Atari joystik Q

[lhfreak]

Can a regular atari joystik be modified for two buttons? My two favorite types of joystik are the atari and the slik stik. And having another button on the lower left would be about perfect for me. Im not really into the 7800 stiks. I'm one of those guys who will sit on the floor, hold the stik on the floor in front of me and play that way. Doesnt really work with the 7800 stiks with the two buttons on the side.....I cant fire fast enough that way.....

[The Night Phantom]

Lhfreak, do you want another button on the lower left? or do you just want a 2600-compatible joystick that has a lower-left button (regardless of any other buttons the stick might have)? I have a couple of “southpaw” adaptor cables I bought from Best Electronics sometime back. When you plug a joystick into the cable and then plug the cable into the 2600, you can rotate the stick 90° so that the stock CX40’s button in the upper right, and what was joystick-left is now joystick-up, what was joystick-up is now joystick-right, etc. Presumably you could daisy-chain three of these cables and get the CX40’s button in the lower left.

[lhfreak]

That cable sounds pretty cool.....but yes, I'm looking to have a joystik that has one button in the upper left AND the lower left. Just a personal preference for games on the 7800 that require two buttons and such.

[Rob Mitchell]

Presumably you could daisy-chain three of these cables and get the CX40’s button in the lower left.

 

Another way to get the button wherever you want is to just take the 2600 stick apart and move the clips 90 degrees whichever way .. and reassemble.

 

As far as a second button on the original 2600 stick, a button could be added to the side .. and then wired via resistors to the original button. I think you could retain the existing cable ..

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[Raijin Z]

A button on the underside would be easier to use. Building a controller like that would be easy enough, but making it work with pre-existing sytems isn't. Are you planning on making a 7800 substitute controller?

[+Atarius Maximus]

I just made a joystick similar to what you are describing, and posted my results in the 7800 forum. Look here: http://www.atariage.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13074

 

I've got links to pictures and a wiring diagram of how I did it. I added two buttons to the front of the CX40 to be used with your left index finger.

 

AM

[The Night Phantom]

A button on the underside would be easier to use.

Ooh, that’s a nifty idea. Something similar has already been done (for the 2600) with the triggers on the Space Age joystick and the Mindscape Power Player. Still, something like a CX40 with a button on the underside (maybe at the 12:00 position, relative to a normal view of the topside) might be nifty. One could adapt the idea for the 7800’s dual buttons as well.

 

Or one could go Atarius Maximus’ route, even for a single-button stick, by placing the button on the far side. (Hmm, a Far Side joystick...)