Getting back into the Amiga Scene, need advice

[Aughie]

Can you flash the rom yourself with the HXC or does it come already installed.

[Harrison]

You have to do it yourself. The Gotek has the flashing points on the board visible behind the power and IDE connectors, but they are just solder points as standard. Many sellers will provide the drive with connection posts solder on for you to make it easy. You then need to buy a USB to Serial adapter to plug it into the PC to flash the Gotek's rom. A serial RS232<>3.3V TTL adapter is what they are called and you can buy them on ebay for a couple of pounds.

[Quadko]

You mentioned controllers (joysticks). For Atari 1-button joysticks I had great success using arcade joysticks & buttons (from Happ Controls http://na.suzohapp.com or http://Ultimarc.com or lots of places) and wiring them into a 9 pin header. It is fabulous.

I was hoping to do the same eventually with Amiga; other than the second (and third?) button it should be identical. Of course, it's bulky and overkill, but it feels great and responsive and... fabulous.

Basically an "Arcade Fighting Stick for Amiga".