TG-16 arcade joystick: Durability? Like it? Use it?

[ifkz]

Sorry for the catch-all title.  I am sure you all know the story.  In 1987, a crack NEC console was released to the world, loved for great games.   This console promptly hit the US market in 1989.  Today, most of us still play our stuff, and if you can own it, do you reach for it...the Arcade-style Joystick?

Do the rapid fire switches hold up, or are they often lost?  Same for the joystick ball, is it usually intact?  Is it as nice as it looks, or is that all it is:  just looks and a shelf-queen?  Do you own it for R-Type, or does R-Type own it?

No one else can help; if I can find it, maybe I can buy it:  the Arcade-style Joystick.  (TurboStick=yes)

[esteban]

I have never been a big fan of this item. It isn't weighted to my liking and therefore it feels imprecise and sloppy. For comparison, I thought the NES Advantage was decent (properly weighted).

Clearly, I spend 99.99% of my time using pads for old consoles.

Therefore, other folks can probably give you better info concerning the viability of the TG-16 joystick.

[Black Tiger]

Are you talking about the TurboStick?

[Zero_Gamer]

I really don't like the turbo stick, all the buttons and switches have held up and work fine. It is really light which makes it feel cheap, as Este mentioned. The deal breaker for me though is that the joystick movement feels mushy. There is no snap or crispness, sorry can't think of a better way to explain it, and that drives me nuts.

So it just sits in a drawer and looks bad ass.

[wilykat]

It's OK.  I have not found any Turbostick in the wild that were missing part or broken, they seems quite resilient but not indestructible.  The fire speed slider is prone to breaking off because of thin and cheap plastic used to hold to metal post, and on the smaller Turbopad the plug tended to break and lost the silver grounding ring or even the whole pins.

[SignOfZeta]

Like virtually every licensed stick made before the Sega Saturn/Sony PlayStation it's just a high margin POS.

[Zero_Gamer]

Like virtually every licensed stick made before the Sega Saturn/Sony PlayStation it's just a high margin POS.

I dunno. I think the nes advantage felt pretty nice, and the sega stick wasn't too bad either.

[GohanX]

I got a broken Turbostick in a raffle a while back. I repaired it, but it's still pretty awful. I'd much rather use any of the standard pads than that POS. I've been meaning to raffle or otherwise give the thing away but have been lazy.

[Gredler]

Like virtually every licensed stick made before the Sega Saturn/Sony PlayStation it's just a high margin POS.

I dunno. I think the nes advantage felt pretty nice, and the sega stick wasn't too bad either.

Both of the sega and Nintendo brand sticks, and the turbo sticks, are nothing more then a controller enlarged with a stick that pressed a membrane into a PCB giving them all the same mushy feeling unlike almost every arcade machine out there.

Quality sticks used microswitchs, meaning when a direction is pressed on the stick or a button is pressed on the face panel a switch is flipped from of to on, giving a tactile feedback and a smoothness of motion not found in the membrane contact to PCB style sticks.


I became jaded once I had a microswitch stick, the feel is night and day different.

I can't speak to the build quality, I assume it's a tank like any other only PCB and membrane pad out there, but the feel and functionality is beat down by the competition from hori and micomsoft to name a couple alternatives.

I'd sooner make a stick from a pce controller PCB than buy a turbo stick, tbh

[Zero_Gamer]

Like virtually every licensed stick made before the Sega Saturn/Sony PlayStation it's just a high margin POS.

I dunno. I think the nes advantage felt pretty nice, and the sega stick wasn't too bad either.

Both of the sega and Nintendo brand sticks, and the turbo sticks, are nothing more then a controller enlarged with a stick that pressed a membrane into a PCB giving them all the same mushy feeling unlike almost every arcade machine out there.

Quality sticks used microswitchs, meaning when a direction is pressed on the stick or a button is pressed on the face panel a switch is flipped from of to on, giving a tactile feedback and a smoothness of motion not found in the membrane contact to PCB style sticks.


I became jaded once I had a microswitch stick, the feel is night and day different.

I can't speak to the build quality, I assume it's a tank like any other only PCB and membrane pad out there, but the feel and functionality is beat down by the competition from hori and micomsoft to name a couple alternatives.

I'd sooner make a stick from a pce controller PCB than buy a turbo stick, tbh

I agree with you, but the advantage and sega stick feel much better than the turbo stick. The advantage being the best of the three.

[SignOfZeta]

I've used the Advantage. My friend got one back in the day. I liked the buttons, didn't really see the point of the stick. I was mainly an arcade gamer in the 80s so I wasn't fooled. He loved the thing (he also loved the NES Max) but I gladly played player 2 side with the OEM pad.

[exodus]

I've got three of these, and none of them are any good, in case you were thinking it was just people's one-off experiences. The stick feels mushy to use, the buttons are *okay,* the weird sliders do often fall off but not through active use, and also don't seeeem to be analog as they indicate.

to conclude, they're lame, I wouldn't get one unless you really like how they look or something. I certainly don't like playing games with them.

(and if you're wondering why I have three, I got two when I was younger in a bundle with a system, than another a few months back at a flea market, also bundled with a system)

[Black Tiger]

I'm not a fan of joysticks. I like classic arcade controls in classic arcades, but feel that pads control much better.

Bitd, I never like the advantage, because it was like dealing with a little table and the joystick is so tiny.

I bought that first Genesus arcade stick when it came out and it felt and worked great, but it made me realize how much I prefer pads.

I bought a TurboStick early on for slo-mo and it's actually a cool controller. Maybe it requires large hands, but I used it like a pad and it controlled as good as any stick, but the slow motion was great for getting used to stuff like some of the bosses in Sidearms. It has what seems like analog turbo meters, instead of only two speeds. So it's the best controller for turbo fire as well. It's light weight is perfect for holding it the way I do.

[Necromancer]

The acemore freedom stick thingy has microswitches, but it's a turd.  I'd rather use a TurboStick, but I'd much rather use a regular pad over either.

[Zero_Gamer]

I've used the Advantage. My friend got one back in the day. I liked the buttons, didn't really see the point of the stick. I was mainly an arcade gamer in the 80s so I wasn't fooled. He loved the thing (he also loved the NES Max) but I gladly played player 2 side with the OEM pad.

As a kid I freakin loved the Max. I loved the d-pad non-pad thingy. Loved the turbo buttons too. Now I can't play with the thing for shit. The d-pad screws me up