2600 Trooper joystick

[Tifany]

I NEED This!!  I've been wanting something like this forever - I was going to make my own out of a jakks plug and play, but never got around to it.

 

 

[Swami]

Wooo! Mail call! These old Trooper joysticks with the woodgrain are like NOS now. Some guy in Canada must have found a few in his warehouse. Reasonably priced as well.

Some sellers on eBay post a stock photo of this version and will even confirm it is this version, then you get the new striped version in the mail.

There's like four ads with real pictures of the old style on eBay from Canada now and oddly enough from different sellers. Open box, NIB, NIB pair and a NIB mint.

 

[ave1]

I reviewed the new Trooper 2.  Haven't tried it yet with a Retron 77, but I tried it out on a 2600 emulator game on my Ouya and it worked very well.  That's shown near the end of the presentation:

 

 

[+LS650]

I picked up a Trooper from that eBay seller above.  I've now used it a fair bit for a variety of games on my old 2600... and I quite like it.  It feels very similar to an Atari CX joystick, but the base is just a bit more hefty and solid feeling.  I really like the truncated corners, the stick response and travel feel great to me, and the fire button(s) work well.  I prefer it to my other controllers.

[Prizrak]

Picked up a Trooper 2 used from a retro gaming store. Works as advertised but feels kind of mushy in the movement but responsive. Not using dome switches it makes it feel like a woreout cx40.

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[MrTrust]

I've had mine for almost two years.  Been using it almost exclusively for 800 and 2600 games.  I love it.

 

I like the CX40, but I've always had problems with the platic tabs on the plastic shaft breaking where they make contact with the dome switches.  I've bought new replicas that are built the same way, and still had the same problem.  The spring under the button is rough on the thumb, too.  I can't stand microswitch joysticks.  I want to hear the game, not clickety click click click clack.  Plus, I want a joystick I can manipulate with one thumb if I have to reach for the keyboard or a console switch, so Wico-style sticks with a tall stick and long throw don't work so much for me.

 

The Warrior has a solid build quality.  Good heft, as has been noted.  It is a noticeably longer throw on the stick, and you don't feel the contact of the switch, but you do feel the end of the throw, which with the wonky tabs of the CX40, you don't after some time.  Same story with the fire buttons.  This is the perfect feel for me; it's not quite as fast as that perfectly broken in CX40, but once you get used to it, it's very precise, and I've only experienced thumb exhaustion on one or two shooter games with it.  I've used it a lot, and it still looks and works like it did when it came out of the box.

 

The only weird thing about it is the stick screws into and out of the base, and it never feels like it's screwed in there 100% tightly.  I've never had it unscrew during play, or even really noticed it unless I'm just idly fiddling with it, but it does seem pointless, and I suppose something could happen with the threads down the line.

 

Other than the butt ugliness of those dark brown new versions, you really can't do much better for a joystick.  Big recommend.

[BladeJunker]

Well I like the octagonal stalk in the Trooper II since it's a good compromise of grip and shape form, never really liked the original hexagonal shaft. Just a veneer sticker but I like the faux wood panel.

 

Haven't seen inside, does it use the same blister contacts or are there micro switches inside?

 

Be nice to have a fire button on top of the stalk, while twin-stick games often skip fire buttons there are game controls like Battlezone arcade or games like Raiders of the Lost Ark that work poorly since you can't really press fire on the joystick bases while operating two sticks at the same time.

 

I kind of like the second button on the base but much like past multi-button examples it's function redundant Ie. Fire & Fire. Seen some new C64 controllers that allow joystick inputs to transfer over to buttons like Up as a Jump button for example. Same can said of Down too since some games only use Left & Right inputs to move Egs. Space Invaders, Wonder Boy.

 

I still think the vertical orientation of the grip isn't necessary for left/right hand preference. Try turning your CX40 joystick 90 degrees left or right, this puts the button and joystick on either side/hand in a horizontal arcade orientation. The only thing missing is a mode switch to change the inputs around like the Gravis Gamepad had for this very type of functionality.

 

I was kind of hoping companies like Hyperkin might try upgrading the standard a little while they try to replicate them. Been working on plans towards something like I described but I can't produce at the speed and quantity like these big companies can.