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5200 Joystick Solution(s) -- What would you do?


Omega-TI

Which solution would you choose?  

38 members have voted

  1. 1. Which solution do you think is the most reliable and cost effective?

    • Best Joystick (Gold Dot) Rebuild Solution
      14
    • Masterplay Clone (Used with Atari Compatible Joystick)
      8
    • Other (please explain in message are below)
      16

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Until you can find a Competition Pro joystick (with Y-cable), I would say a MasterPlay clone since compatible Atari and Genesis controllers shouldn't be too hard to find. Best joysticks will probably cost less but the non-centering joystick and using the side buttons to shoot on some games are a pain! You might have a couple of games that won't work well with the MasterPlay but the money you are spending may be worth it. " K-razy Shoot-Out" and "H.E.R.O." had issues with my Competition Pro joystick as it would only move in certain directions but works great with the rest of my games.

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Bohoki's suggestion is probably the best one when your primary qualifications are price and reliability. Old PC joysticks and gamepads are really cheap, and bohoki himself makes a great inexpensive adapter so you can use them with the 5200. A big advantage of this solution over the Masterplay/MP clones is that you can play the analog games with a PC joystick (Missile Command, Centipede, Gorf, Star Wars)

 

(If price is no object, the rare 5200 Wico joystick and even rarer Wico keypad makes for a nice option. If you can get a deal on these, go for it!)

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I do actually own a Wico and Wico keypad. But I prefer to use the original 5200 controllers as I find them more comfortable to use. So for me, I just maintain the original controllers with the foil tape method when needed. Again, I only have to revisit this method every couple of years on my controllers so to me it isn't much of an issue.

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That's the set-up I'm using is an adapter to hook up PC gamepads to the 5200. I purchased my adapter/cable back in 2016 and wasn't sure if it was available or offered to purchase but if it's out there to buy then yes, go for that. Sdamon makes a good point about playing the analog games with a PC controller and hunting and trying out different ones can help you find the perfect controller for specific games. (I forgot to mention, if you can find a working 5200 Trak-ball for a good price, grab it as it works great for compatible games such as "Space Invaders.'')

Edited by K-Rod 13
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I do actually own a Wico and Wico keypad. But I prefer to use the original 5200 controllers as I find them more comfortable to use. So for me, I just maintain the original controllers with the foil tape method when needed. Again, I only have to revisit this method every couple of years on my controllers so to me it isn't much of an issue.

 

It always amazes me that some people actually like the original 5200 controllers, but it is clearly true for some people! So, yes, if you dig the old CX-52's, fixing them up with some foil is indeed the most economical solution of all.

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I am all for the PC controllers with the adapter bohoki makes. Really a great product. You can add an Innovation Smart Joy "Emulator Adapter" to it to get N64 and PS1 and 2 controller compatibility (including the really cool paddle-like Playstation racing controllers). At the moment there's one left on Ebay for around $35.

Edited by ave1
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The best thing to happen would be for a retrofit kit that would replace the flex circuit with thin interconnected PCBs that then used dome switches for all of the buttons. That would be better - in terms of longevity and actual cost - than Best Electronics' expensive gold kits or trying to tinfoil it up after giving everything the heavy-duty pencil eraser duty.

 

There's people in the 7800 section creating 7800-compatible PCB replacements for NES gamepads and other controllers. It shouldn't take much more effort to replace the CX52 Flex Circuit with a modern solution like those.

 

And then use something like a PS2 or Xbox thumbstick component that could output [whatever POT value is needed] from the POT to replace the non-centering 5200 joystick portion of the CX52. But the PCB replacement itself would be useful whether one wanted to use the CX52 for a joystick, a paddle, or a spinner.

Edited by Lynxpro
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For digital games, I use a Masterplay Clone and a Sega Control Stick (for 2-button play). For analog games, I currently use the trak ball or the stock joysticks. I'm going to probably make my own 5200 paddle in order to play Pole Position better.

I don't know why, but I prefer the stock controller for Pole Position. I prefer it over the actual steering wheel on the original arcade machine, which I played the hell out of back in the day. I recently took down the HSC record with a pole time of 57'97. :)

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I don't know why, but I prefer the stock controller for Pole Position. I prefer it over the actual steering wheel on the original arcade machine, which I played the hell out of back in the day. I recently took down the HSC record with a pole time of 57'97. :)

 

I want to try this one on youtube.

 

Edited by The Lizard King
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That looks sweet. I also have my own custom paddle.

 

http://mvvg.blogspot.com/2016/01/custim-5200-paddle.html

 

Bought it off of ebay many years ago.

 

WTF is that? :)

 

Oh, and let us remember that Atari Inc. did create a self-centering CX52 but it was never released by either Atari Inc or the successor Atari Corp. Curt has pics of the CX52L here:

 

http://www.atarimuseum.com/videogames/consoles/5200/5200joy.html

 

I would like that mechanism coupled with slim PCB replacements with dome switches.

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Oh, and let us remember that Atari Inc. did create a self-centering CX52 but it was never released by either Atari Inc or the successor Atari Corp. Curt has pics of the CX52L here:

 

http://www.atarimuseum.com/videogames/consoles/5200/5200joy.html

 

I would like that mechanism coupled with slim PCB replacements with dome switches.

 

I wish those could be recreated...

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