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Looking for high quality alternatives to original Atari joystick.


SegaSnatcher

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I have tried a few different joysticks on my Atari 2600 and I have to say the one I keep going back to is a Quickshot II.

It is comfortable to use, has both a top thumb and trigger fire button, and has mechanical contacts so it is quite solidly constructed. I also find it to be a very responsive joystick. A quick look on eBay shows them at around 25$ plus shipping.

However, if you are looking for something a bit more like the original Atari joystick, I have a pair of Gemstik controllers and I find they are quite decent to use. As a bonus they are quite common and relatively cheap. Another quick search on eBay I see them anywhere from 10-25$ plus shipping, and quite a few listings I see are part of a joystick lot; meaning you would get a few other joysticks to try out as well.

Of course, ask ten people what is the best joystick and you will likely get ten different answers!

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9 minutes ago, Tavi said:

I have tried a few different joysticks on my Atari 2600 and I have to say the one I keep going back to is a Quickshot II.

It is comfortable to use, has both a top thumb and trigger fire button, and has mechanical contacts so it is quite solidly constructed. I also find it to be a very responsive joystick. A quick look on eBay shows them at around 25$ plus shipping.

However, if you are looking for something a bit more like the original Atari joystick, I have a pair of Gemstik controllers and I find they are quite decent to use. As a bonus they are quite common and relatively cheap. Another quick search on eBay I see them anywhere from 10-25$ plus shipping, and quite a few listings I see are part of a joystick lot; meaning you would get a few other joysticks to try out as well.

Of course, ask ten people what is the best joystick and you will likely get ten different answers!

Thanks for the recommendations, I'll check them out.

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My personal favorite is The Boss from Wico.  It is usually priced very well and is of very good quality as it is made by Wico.  It too has mechanical switches but only one fire button in the handle.  Here is a link for a Boss and a couple of Quickshot sticks as mentioned before.  Very reasonably priced...

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/WICO-Boss-and-2-SVI-Quickshot-Controllers-for-Atari-2600-Joystick-Tested/383520909103?hash=item594ba0a72f:g:orIAAOSw5j9enHTE

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As much as the new Atari VCS gets clowned on, they murdered that joystick design! I think that's going to be a lot of people's alternative 2600 joystick choice, even if it takes modding to use on a real VCS. I suspect an adapter will be available to take care of that though.

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