Original Competition Pro Joystick remade!

This is not the new USB version based on the classic Amiga joystick. This is actually an updated version of the classic Competition Pro Joystick for use on real Amigas and the Commodore 64!

http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/..._pro_amiga.jpg

Amiga kit currently have them in stock if you are interesting in getting one for the bargain price of just £8.65 inc. VAT.

http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/...roducts_id=610

They also have a new special edition of the USB version based on this classic joystick. It looks very stylish in a blue and silver colour scheme and is £13.49

http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/...L-6602-TBE.jpg

http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/...roducts_id=314

http://www.classicamiga.com/index.ph...ask=view&id=70

Yeah, I remember you posted news about the stick on the site. This is sort of an update that Amiga kit also have the stick in stock too, as well as mentioning the new special edition usb version which looks quite cool

I prefer the original over the special edition, it's even more nostalgic ;-)

True. There is something special about the Black and red version. I still have an original version of that joystick too. :)

The Blue and silver one would be quite cool to use for other emulation such as MAME though.

I remember reading about the re-release of these joysticks, great for us retro gamers with failing old skool joysticks saving our fingers getting burned with solder being able to buy new, now if only they would re-release the classic zipstik instead, personal preference I know but I for one preferred the Zipstik's slightly smaller size and fire button design.

Keep meaning to pick one up.
Joypads with the extra buttons are good for a lot of games but not all.
To play Sensi Soccer, you need a proper joystick.
The Comp Pro was always the best by a country mile.

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Originally Posted by cicobuff

now if only they would re-release the classic zipstik instead, personal preference I know but I for one preferred the Zipstik's slightly smaller size and fire button design.

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Totally! I used to use a ZipStik in preference to the Comp Pro with the Amiga. The stick's microswitches were not as stiff and the fire buttons were more clicky and precise.

Sadly when I tried to use my ZipStik recently I discovered the the right direction microswitch wasn't working properly and would only register if you really forced the stick to the right. :( That was sad.

I might take it apart and see if it can be fixed at some point as I have an Amiga to USB adaptor so wanted to use it with the PC for emulation. Instead I'm using the Comp Pro. :)

I have a Zipstick
I agree with you but funnily enough, it's bacause the Comp Pro is a bit stiffer that I prefer it.
Each to his own I suppose.

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Originally Posted by Harrison

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Originally Posted by cicobuff

now if only they would re-release the classic zipstik instead, personal preference I know but I for one preferred the Zipstik's slightly smaller size and fire button design.

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Totally! I used to use a ZipStik in preference to the Comp Pro with the Amiga. The stick's microswitches were not as stiff and the fire buttons were more clicky and precise.

Sadly when I tried to use my ZipStik recently I discovered the the right direction microswitch wasn't working properly and would only register if you really forced the stick to the right. :( That was sad.

I might take it apart and see if it can be fixed at some point as I have an Amiga to USB adaptor so wanted to use it with the PC for emulation. Instead I'm using the Comp Pro. :)

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Perhaps you could swap over the microswitch from one of the two fire buttons that you dont use depending whether you are right or clever like my wife and left handed instead lol

I do happen to be left-handed as it goes. ;)

I do also have a lot of other Amiga joysticks, some of which I hate, so I may see if any of those could donate a switch to a good cause. :)

Used the Konix Speedking a lot too. Anyone remember that one?

Cicobuff wrote:

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I remember reading about the re-release of these joysticks, great for us retro gamers with failing old skool joysticks saving our fingers getting burned with solder being able to buy new, now if only they would re-release the classic zipstik instead, personal preference I know but I for one preferred the Zipstik's slightly smaller size and fire button design.

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Ahh, the Zipstik is excellent. Still got one or two of those, and they are actually working properly. They are worth their weight in gold. Have used the Zipstik for a lot of different games, and I'm not really a big fan of joypads either. On some games you'll have to have a joypad though, like the Mario Kart games for example. :( Still, nothing beats using the Zipstik on Sensible Soccer, Kick Off 2 or all those awesome platforms available for the Amiga.

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Originally Posted by Oz2

Used the Konix Speedking a lot too. Anyone remember that one?

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Yep I remember the Speedking back in the old C64 days, never owned one, but tried one don't know if it took some getting used to, liked the responsive joystick but could not get used to the quirky handle/throttle design of it.

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Originally Posted by cicobuff

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Originally Posted by Oz2

Used the Konix Speedking a lot too. Anyone remember that one?

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Yep I remember the Speedking back in the old C64 days, never owned one, but tried one don't know if it took some getting used to, liked the responsive joystick but could not get used to the quirky handle/throttle design of it.

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I still have one, but at C64 times I never used it, I always had Quickshot 2 sticks and one competition pro.

Another Zipstik user here. They were great sounding in use. Incredibly tough too.

:D

The Zipstik was great, no doubt about that. I've gotten hold of a couple together with some systems lately, but back in the day I used the red/black Competition Pros. They were great, and so easy to fix if one switch didn't respond properly. Usually it was just a stuck spring inside the switch that needed to be loosened. Those Competition Pros did have one drawback though, they didn't have proper switches for the firebuttons, but had some metal thingies that connected when the buttons were pressed instead. Worked fine, but weren't easily replaced. And any fix like bending them a bit to make them connect properly again only worked for a short while. The Zipstik was better that way by having the same microswitches for the firebuttons as well.

I'm happy to say that the new USB version of the Competition Pro also has them though, that solution of the old sticks are gone. I don't have this new edition with the Atari connector, but it's a safe bet that the stick itself is the same as the USB one only with a different connector, so it probably has proper switches for the firebuttons too.

Does anyone remember the Tac-2 sticks? Man, I hated those! Thought they were awful, but several of my friends thought they were great and didn't like the Competition Pros I had. I could never understand them, those Tac-2s were so loose and uncomfortable compared to the Competition Pro.

I had a crappy cheetah quikshot 125 and it sucked. It had a massive dead-zone and really spongy feel. Nice grip and positioning of the firebuttons though, but useless for anything other than a flight sim because it felt how a young boy would imagine the control stick to a real fighter plane would be like (apart from being shit, obv)

http://www.pelikonepeijoonit.net/kuv...tah125plus.jpg

I still have two of those cheetah sticks (along with a load of others in a big box in the loft). I friend bought a Cheetah for his spectrum (as they had the extra Speccy connector built in) and he bought it round for me to try out on my CPC464 and it convinced me to get one to replace the old joystick I had at the time.

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Does anyone remember the Tac-2 sticks? Man, I hated those! Thought they were awful, but several of my friends thought they were great and didn't like the Competition Pros I had. I could never understand them, those Tac-2s were so loose and uncomfortable compared to the Competition Pro.

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My first joysticks were actually Tac-2's, and I must admit I liked them as well. Remember those games that was based around wagging the stick from one side to the other? Like sports games where you had to do sprinting? The Tac-2's were unbeatable at that.

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Originally Posted by Harrison

I still have two of those cheetah sticks (along with a load of others in a big box in the loft). I friend bought a Cheetah for his spectrum (as they had the extra Speccy connector built in) and he bought it round for me to try out on my CPC464 and it convinced me to get one to replace the old joystick I had at the time.

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Mine didn't have the speccy thing built in, we had like a dongle thing that went into the big long interface (Kempston?) at the back of the speccy and had an Atari type socket on the front.

You still needed the kempston interface for the speccy, but speccy atari ports were wired differently to the Atari standard pinout (for some odd reason) and the Cheetah stick had a second grey Atari connector running from the main black one for speccy users to be able to use the joystick.

Hmmm, I was sure ours didn't have that but we definitely used it for the speccy. Maybe I didn't remember properly. I tried to avoid using that joystick whenever possible.

Had a Speedking with my 64.
Very comftable but not very robust.
Didn't last long.
The cheetahs must be among the worst joysticks ever.
The word joy should be used anywhere near a discription of those things.
For some mad reason, a lot of speccy owners had them.
Bad choice all round.
Speccy owners deserved cheetahs as far as I am concerned.

Go ead, on a roll now.
Slagged of the hated atari st, ste, dodo or whatever yesterday.
(wonder what ST and STE were abbreviations for)
Ripped into the speccy geeks today.

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For some mad reason, a lot of speccy owners had them.

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That is because it was one of the only joysticks that would work with the speccy's Kemston interface!

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wonder what ST and STE were abbreviations for

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ST stood for a very geeky and crappy abbreviation:

ST = Sixteen/Thirtytwo Named as such due to the 68000 working externally on a 16-bit bus, but internally a 32-bit one.

The E in STE stood for Enhanced. Atari tried to update the ST hardware by bolting on some additions the Amiga had since it's start. The biggest additions were a dedicated blitter, 8-bit stereo sound, simm ram sockets and a few other things.

Zipstick was my joystick of choice at the time, although I also had a "Bug" controller like this one (sorry bout the poor pic quality):

http://images.google.co.uk/images?q=...48356464_0.jpg

Was quite different to use, but suprisingly good.

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Originally Posted by Harrison

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For some mad reason, a lot of speccy owners had them.

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That is because it was one of the only joysticks that would work with the speccy's Kemston interface!

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wonder what ST and STE were abbreviations for

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ST stood for a very geeky and crappy abbreviation:

ST = Sixteen/Thirtytwo Named as such due to the 68000 working externally on a 16-bit bus, but internally a 32-bit one.

The E in STE stood for Enhanced. Atari tried to update the ST hardware by bolting on some additions the Amiga had since it's start. The biggest additions were a dedicated blitter, 8-bit stereo sound, simm ram sockets and a few other things.

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No mate, I'm sure your wrong.
Think along the lines of something being crap, literally.
I'm sure you get my drift.

Yeah, yeah, add an h after the S etc... old joke among Amiga fans. ;) :lol:

ST could also be for Jack Tramiel's son Sam.

The blue version of the Competition Pro looks like a re-make of the original Competition Pro Star.

Speedlink have a new Amiga Classix Bundle blue USB Competition Pro. Think this pdf file lists what games are included.