The Joystick Nostalgia Page
Joystick ... Don't think too much about that word, or it'll start to sound strange and suspicious. Back in the Amiga and C-64 days, you couldn't live without a joystick. You could get by without a mouse on the Amiga, but not a joystick. So, I went through a couple of joysticks during the years I had those computers. Some good, some better and some not at all. Any chronology is purely incidental, and I apologize for the inconvenience ;-) ...
The oddest joystick I've owned was also my first, I got it at the same time as my C-64. It was black with blue fire button and stick, and it was shaped like a gun with the small stick on top and the fire button as trigger. It wasn't all that bad once you got used to it, but after a while of being used to it a joint in the grip gave you a sore at the base of your thumb. Not entirely positive, I can tell you ...
An all-time star joystick. Compact and solid with two buttons on the base, this stick earned praise in now-gone Datormagazin's hard joystick tests. You could get it with either black or white base too. For some reason, all my Tac IIs lasted about a year each before they needed replacements. Something to do with warranty?
That's what it says on the base at least, we always called it the Bat Handle or something like that. I'll have to check on that ... Anyway, this was the joystick of joysticks. Mine still hasn't given up, neither has Petter's, and he's had his since the Beginning or somewhat later. Datormagazin stated that after a nuclear war, only craters and this joystick would remain. Durable, in short.
My last non-PC joystick. Therefore, I'm not entirely sure whether it's quite durable or if I just haven't used it as much as my older sticks. Also my only stick registering the buttons differently, not just all as the same, making it useful in Mortal Kombat II where one button could be used for punches and one for kicks. I like this one, although it feels very plastic and clicks with every move.
A red base and a black stick. Can't even remember how good or bad it was. Just found the remains of it in a drawer ...
I've never owned one of these, but they were the first joysticks I came across. Grey with white buttons and a slightly shaky feel is about what I can recall of them.
A huge grey stick with a transparent base and orange details, which my brother got some time. It also featured a button for slow motion, which actually worked in some games, but alas the motion was so slow you couldn't play in that mode. The fire buttons weren't too great either.
Nowadays, a joystick is pretty much a nice thing to have for a few flight sims, while a mouse is absolutely a must. This monster, a gift Christmas '98, shows a bit of evolution has taken place with the sticks themselves too. Seven "normal" buttons team up with a right-left switch kind of thing, one throttle control and three eight-way hat switches to produce more options than can shake a stick (cough) at. The whole lot is fully programmable too, and the stick is physically larger than any of the good ol' ones.
A few photos wouldn't feel out of place in this section, I'll see what I can do ...
Navigator
Tac II
Command Control
Tac 50
Q Stick
The Boss
TopStar
Finally, for comparison:
WingMan Interceptor
Even if tings weren't better before, they certainly were easier ...
