Lucas Lac124

I'm in college now, but I've already purchased everything required to make the first batch of controllers. All I need now is some spare time, and it may be several months before I have any of that. Rest assured, the controllers are still coming, but it would not be reasonable to give a time frame, because I have no clue what the immediate future holds.

For this production run at least, everything will be 3D printed (injection molding is still pretty expensive at this scale). I spent a ton of time making sure that all of the buttons line up well, as I wanted to avoid any issues with them. I've found that when 3D printing, it often makes sense to greatly increase non-essential tolerances, that way interference is less of an issue overall, and slight manufacturing variances from controller to controller matter less.

Another quick update: things are moving along nicely. I will make no promises, but we are on track for some small availability in about 30 days.

I understand your concern. I maintain that the controller does work with such games, and I will make sure to create a video demonstration of the controller sometime soon in order to back this up.

My intention in making this controller was to make something better than the 80s experience, not to replicate it. The original controller's joystick is not self centering: this one is. The original controller has mushy trigger buttons: this controller has more satisfying ones. The original controller used a flexible PCB that almost invariably stops working: this controller uses a normal PCB, and therefore is not prone to the same issues. If you don't like the controller, that's fine. I just don't want you to get the wrong idea about it.

This is a very good description of the joystick. The joystick is effectively analog to a user, even if it isn't technically analog all the way down the chain.

What do you mean, "digital stick"? The whole point of this project from the beginning was to make a controller with an analog, self centering joystick in the original form factor. Missile command will work with this controller.

Yes, about $100 per controller. Its a bit more than the $75 quoted a while ago, but this is my last summer before college, and I need this to be worthwhile financially in order to do it.

- Update June 6th, 2023 - Work has resumed on the Atari 5200 VX controller! I can make no definite promises yet as to timeline, but I expect it to cost just about the same $100 originally specified in this post (before shipping and tax). I will likely make future updates a new topic, such that the majority of questions and constructive criticisms about the controller can be answered in a single header post, instead of several forum pages. I have decided to allow direct controller purchases, as well as eBay sales, because eBay's selling fees are getting ridiculous, and a process for that will be implemented in the future (the controller will likely cost about 15% more if purchased through eBay). I will need time to finish this, as I decided to do a lot of ground-up controller redesign after backing myself into a few corners. All of the things that made the controller good previously are still present in this new version, and you can expect many more regular updates than made in the past year. Thank you, Lucas Lac124.

I am currrently part of the way through the hardest academic year of my life so far, and consequentially, I have had almost no time to devote to this project. It is not dead, only sidelined until I have some room to breath. There is a chance that I will be able to quite significantly increase the number of controllers that I make when I finally find the time, but patience is once again all that I can ask for.

- Update 9/11/2022 - For those wondering about the status of this first batch of controllers, the time frame for putting them together has slipped due to academic and personal responsibilities. The first 17 controllers are still on their way, but other priorities have taken hold temporarily. Just about 2/3 of controllers are essentially completed, but the controllers that still need to be finished will take some time. Patience is all that I can ask from you for now. Thank you, Lucas Lacerda.

Update August 3rd, 2022 I'm still in the middle of production on the first batch of controllers, but here is an informal video overview of the controller as it stands:

- 7/23/2022 UPDATE - The 1st controller is done. Wiring is incredibly messy and unoptimized, but it works, and soon many will follow. In a few weeks, they will be for sale.

Here is what the start, pause, and reset buttons look like now:

That is all that I can afford at the moment. If I sell through those relatively quickly, I will be able to afford 2 to 3 times that amount, and so on.