible. But my best diagnostic is Pac-Man (via Stella PC) Game 7 (kid mode). There you can cruise test circles with Pac-Man without getting disturbed by the ghosts. And very often my joystick has problems to go up and directly left the next crossing. Perhaps I will loosen a bit more. Yeah try a little more, I left mine really quite loose. 👍🏻 I think down the line I will buy a standalone one and swap this out as there has been evidence of a user having two joysticks and one not exhibiting the problem, so it can't just be 'user error' (pushing too hard). 'User error' may make you more prone to having issues with a stick that is duff already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chad5200 Posted March 30 Author Share Posted March 30 (edited) Hate to break it to everyone but loosening the screws is not fixing it. It might make it a little better, but it is still broken. Hoping someone can come up with a real 100% fix. Edited March 30 by chad5200 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CartoonDan Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 20 minutes ago, chad5200 said: Hate to break it to everyone but loosening the screws is not fixing it. It might make it a little better, but it is still broken. Hoping someone can come up with a real 100% fix. The only current fix that works 100% is to use a different controller. I am now using a PS4 controller. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred_M Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 (edited) 43 minutes ago, chad5200 said: Hate to break it to everyone but loosening the screws is not fixing it. It might make it a little better, but it is still broken. Hoping someone can come up with a real 100% fix. Nobody said loosening the screws is a fix, it makes the joystick better. Personally I think a 100% fix is not possible, because of the way this joystick is made. Like I said earlier, the internals are of a kind used by d-pads. There is no simple fix to change that. Hopefully the CXsticks which are sold separately use something else, for example micro switches. Another option is to use something like this: https://www.speedlink.com/en/COMPETITION-PRO-EXTRA-USB-Joystick-black-red/SL-650212-BKRD These have micro switches inside: Edited March 30 by Fred_M 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chad5200 Posted March 30 Author Share Posted March 30 Incredible that Atari took a 47 year old joystick that has been an old reliable for our entire lives... and screwed up its most basic functionality. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetmanUK Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 26 minutes ago, chad5200 said: Hate to break it to everyone but loosening the screws is not fixing it. It might make it a little better, but it is still broken. Hoping someone can come up with a real 100% fix. Yeah it's definitely not a 'fix', but my particular stick went from completely unusable to acceptable. Not ideal, but I have used it quite a bit on windows with various emulators and my experience was... OK. Perhaps your stick is especially bad? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred_M Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 (edited) 10 minutes ago, chad5200 said: Incredible that Atari took a 47 year old joystick that has been an old reliable for our entire lives... and screwed up its most basic functionality. Atari has nothing to do with the400 mini 😉 Atari does not make anything these days, they are selling their licenses to anyone who want to pay for them, in my opinion they are an Intellectual Property Holding Company. The400 mini is designed by Retro Games Limited UK and manufactured by RichCo Limited Hong Kong. Distribution is done by Plaion GmbH Austria outside of the US. Atari is only one of the distributors in the US (which is probably outsourced to another company). Edited March 30 by Fred_M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred_M Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 1 minute ago, JetmanUK said: Yeah it's definitely not a 'fix', but my particular stick went from completely unusable to acceptable. Not ideal, but I have used it quite a bit on windows with various emulators and my experience was... OK. Exactly, it is now acceptable for me too. A permanent 100% fix is using another controller 😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetmanUK Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 (edited) 23 minutes ago, Fred_M said: Nobody said loosening the screws is a fix, it makes the joystick a better. Personally I think a 100% fix is not possible, because of the way this joystick is made. Like I said earlier, the internals are of a kind used by d-pads. There is no simple fix to change that. Hopefully the CXsticks which are sold separately use something else, for example microswitches. Another option is to use something like this: https://www.speedlink.com/en/COMPETITION-PRO-EXTRA-USB-Joystick-black-red/SL-650212-BKRD These have micro switches inside: Although to be fair I think the new CX40+ uses the contacts mounted in rubber design and that one is excellent, so I would point at the shell and the actual way that part is housed that is causing the issue. It's a real shame that the CX40+ wasn't used as a starting point as they nailed the feel of the old stick with that one... and it works flawlessly too. Edited March 30 by JetmanUK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeM_ Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 21 hours ago, MikeM_ said: I have a Hyperkin Trooper 2 USB joystick and I’ve noticed some weirdness with PacMan 8k in my Recallbox when using it (similar issues to how people are describing Lee on the 400 mini). Was hoping that the CX Stick would be better so I ordered one a few days ago (I didn’t order the 400 mini, just the controller). Getting it on Sunday. I’ll update if it’s any better or not. My CXStick showed up a day early so I plugged it into my RecalBox and gave it a run. My initial report is that it’s definitely not perfect, but it’s not a total loss either. PAC-MAN 8k is better, but still not perfect. I occasionally go down when I want to go left or right. Again, it’s better than the hyperkin so what I’m experiencing is actually an improvement but it’s still not as tight as I’d like. Next I tested Pitfall II and occasionally he will jump off a ladder when trying to climb. That wasn’t happening with the Hyperkin. Annoying, but not happening all the time. Last I played a few rounds of Smurf:Rescue and the controls were working as expected the whole time, which was surprising since diagonal movement is key to that game. So all in all, it’s not as good as my CX40+, but it’s not a complete loss either. What I’m hoping is that after a break in period, it will improve. We’ll see. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atariman72 Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 My pack-in controller seems fine. Tried it on PC as well and only managed to get it to mis-read a left/down diagnol once and that was using a lot of force. What I have done lots though is press the shoulder button by accident! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred_M Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 (edited) 10 minutes ago, JetmanUK said: Although to be fair I think the new CX40+ uses the contacts mounted in rubber design and that one is excellent, so I would point at the shell and the actual way that part is housed that is causing the issue. A real shame that the CX40+ wants used as a starting point as they nailed the feel of the old stick with that one. I have never used or seen the C40+, but for me joysticks with micro switches are the best. I still use my 35 year old Suzo Arcade joysticks on my real Atari's and they still work as a charm 😀 I will probably buy a 9 pin joystick to USB converter to use it on the 400 mini. Something like this: https://monsterjoysticks.com/9-pin-joystick-to-usb-adapter Edited March 30 by Fred_M 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetmanUK Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 (edited) 38 minutes ago, Fred_M said: I have never used or seen the C40+, but for me joysticks with micro switches are the best. I still use my 35 year old Suzo Arcade joysticks on my real Atari's and they still work as a charm 😀 I will probably buy a 9 pin joystick to USB converter to use it on the 400 mini. Ah, well I can highly recommend the CX40+, buy that and a Mayflash Megadrive/Genesis adapter and you have an excellent PC controller. I've never had a wonky read using the CX40+. The only downside being no extra fancy buttons and obviously the requirement to use an adapter. However many seem to be irritated by the new buttons and are accidentally hitting them so maybe just a single button joystick is better for 2600/C64/Spectrum etc emulation anyway. Also, the adapter I've suggested accepts two joysticks into one USB port. EDIT: I have an old PowerPlay Cruiser from back in the day, it has microswitches and still works flawlessly too. Edited March 30 by JetmanUK 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Preppie Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 After further play with mine I've had no trouble. I stuck it in my PC and checked it using the windows system as outline in this post No matter what pressure I used the stick reported the correct direction. My conclusion is either a) You guys are a bunch of amateurs and don't know how to use a joystick. or b) Atari have some dodgy manufacturing and quality control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetboot Jack Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 (edited) 1 hour ago, Preppie said: b) Atari have some dodgy manufacturing and quality control. The400 mini is not made by Atari… …pedantic I know, but we should direct our ire at Retro Games as they designed and built the system and its peripherals… I should also qualify that I have had no trouble with my CX stick… sTeVE Edited March 30 by Jetboot Jack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
infinite.pies Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 (edited) 30 minutes ago, Jetboot Jack said: The400 mini is not made by Atari… …pedantic I know, but we should direct our ire at Retro Games as they designed and built the system and its peripherals… I should also qualify that I have had no trouble with my CX stick… sTeVE To be really pedantic, it wasn’t made by Retro Games either. It was designed by Plaion, for Retro Games, licensed by Atari. The manufacturer who made it was someone else again. With so many parties involved, it really makes you wonder how anyone makes any money out of this thing. I guess though that the responsibility does ultimately sit with Retro Games. Edited March 31 by infinite.pies 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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