Getting a 5200. What is the best option for a digital joystick?

[R_Leo_1]

I know for analog input I intend on using an original controller with a new pcb and possibly the boot too. However, I’m not sure what the best alternatives are for a regular “digital” joystick, whether it’s an adapter or some third party option. 
 

Just wondering what’s out there and what people in this forum use.

[leech]

I'd suggest trying to get one of these. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/196475998995
 

[Cobra Kai]

https://www.etsy.com/shop/BDRetroMods?ref=own_favorite_shops_page

 

This guy will make you a quality custom 5200 digital stick for about $100. I bought one from him and it's awesome. He doesn't appear to have one in stock, but he will make you one.

Edited October 6 by Cobra Kai

[Satoshi Matrix]

I bought a RetroGameBoyz 5200 arcade stick.

It's pretty expensive at $175 USD before shipping, taxes and import fees if you live outside the US like I do, but you're getting a quality product. This one has a full keypad and adjustable horizontal and vertical pots. That is important because the deadzone of the 5200 seems to differ not only console to console but game to game. What is center for Defender isn't the same for Ms. Pac-Man isn't the same for Vanguard. Manual adjustment is needed per game and this actually allows you to do that.

 

It's 3D printed, so it is rather light. I added self adhesive wheel weights to the interior lining of the bottom to make it feel more substainal.

 

The stick itself and the buttons are clones of Japanese parts maker Sanwa Denshi. The seller could make them with real Sanwa parts but at a mark up. As I'm international, it was cheaper for me to just get the Sanwa parts locally, and that's what I did. Swapped out the buttons and stick and the square restrictor gate for an octagonal gate. 

 

 

[+-^CrossBow^-]

36 minutes ago, Satoshi Matrix said:

I bought a RetroGameBoyz 5200 arcade stick.

It's pretty expensive at $175 USD before shipping, taxes and import fees if you live outside the US like I do, but you're getting a quality product. This one has a full keypad and adjustable horizontal and vertical pots. That is important because the deadzone of the 5200 seems to differ not only console to console but game to game. What is center for Defender isn't the same for Ms. Pac-Man isn't the same for Vanguard. Manual adjustment is needed per game and this actually allows you to do that.

 

It's 3D printed, so it is rather light. I added self adhesive wheel weights to the interior lining of the bottom to make it feel more substainal.

 

The stick itself and the buttons are clones of Japanese parts maker Sanwa Denshi. The seller could make them with real Sanwa parts but at a mark up. As I'm international, it was cheaper for me to just get the Sanwa parts locally, and that's what I did. Swapped out the buttons and stick and the square restrictor gate for an octagonal gate. 

 

 

Those adjustment knobs can also double as a paddle controller for 1 player games as well.

 

[Satoshi Matrix]

That's true, but it's not as ideal as it sounds. The pots on these are not loose enough to make paddle experiences very enjoyable. It's less of a selling point and more of a secondary result simply by nature of the need for the pots in the first place.

I wonder if you can convert a 2600 paddle controller to work with the 5200? That is something I would be interested in doing for playing Super Breakout and Kaboom on 5200.

[Cobra Kai]

10 minutes ago, Satoshi Matrix said:

That's true, but it's not as ideal as it sounds. The pots on these are not loose enough to make paddle experiences very enjoyable. It's less of a selling point and more of a secondary result simply by nature of the need for the pots in the first place.

I wonder if you can convert a 2600 paddle controller to work with the 5200? That is something I would be interested in doing for playing Super Breakout and Kaboom on 5200.

Of course you can, here's mine

[Cobra Kai]

Here's my 5200 stick I bought from bdretromods

[RB5200]

28 minutes ago, Satoshi Matrix said:

wonder if you can convert a 2600 paddle controller to work with the 5200? That is something I would be interested in doing for playing Super Breakout and Kaboom on 5200.

Here is a link to another section showing different styles of paddle hacks.

 

https://forums.atariage.com/topic/353387-revisiting-an-old-paddle-hack/

[Satoshi Matrix]

On 10/13/2024 at 1:21 PM, Cobra Kai said:

Of course you can, here's mine

Interesting.....although I think I would rather mod a 2600 paddle. You seem to have added a paddle to a OEM 5200 controller? That isn't what I would like to do. I would like to a 2600 paddle mod on a 5200. Is there a video or picture guide? I'm bad at following text-only instructions.

[Satoshi Matrix]

On 10/13/2024 at 1:24 PM, Cobra Kai said:

Here's my 5200 stick I bought from bdretromods

Are those Suzo Happ buttons? What is the depth of that stick? I wonder if those would fit. For a 5200 controller, Happ buttons would be what I would prefer as they feel more era-appropriate than Sanwa. Do you know what you paid for it?