Sticks of Joy
Here is my joystick collection, yes kids, this is what we used before control pads were invented. These joysticks are all based on the Atari standard and can be used on most machines of the era, for reasons I don't know they were known as "Kempston" on the Sinclair ZX Spectrum
There was a Sinclair standard which used the same socket and plug combination, but with different wiring, some joysticks had two plugs for this reason, the black was the Atari standard, and the grey was the Sinclair standard. Under Amstrad's reign of terror they made a SInclair Joystick called the SJS1.The Sega Master System control pad used the same wiring as the Atari standard, but had two buttons, which would later be adopted by the Commodore Amiga etc
There was six wires as a minimum, a common wire, then a wire for each direction, and one for fire. Depending on which direction the stick was pushed, a switch would connect that direction wire with the common wire to make the connection and the host computer or console would register the movement
Later controllers with more buttons than available pins which used the same style plug would use a shift register to read all the inputs
Group photo
All lined up and ready to go, you can see the cable lengths here, shortest on the right, which is the cheapest/nastiest joystick, through to the longest on the left, which of course, are the Quickshots
Sinclair Joysticks
These are the joysticks that came with the later Amstrad made Spectrums
Sinclair SJS1
I found this boxed SJS1 in Revival Games in Plymouth, it's exclusively for the Sinclair Spectrum and was released with the Amstrad built Plus 2 and Plus 3 machines. It has the grey plug which had different wiring to the Atari standard
Sinclair SJS2 (X2)
I don't know who made this joystick, but it feels cheap, it clearly doesn't use micro switches, and feels mushy and horrible to use. It came with my Atari 2600jr
I have two of them
Atari Standard Joysticks
The more common Atari standard, could be used with the Spectrum via a Kempston interface
Powerplay Cruiser
This joystick has a collar that can be adjusted to loosen or tighten the stick for the comfort of the user. I think this came with one of my Atari STE's
Zipstick (x3)
This is a great little joystick, but I don't have much info about it, other than it's fully micro switched. I tend to use this one with my Raspberry Pi based Spectrum and Plus/4
I now have two of them as my C128 came with another one
Then another one with a Pong console
Spectravideo Quickshot Python 1M (x2)
I have two of these, they were my main joystick for my Amiga years, they had an autofire feature, and had a switch so they could be used on multiple machines, but not the Sinclair. In Sega mode the two fire buttons were independent, so you could play games on the Amiga that supported two fire buttons, like Street Fighter
Konix Speedking
I remember seeing this joystick in adverts back in the day, and thinking "How does that work?" But after using it, it actually makes sense, and feels great. You can see it's missing the plastic stick part, but the files to 3D print them are available, so I will be ordering one soon. This joystick came with my Atari 2600jr
Commodore C1311 (x2)
This came with the C64 I bought recently, I also got another one with the Vic 20
Spectravideo 318-102 (Quickshot II) (x3)
A Quickshot II but with Spectravideo branding, I think I had this with a previous computer as it feels very familiar, this also came with the C64, and it has an autofire switch.
I picked up another one of these with a Spectrum software bundle, then another with a Pong console
Spectravideo Quickshot II Turbo
Very red joystick with auto fire, the switch has positions for Auto Fire, Manual Fire, and CPC 464?
Unknown joystick
I don't know who made this joystick, but it's a bit like the Zipstick above, but not micro-switched
Atari CX40 (x6)
2 classic CX40s
A timeless classic, I have six of these now
Atari 2600 Pro-Line controller
Aka Deluxe Joystick or Super Controller Rev 1. Some say this is the worst controller ever
Spectravideo Quickshot 1
This joystick looks lopsided
Cheetah 125+ (X3)
This seems familiar, I think I also had one of these back in the day, note the grey plug for the Spectrum Plus 2/3 machines, I have three of these now, the third one has the autofire plastic switch cover missing
Cheetah The Bug
What a strange looking joystick, but it does feel good in the hand, also has the grey plug like the Cheetah 125+ above
Quickshot QS-131
Looks like an earlier version of the Python above, they are not buttons on the base even though they look like they might be
ACE
I was told this was a third party Atari 2600 joystick, there's no model numbers anywhere on the stick, it's quite small as well
The Arcade
I see this joystick in a lot of FB groups, people seem to like it although it looks a bit odd
Quickshot QS-129F
An odd looking joystick, it has the same switch as the Python above, so can have two independent fire buttons on the Amiga when the switch is set to D. It works like a control pad but you hold it like a pair of bike handlebars and use your thumbs, and trigger finger for the second button
Commodore C16 and Plus/4 joysticks
The TED series of Commodore computers introduced the mini-din style socket for it's controller ports (and other accessories), although you could get adaptors to use the normal Atari style joysticks as what joysticks you could get for these machines was rather limited. Holding one of these brings back maximum nostalgia
Commodore T1341 (x2)
The official joystick for the C16 and Plus/4 computers, I broke many of these back in the day as they were flimsy and not very responsive, and tended to get human detritus stuck in all the nooks and crannies
I acquired another one, so I now have two
Konix Speedking C16
Here I have another Konix Speedking, this one has the red stick and a plug for the C16 and Plus/4 line of computers, the label has seen better days, and I had to clean off some sticker residue, but it seems to be in a decent condition
For more retro hardware check out my online museum here
