Cheap PC joystick... hackable?

[pointdablame]

Hey, I just came across this and thought someone here might be interested.

http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?invtid=68030

It's a dirt cheap PC joystick.  There are also some other items on the right side like a ~$7 Joystick/gamepad combo, and a ~$10 Steering wheel.  I've never hacked anything like this, so I don't even know if that is possible, but I just though I'd let you guys know.

[Tiger-Heli]

Hey, I just came across this and thought someone here might be interested.

http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?invtid=68030

It's a dirt cheap PC joystick.  There are also some other items on the right side like a ~$7 Joystick/gamepad combo, and a ~$10 Steering wheel.  I've never hacked anything like this, so I don't even know if that is possible, but I just though I'd let you guys know.

FYI, it would be hackable - for a desktop controller, it would work well as it is for Afterburner, etc.  In a cab, you could bolt it to some wood and run it to the gameport for an analog stick, or you could hack it to Daveb's AKI http://dave.bit2000.com/ for a USB controller, but it would be cheaper to just buy a USB PC joystick like a Saitek, unless you already had the AKI.

[xoopx]

i dont see anything like 24 physical buttons on it, so i dont know how easy it would be to connect buttons to it. im thinking not very. but for that price its not a big loss to buy one and crack it open to see for yourself.

[Buddabing]

Hey, I just came across this and thought someone here might be interested.

http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?invtid=68030

It's a dirt cheap PC joystick.  There are also some other items on the right side like a ~$7 Joystick/gamepad combo, and a ~$10 Steering wheel.  I've never hacked anything like this, so I don't even know if that is possible, but I just though I'd let you guys know.

Wow, thanks, I ordered one. I don't know yet if I'll hack it to an arcade stick or just plug it into the joystick port.

By the way, do you have a higher resolution version of that "Office Space" GIF?

[Tiger-Heli]

i dont see anything like 24 physical buttons on it, so i dont know how easy it would be to connect buttons to it. im thinking not very. but for that price its not a big loss to buy one and crack it open to see for yourself.

We're not talking about hooking buttons up to the PCB on the joystick, we're talking about hooking the joystick up to the PC for analog joystick games.

[Doc-]

The Saitek ST90 works very well for analog games and is very easy to mount, though it only has three buttons and a digital throttle.  Still that is plenty for most arcade games.  Street price is around $15.

Here's one mounted on my panel:
  http://www.beersmith.com/mame/panels.htm

Look about 2/3 of the way down the page and you will see how easy it is to put it in a wood panel.