New joysticks??

[Hatt]

With all the awesome upgrade components being offered these days. Are new joysticks available too? I can't seem to see any.

I still have a few original joysticks, although my fav was the classic Zipstick.

I have a modern USB Speedlink joystick that I use on my A500 Mini. But it isn't anywhere as nice to use as the Zipstick.

Can you still buy Amiga fitment joysticks? If not, what are people doing these days on original Amiga's?

[TCD]

Immortal Joysticks finished its Kickstarter campaign recently and you can still pre-order a joystick: https://www.immortaljoysticks.co.uk/

[Hatt]

Wow £140!!!!! Sorry not for me at that money. I know limited production runs increase cost, but that is insane money IMO.

It also looks to be a right handed design which is useless for us lefties.

[lilwshu]

I still use Zipstiks on real Amigas, they are plentiful and cheap and very robust in general.

[CCRider]

For joysticks, RetroRadionics' ArcadeR are the way to go.

Now, if you're like me and are Team Joypads, KTRL CD32+ are, hands down, the best ones ever available for the Amiga. Too bad they are only sold on irregular batches.

[Adropac2]

The Arcade R is an absolutely gorgeous looking joystick and it feels incredibly great in the hands. I have a couple of them in fact. There is however a problem with them in that you will fall out of direction a fair bit. It doesn't seem an issue at all at first until you need to be always hitting more precisely a direction in certain games and it's then it can be inconsistent. I have tried the various gates you can get but it's very much the same somehow. A shame because it's so comfortable and wonderful physically to use but it ends up frustrating. Put it another way, if you remember hitting directions with no trouble using say the Zipstick, don't expect the same from the Arcade R

Not as gorgeous but a lot more accurate and offered in usb or 9pin is the joystick sold by riscman. Competition Pi pro 400 on ebay.https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/185964251....c100903.m5276

It also doesnt include firmare encoding for its usb version which apparently introduces latency in other joysticks- I have no idea regarding the Arcade R if it does this.

[zodiac]

I have 2 ArcadeR joysticks and they have poor functionality with diagonals. I can’t use them because of this. Hands down, the KTRL CD32+ is the best option, but it’s a gamepad.

[Romanujan]

Why they are only arcade sticks available? No normal, high quality joysticks (MATT ones aren’t good quality, unfortunately)

[Hatt]

Thanks all. Joypads are ok for certain games, but a proper joystick is so superior on most Amiga games. Anything where up is jump is completely naff to play with a joypad for example.

[ptyerman]

Here's a few new ones for sale.
https://www.ami64.com/amiga-joysticks?page=2
https://www.retro32.com/product/amiga-zipstick-joystick
https://www.ami64.com/product-page/z...r-pro-joystick
Just do a Google search if you want to find more.

[Hatt]

Originally Posted by ptyerman

Here's a few new ones for sale.
https://www.ami64.com/amiga-joysticks?page=2
https://www.retro32.com/product/amiga-zipstick-joystick
https://www.ami64.com/product-page/z...r-pro-joystick
Just do a Google search if you want to find more.

Thanks, although a couple of those links read like they are used joysticks. None of the sites are very clear on it, e.g.

great condition and fully micro-switched.

Joystick is fully tested. Beautiful tight action – looks to have been looked after.

An original Competition Pro from the '80s/90's

NOTE >> ONE OF THE TRANSPARENT OPTIONS HAS HAD A REPAIR TO THE CABLE & HAS AUTOFIRE SWITCH (photo here)

Which rather sounds like 2nd hand items.....

[Hatt]

Got an answer. Not a deal breaker, but I guess despite all of this modern upgrade items. New joysticks are on the rare side!

[Twiggy]

Can always hold out and see what the Unithor is like (if it ever gets made).

I've found those 'Competition Pi Pro' style ones have too much travel and don't feel very much like the old style controllers. More like clunky arcade ones.

[TommyTomorrow]

You can try to ask Larek from https://www.arsoft.netstrefa.pl/joycart.htm if he could make the Joycart for you. It's not a mass production but there are many happy buyers. The cost of this Joycart is about 340PLN + shipping cost, you can also buy additional carts for different platforms (you get 3 chosen carts with the Joycart), there's also USB adapter for modern computers. The problem is that there's a big queue of people who want to buy it

[aeberbach]

Buy the Sanwa mechanism and buttons you like; 3D print the housing. Here’s one I designed but there are many around: https://www.printables.com/model/811...-c64-atari-etc - total cost can be as low as about AUD$50? Or four to five times as high if you go for the very premium components.

[str0m]

Originally Posted by Hatt

Thanks all. Joypads are ok for certain games, but a proper joystick is so superior on most Amiga games. Anything where up is jump is completely naff to play with a joypad for example.

The KTRL+ pad lets you map buttons ie one to UP for jump to get around this

[kriz]

KTRL pad is not for sale for a long time now ..

[Retro-Nerd]

I enjoy the 8bitdo Neo Geo Controller on my A1200 atm (via mouSTer adapter). Works perfectly fine (even as a CD32 pad). Though the path to activate the microswitches seems a tiny bit longer than we are used to with normal joysticks. Great solution for joystick and joypad hater. Tested some WHDLoad games without jump button support and Chaos Engine. Very nice gaming experience.

[Hatt]

Gamepads just are not of interest. I can use USB ones on my A500 Mini if that is what I want. When on the real deal hardware, something period just seems more appropriate. I also think lots and lots of games play nicer with a proper joystick. Not just platformers.

I have a few candidates, but might just buy a used ZipStik to go along with my original one. Would probably make 2 player games more even using the same joystick. Although I hoped we'd have some nice new shiny offerings given the number of Amiga upgrades and parts you can buy.

[Daedalus]

I tend to use pads more often than joysticks, but both have a place. For pads, I also use the KTRL-CD32 (which is excellent), or my 8bitdo pad with a Megadrive receiver and appropriate adaptor.

When I do use joysticks (mostly for SWOS gaming nights), it's typically a Zipstick with replacement microswitches. Provided the casing is mechanically ok, they're very simple inside and a new set of microswitches does wonders to make it feel like new. You can buy switches with various actuation forces depending on preferred stiffness, and a little bit of plastic-safe lubricant on the shaft bearings works wonders too.