I rather like the 5200 contollers....

[chairmonkey4406]

Yup, I do I LIKE 5200 CONTROLLERS! They seem fine to me. I don't know why people don't like them so much. If you think about it, what games do you really need a joystick that recenters? The only game I can think of is dragster but thats 2600.

[NE146]

You will find there are a lot of us who like the 5200 controllers.. a lot.

 

The control wasn't the issue.. What WAS the issue and the only thing I didn't like.. was that they broke.. often

[sku_u]

I've heard that Best's new gold dot package alleviates the breaking problem. Time will tell, I guess. I too enjoy using the 5200 controllers. They're especially good when playing Robotron 2084 and Space Dungeon with the dual controller plastic thingy.

[Gabriel]

Well, I had a 5200 back when they were new. I went through several controllers. My last one died around 1991 after the withering punishment of a game of Defender. Without any controllers, I despaired of ever playing my 5200 again. So, when I was forced to move out of a building which was being demolished, I left my pristine 5200, broken controllers, and games behind.

 

DOH!

 

A year ago, I bought myself another 5200 off of ebay. The controllers with this "new" one were fine as long as I used them semi-regularly. But, then I let them sit for a couple of months and they went to heck.

 

So, last month or so, I ordered some gold contact, refurbished controllers from Best Electronics. I've been very happy so far. Both of my new controllers have survived fairly long Defender sessions.

 

There is still the problem of throwing the stick out of calibration. After my last Defender exercise, the stick I had been using became centered slightly off to the right. But, I haven't had any problem with buttons whatsoever.

 

Otherwise, I love the 5200 controllers. I'd much rather use them than Intellivision, Colecovision, NES, or N64 controllers.

[JB]

Another 5200 stick lover.

 

 

There is still the problem of throwing the stick out of calibration.  After my last Defender exercise, the stick I had been using became centered slightly off to the right.  But, I haven't had any problem with buttons whatsoever.

I recently got some 5200 stuff that was in a box in a relative's attic.

The horizontal pot on one stick had tweaked itself so far off-center that it was all the way on the edge of the pot's movement range when the stick was pushed all the way over. You literally couldn't move the stick left or right, just up and down. I assume it was from thermal stresses in the attic. I don't even want to THINK about how they'd've done it otherwise...

 

 

I haven't even attempted to do much of anything with those sticks. The rubber parts of the fire buttons are completely shot, and they use the rev. 9 carbon traces.

 

I DID steal the top off one of them to replace the top of my rev. 9 metal trace stick, because I lacked a rubber boot and the new sticks, paradoxically, had very nice boots.

 

...

 

Man, I oughta break down and buy a restoration kit for one of these bastard sticks I have. 2 rev 6's, 2 rev. 9 carbons, 1 rev.9 metal(my operational stick that I actually use), and a rev. 7 with broken traces(some dipwad(possibly a younger me) crumpled the start-pause-reset strip).

[mechanized]

NES controllers aren't terrible... they're a good Average controller. Just sorta small feeling (which I don't mind myself) and the squared shape of it is kinda uncomfortable at times.

 

However, the N64 controllers are actually some of the best controllers ever made for a console, excepting two things: the memory card port on the controller is totally lame-brained, and the shoulder buttons needed to be a little larger.

The joystick is one of the most sensitive and responsive sticks I've ever handled. If you play PS2 with some regularity, you might have noticed there is a 'dead zone' of movement where nothing registers on the sensors. This is a pretty irritating to deal with for a number of games, especially FPS titles, since that precision is much desired. The N64 on the other hand is simply beautiful, with the least 'dead zone' I've seen in an analog stick. On top of that, it recalibrates with every time the machine is turned on, so it's only a matter of turning off the game and making sure the stick is centered before turning it on again (most common problem for me is the controller being upside down when I turn on the machine, and the joystick being bent due to that, but it's so easy to fix).

 

Outside of that, the design sure is a little dorky with that Claw-shape, but the controller is utterly solid besides. I'd say the GameCube controller, while less dorky, is actually a bit of a step down from the N64. It's more comfortable until you have to crick your thumb down to that digital pad, but the main stick has a significant 'dead zone' and it falls out of proper calibration without an easy fix, and the C-Stick is somewhat ungainly. The relocation of the Z button to above the R shoulder button is somewhat awkward, too.

 

I'd love to see a means of rigging up an N64 controller for use on an Atari5200. It'd be the only controller you'd need for a great many games, with the digital pad and great analog joystick. Rewire the shoulder buttons to handle Start and Reset, the C buttons for the most popular numerical keys for option selection, the Start button to Pause, set up the Z trigger as a second fire button for that more used Fire Button, set A and B appropriately... it would be one hell of an awesome and useful conversion, I swear it.

 

Plus, those Smoke Grey translucent controllers would look mightily handsome against a 5200.

 

I wonder if such a conversion is possible. Perhaps a Redemption-esque modification is possible?

[SteveW]

Would it be possible to modify a PlayStation Dual-Shock controller so that you could use the left analog or D-pad as joystick 1, and the right analog as joystick 2? It would make playing Robotron a heck of a lot easier, having both 5200 controller's analog sticks modified to work on the same gamepad.

[mechanized]

That's not a bad idea...

 

And for other games, set up the shoulders for either firing button, too, and you could ...play..with yourself. Huh huh huh..

[TunnelRunner]

Yup, I do I LIKE 5200 CONTROLLERS! They seem fine to me. I don't know why people don't like them so much. If you think about it, what games do you really need a joystick that recenters? The only game I can think of is dragster but thats 2600.

Good for you! I love those controllers, easy to fix and they bring me great memories when I hold one! CX52!

G

[jetset]

Yup, I do I LIKE 5200 CONTROLLERS! They seem fine to me. I don't know why people don't like them so much. If you think about it, what games do you really need a joystick that recenters? The only game I can think of is dragster but thats 2600.

 

Haleluljiah brother!

 

Nothing wrong with the non-self centering 5200 sticks!

I do have a gripe about the fire buttons. Too squishy and prone to breaking. Even brand new, on games like Defender when you are CONSTANTLY pushing fire, every few shots don't register....

But all in all I like the 5200 stick(s)...I think it makes games like Pacman better....

[joeybastard]

Nothing wrong with the non-self centering 5200 sticks!  

I do have a gripe about the fire buttons.  Too squishy and prone to breaking.  Even brand new,  on games like Defender when you are CONSTANTLY pushing fire,  every few shots don't register....

But all in all I like the 5200 stick(s)...I think it makes games like Pacman better....

 

Same here, I don't mind the sticks but the fire buttons suck.

[mechanized]

Are there any plastic buttons available for the 5200 controllers?

 

I've used the triple-dot firing buttons, and those work very nicely, but I can't help wondering if there is another option, like a solid button where squishiness is simply no longer a problem.

[Cootster]

Although they do take a LOT of care and feeding . . . But, no, I don't care for them too much w/ maze games . . . Countermeasure, however, is perfect with them and I could never imagine it any other way . . .

[jetset]

Are there any plastic buttons available for the 5200 controllers?

 

I've used the triple-dot firing buttons, and those work very nicely, but I can't help wondering if there is another option, like a solid button where squishiness is simply no longer a problem.

 

There is/are options....

Either get the redemption 5200 adapter from the AA store, or pick up a pair of Wico sticks or Compeition pro sticks. I actually have a pair of the Wico's coming to me.