MiSTer FPGA Forum

Hi all,

I'm based in the UK and I'm looking for a joystick I could use with the C64 core, something along the lines of a Competition Pro. Games just aren't the same with a joypad!

Any recommendations?

Thanks

ArcadeR has a decent price and a good reputation (built on Sanwa parts), here is one shop that sells it: https://zxrenew.co.uk/ArcadeR-c58672270

Monster Joysticks are also pretty good: https://monsterjoysticks.com/basic-mini ... cherry-red

or get a second hand comp pro off ebay and a mayflash db9 to usb adapter..

This is the 30th anniversary edition where they fixed the polling rate. Works well, but is stiff as the original, when new: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Speedlink-Anni ... B07K9N36GG

Thanks all.

I wanted a USB one, so the Speedlink looks great.

I had already seen this one but somebody mentioned (in the customer feedback) that they recently changed the board inside it and it doesn't work with the Mister (or Raspberry Pi for that matter).

Any other USB joystick recommendations?

This one is supposed to be the ultimate recreation of the Competition Pro500 Kempston joystick with usb connection.

However, you're better off hunting for an original one to go with either SNAC, or BlisSTer. Having just two one fire button though, would severely handicap you in most of the cores that are not the Atari 2600, or 80s micros.

Buy a original Joystick on either eBay or a Facebook group and make or build a adaptor using the Daemonbite code single or dual. You can then use original Megadrive pads on the genesis core too

Buying original, used joysticks is a lottery. Source: a guy with a drawerful of used joysticks/pads which were described as "working" / "fine" and then turned out to be indeed working, but only just about. It's not fun playing games when you have to wrestle with your controller and hope the connections register.

pomegran wrote: ↑Fri Jul 02, 2021 6:21 pm Thanks all.

I wanted a USB one, so the Speedlink looks great.

I had already seen this one but somebody mentioned (in the customer feedback) that they recently changed the board inside it and it doesn't work with the Mister (or Raspberry Pi for that matter).

Any other USB joystick recommendations?

The stick works fine with the MiSTer even in the latest version. Very stiff as others already mentioned.

If you want to go the budget route, you can get a Xinmotek USB adapter on AliExpress and a cheap enclosure. These usually come with 6 button holes but you can buy caps to install instead of a button.

I put sanwa sticks and buttons in mine and it works well as a 2 button controller (and separate, smaller start+select)

It is more bulky for sure, but much cheaper.

I need to rant about the Atari VCS Joystick here, now that it is semi-available. I thought it might be an interesting USB (and bluetooth!) computer joystick option for Mister since we have so few. The main problem though, especially for its high price, is that you can't feel any micro-switches on the stick itself at all, it just feels like smooth 360 movement! Yet when I plugged it into a PC and looked at the HID inputs, the stick is treated as a hat (d-pad), and the lights around the edge also move in 8 steps. Why on earth does this 8-way stick not give any tactile feedback? Its more or less fine for shooter style games with free 8-way movement but sidescrollers with up/jump and down/duck are a bit finicky, even moreso if you need to hit fire+direction suddenly to pull off moves like Moonstone on the Amiga...

One potentially cool trick is that the shell/surface of the stick can be rotated separately like a dial. This is supported on the new VCS and a few PC emulators for paddle/spinner 2600 games. I'm not sure how you would or could configure Mister to recognize it though.

The stick works fine with the MiSTer even in the latest version.

Thanks, this is reassuring to know.

I use one of these.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/184896038737

Not cheap, especially once you factor in the need for a DB9 to USB adapter, but it's fully micro-switched using modern parts. The Competition Pro-like shell is 3D printed, but it's a decent enough finish. It's the closest I have found to a modern version of the Pro.
There is the Speedlink Comp Pro USB,

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Speedlink-Anni ... B07K9N36GG

But it's loud, and the micro-switches feel cheap, like something you would find on a cheap Chinese arcade stick for £20 on eBay.

Thanks all. Plenty to think about here!