Real arcade action in your living room

[mgb]

And to think I wasted the time on my own control panel.

[Slippyblade]

Totally pre-ordered!  The guy at GameStop told me these were the latest in cutting edge tech!  I'm hoping they pack in the DLC code for Woodworking Simulator 2014, that'd be groovy man.

[mgb]

I wonder if the stick station can modified for a cup holder???
Nah, probably not. That'd be too much work

[eds1275]

The grand stand is perfect for those needing a steady hand... http://www.kongregate.com/games/BossaStudios/surgeon-simulator-2013

[ark_ader]

I'm totally 3D printing that!

[mgb]

My wife thought the grand stand was pornographic.

[yotsuya]

HaRuMaN can make you either one if you ask him to. 

[ChanceKJ]

My wife thought the grand stand was pornographic.

HaRuMaN can make you either one if you ask him to. 

Why on earth would he WANT to make a pornographic one?!

[Typefighter01]

My wife thought the grand stand was pornographic.

HaRuMaN can make you either one if you ask him to. 

Why on earth would he WANT to make a pornographic one?!

Actually, the "Stick Station" looks like an 80's version of the Sybian 

[HaRuMaN]

Those look like corybee specials... 

[404]

Those look like corybee specials... 

^^

I legit laughed out loud at this one!

[yotsuya]

Those look like corybee specials... 

Needs more LEDs.

[Generic Eric]

Grandpa doesn't understand why I paid $14.95 on a 2x6 with a square cut out of it, but he can't beat my score without it.

[pbj]

Looks better than a Weecade.

[BadMouth]

Looks better than a Weecade.

Weecade might be a good name for it if it wasn't already taken.


Damn I hated those Atari 2600 joysticks.
I had a $10 off anything coupon for Radio Shaft and used it on one of those tv games 2600 controllers.
The plan was to convert it to a USB controller, but after using it once and feeling how authentic it was, I lost interest.

[drventure]

but after using it once and feeling how authentic it was, I lost interest.

Yeah, sometimes, older isn't better, it's just older 

Now, myself, I don't fit in that category..... 

[yotsuya]

Looks better than a Weecade.

Weecade might be a good name for it if it wasn't already taken.


Damn I hated those Atari 2600 joysticks.
I had a $10 off anything coupon for Radio Shaft and used it on one of those tv games 2600 controllers.
The plan was to convert it to a USB controller, but after using it once and feeling how authentic it was, I lost interest.

What was wrong with the Atari Joysticks?

[mgb]

The best way to learn to love the 2600 joystick is use the 7800 joystick (us version)

[thatpurplestuff]

My wife thought the grand stand was pornographic.

HaRuMaN can make you either one if you ask him to. 

Why on earth would he WANT to make a pornographic one?!

Actually, the "Stick Station" looks like an 80's version of the Sybian 

1880's? 

[BadMouth]

Looks better than a Weecade.

Weecade might be a good name for it if it wasn't already taken.


Damn I hated those Atari 2600 joysticks.
I had a $10 off anything coupon for Radio Shaft and used it on one of those tv games 2600 controllers.
The plan was to convert it to a USB controller, but after using it once and feeling how authentic it was, I lost interest.

What was wrong with the Atari Joysticks?

They are digital, but have no tactile feedback of when you've moved it far enough to engage a direction.  There's no real restrictor to tell you that you've reached the edge either.  It just gets progressively harder to push.  Combine that with great stiffness and the small base that's expected to be held by the same hand that works the action button and it just sucks.  It feels like your hands are straining against each other.
Especially for a small kid who doesn't understand how the joystick works.
I wish I'd had a 2x6 with a square cut in it. 

[mgb]

And the darn black cover would always come off

In the 90s when I was still playing Atari through the colecovision adaptor, I used the genesis controller

[yotsuya]

Very serious! 

I guess I just grew up with that joystick and used it so much that it never felt odd or out of the ordinary for me. Even if I mess with one today, it still feels natural. One of my first games was Missile Command on the 2600, and that forces you to learn precise control. Never had an issue. Or small hands. 

The black cover coming off was annoying, but we still played with the joysticks and had no issues.

[RandyT]

RE: Stick Station.....

Don't laugh, but my very first "arcade" control panel was a box with an angled, hinged top, with shelves inside for the console, and a big multi-colored atari logo on the front (masked and spray painted).  The Atari 2600 joysticks, were disassembled so that the upper part could be screwed to the underside of the panel, and the fire button wired out to an external button.  The directionals were also brought out to an Asteroids button layout.  Pretty cutting edge at the time 

[harveybirdman]

The black cover coming off was annoying, but we still played with the joysticks and had no issues.

Yes but in a pinch it could be suctioned to almost anything, the TV, the fridge, the sliding glass door, your forehead, your sister's forehead, pretty much endless secondary use opportunities....

[Generic Eric]

RE: Stick Station.....

Don't laugh, but my very first "arcade" control panel was a box with an angled, hinged top, with shelves inside for the console, and a big multi-colored atari logo on the front (masked and spray painted).  The Atari 2600 joysticks, were disassembled so that the upper part could be screwed to the underside of the panel, and the fire button wired out to an external button.  The directionals were also brought out to an Asteroids button layout.  Pretty cutting edge at the time 

Have pics? You should rebuild it.  For...nostalgia

[yotsuya]

RE: Stick Station.....

Don't laugh, but my very first "arcade" control panel was a box with an angled, hinged top, with shelves inside for the console, and a big multi-colored atari logo on the front (masked and spray painted).  The Atari 2600 joysticks, were disassembled so that the upper part could be screwed to the underside of the panel, and the fire button wired out to an external button.  The directionals were also brought out to an Asteroids button layout.  Pretty cutting edge at the time 

Have pics? You should rebuild it.  For...nostalgia

Yeah. Polaroids or it didn't happen. 

[RandyT]

I know there was a photo of it somewhere, but I would need to dredge my folks photo shoebox to find it, if it even still exists.  You have to consider that this was about 35 years ago (I was 13).

And there's no way I'm rebuilding it .  The panel angle was too steep, and with no access to real controls, I used those red, square pushbuttons from radio shack (I can't believe they still sell these things).  Marathon game sessions became pretty painful.  Still...it was better than hanging onto that joystick.

[ark_ader]

What was wrong with the Atari Joysticks?

Well I don't miss the hand cramps from marathon sessions of Demon attack, Empire Strikes Back
 or Yars revenge.   

[BadMouth]

Much nicer finish than the line drawing implies.

[mgb]

Demon attack was great with the sega stick.

[mgb]

Awesome. Actual pics.
I didn't bother to look for any but yeah definitely nicer than the drawing but still kinda silly

[CoryBee]

Those look like corybee specials... 

---gosh-darn--- it harryman

[AlienInferno]

I guess I just grew up with that joystick and used it so much that it never felt odd or out of the ordinary for me. Never had an issue. Or small hands. 

Agreed. I don't remember having a problem with the sticks.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

[Xiaou2]

Our family got a 2600 when I was probably like 9.   I HATED those sticks with a passion.

  Id already been introduced to far superior controllers on the c64, as well as the Arcade machines.

 The Stick was an nightmare.

 The shafts hard angles cut into your hands, and felt horrible.

 The plastic covering wasnt flush with the internal shaft.. and add that to its ridge rings that were too close together,  cause it to make loud noises, similar to that of sitting down on a leather couch.

 The stick had pretty much Zero travel.  The stick assembly was made to be pressure-bent.  Wretched design.

 The button placement, and its small square base, made it impossible to use on a level / floor surface.  You had to play it in your hands.. and so had to deal with bulky non-ergonomic block in your hands.. with poor shaft leverage, and use your worst / slowest digit (thumb), to press fire.

 The problem with childhood memories, is that they are always foggy and colored with childhood ignorance / poor awareness.. and rose tinted glasses.   Pick up a real atari stick today, and compare it to a happs comp.   Or in fact, just about Any stick based controller.  Its hard to find one worse.

 The only thing I can think that Might have made the stick less of an issue for some people.. may have been a hotter climate.   Its possible that hotter climates caused the plastic to be much more flexible, and thus much more forgiving and possibly even more comfortable.

 

[Typefighter01]

Our family got a 2600 when I was probably like 9.   I HATED those sticks with a passion.

  Id already been introduced to far superior controllers on the c64, as well as the Arcade machines.

 The Stick was an nightmare.

 The shafts hard angles cut into your hands, and felt horrible.

 The plastic covering wasnt flush with the internal shaft.. and add that to its ridge rings that were too close together,  cause it to make loud noises, similar to that of sitting down on a leather couch.

 The stick had pretty much Zero travel.  The stick assembly was made to be pressure-bent.  Wretched design.

 The button placement, and its small square base, made it impossible to use on a level / floor surface.  You had to play it in your hands.. and so had to deal with bulky non-ergonomic block in your hands.. with poor shaft leverage, and use your worst / slowest digit (thumb), to press fire.

 The problem with childhood memories, is that they are always foggy and colored with childhood ignorance / poor awareness.. and rose tinted glasses.   Pick up a real atari stick today, and compare it to a happs comp.   Or in fact, just about Any stick based controller.  Its hard to find one worse.

 The only thing I can think that Might have made the stick less of an issue for some people.. may have been a hotter climate.   Its possible that hotter climates caused the plastic to be much more flexible, and thus much more forgiving and possibly even more comfortable.

Mods: Please move Xiaou2's post to "Reviews" and retitle "Atari 2600 Joystick Review", hate to see a noob build a cabinet around this stick.

Even at 7 or 8 years old, I remember saying to myself, "What kind of doorknob would create something so bad and evil?".

[yotsuya]

Mods: Please move Xiaou2's post to "Reviews" and retitle "Atari 2600 Joystick Review", hate to see a noob build a cabinet around this stick.

Even at 7 or 8 years old, I remember saying to myself, "What kind of doorknob would create something so bad and evil?".

HAHAHA! I wish we could hand out rep points here. Internet high five for you, Typefighter.

My thoughts on the Atari joystick aren't rose-colored or foggy. I have a working 2600 that I can use today, and the stick feels just as fine to me now as it did when I was in the second grade. I don't get the complaint about using it on a flat surface- I never had a need to use it in any other way besides holding it in my hands.

[matt4949]

Very serious! 

I guess I just grew up with that joystick and used it so much that it never felt odd or out of the ordinary for me. Even if I mess with one today, it still feels natural. One of my first games was Missile Command on the 2600, and that forces you to learn precise control. Never had an issue. Or small hands. 

The black cover coming off was annoying, but we still played with the joysticks and had no issues.

very well put

[RandyT]

My biggest issue with the 2600 sticks was the "numb thumb" syndrome.  The corners on the body would put a lot of pressure on the inside of your palm, under your thumb.  This would cut off circulation and even pinch nerves.  It may not have been an issue for folks who played an occasional game, but for those who spent many consecutive hours playing, it was a very real malady caused by the design.  And while I never had the rubber part come off the stick, I did have the plastic parts break a couple of times.  Like X indicated, it was a poor design, relying on flexing plastic to absorb the forces.  You can only flex plastic so many times before it weakens and breaks.

As for why to mount the sticks, the answer would be "why not?"  Arcades were ramping into full swing when the 2600 was released, and many who purchased the system did so to try to (well...poorly) replicate the arcade experience at home.  Not so different than what the vast majority of us here are doing today.  The main difference today is the easy availability of real controls, and easily disseminated knowledge of how to go about it.  So while some may not have possessed the knowledge or ability to do a full hack of the controls to a panel with real arcade controls (like my second panel ever), some did.  The others would find value in the solutions shown in this thread, marketed well before the collective knowledge of the internet was available or commonplace.

[mgb]

Man, you guys really know how to take fun little jokes and take them way seriuos. 

[matt4949]

Man, you guys really know how to take fun little jokes and take them way seriuos. 

It's the way of the arcade jedi