So I just pulled the Atari 2600 out of the garage for the first time in almost a decade, because I now have a 3-year old daugther whom I thought might enjoy some of the games (and she is!).
Unfortunately my Gemstik joysticks (the only ones to survive my and my brother's childhood, as the stock pair and another aftermarket pair both broke along the way) aren't responding too well these days. I opened one of them up, and noticed that the dome switches (similar to those used in the OEM Atari controllers) don't seem to be clicking or resisting much.
There are some OEM Atari joystick pairs on eBay at the moment for around USD$12. It would be nice to have actual Atari sticks again, but I'm not sure that I would get that much use out of them and I'm worried about what kind of condition they'll actually be in.
I've been researching options for repairing my existing joysticks:
Someone is selling dome switches on eBay, but they cost as much as a new pair of joysticks (especially since I live in a state for which the seller charges shipping). I also came across this video, which suggests using tactile switches instead of dome switches:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cRIFhsMSTU
The tactile switch idea has a lot of advantages:
Tactile switches are extremely cheap. I can get enough to mod 4 joysticks (twice as many as I need) for just over a dollar (USD).
They are easy to find on eBay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/20x-SMD-Tactile-Pushbutton-Key-Switch-Momentary-Tact-4-Pins-6-6-2-5mm-/201005065658?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2eccd5e5ba
http://www.ebay.com/itm/20x-Tactile-Pushbutton-Key-Switch-Momentary-Tact-SMD-SMT-4pin-4-4-1mm-/181282363067?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a354556bb
They last forever. The plastic parts of the joystick are likely to wear out before the switches do.
They have a nice feel due to the clicking.
Downsides I can think of:
My comment about the plastic failing may be significant, as I do see some white areas on the plastic that are evidence of wear/fatigue/stress.
I'll likely have to file down the plastic that contacts the switches in order to compensate for the tactile switches having a greater height than the dome switches. This means that there's a chance I may screw things up in a way that's hard to fix.
This is currently my only pair of standard joysticks for my Atari 2600.
It would take a couple weeks for these to show up, as they ship from China.
Opinions?