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

[SignOfZeta]

I think they worked a little better when they were new.

...a little better.

[guyjin]

To me the TurboStick has 2 issues:
1) it's too light. it's way too easy to tip the thing over during intense bomberman sessions or such like.
2) it's too big. I know they were trying to be bigger than the NES Advantage, but it doesn't make sense when it weighs that little. it might have been more acceptable if it were the same weight, but smaller (like the Atari joysticks.)

by the time it came around, though, I think most Americans preferred gamepads anyway. Europeans, though...

[jenkinsmitchell]

I haven't come across any sticks that are even decent for any of the 8 or 16 bit games. I recently finally broke down and used a 3rd party SNES controller to mod an American style arcade stick with IL buttons and stick. Now Turtles in Time feels the way it was supposed to.

Maybe in the future I'll get a 6 button PCE controller and do the same for my Duo.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[wilykat]

If you're picking up regular 6 button controller without modding anything, a Duo-RX is kinda terrible for long play. D-pad gets uncomfortable and the whole RX controller thing is best left to collector who wants to blow $80 to complete his/her RX set or to have many official controller variations.

[ifkz]

...it's too big. I know they were trying to be bigger than the NES Advantage...

Wow, does anyone want to offer up a comparison picture along with the NES Advantage?

I had to re-read this, I never realized the stick is even larger; I kept my NES Advantage on top of the NES console since it was so large.  Wow!  After reading the threads, I sort of want one for the size of it.

I second, and third, and fourth the superiority of micro-switch based joysticks.  The only problem with older ones (from the Saturn and Dreamcast, for example) is that the microswitches used were non standard compared to what I have found with every arcade machine I've worked on.

I wonder if anyone has ever attempted to transplant an arcade joystick in place of the stock TurboStick joystick.  They made some smaller joysticks in the arcade world; I am sure it would look awful, but it may be possible depending on the height of the base.  If I ever get a junker, I'll try it.  Heck, Saturn ASCII microswitch joysticks are cheap, one of those might even work.  Humm...

[Gredler]

I haven't come across any sticks that are even decent for any of the 8 or 16 bit games. I recently finally broke down and used a 3rd party SNES controller to mod an American style arcade stick with IL buttons and stick. Now Turtles in Time feels the way it was supposed to.

Maybe in the future I'll get a 6 button PCE controller and do the same for my Duo.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

I hear the Micomsoft, and I know the Hori Fight sticks, used microswitch sticks and buttons, and work great.

[jenkinsmitchell]

I haven't come across any sticks that are even decent for any of the 8 or 16 bit games. I recently finally broke down and used a 3rd party SNES controller to mod an American style arcade stick with IL buttons and stick. Now Turtles in Time feels the way it was supposed to.

Maybe in the future I'll get a 6 button PCE controller and do the same for my Duo.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

I hear the Micromsoft and I know the Hori Fight sticks use microswitch sticks and buttons, and work great.

I didn't know Hori made sticks for that era. I haven't run across any Microsoft sticks worth noting except the flight sim sticks.

It's worth mentioning that not all micro switches and buttons are created equally. There are some Hori sticks that use arcade quality parts, and some that use Hori brand parts. Only the most casual players will play their games little enough to not wear out the Hori parts quickly.

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[neopolss]

I remember owning a six button snes joystick bitd, it was built with all happ parts, nice size black metal case.  I would love to have a good quality arcade style stick for tg16 shmups.  I can tolerare a pad, but for shmups I feel more accurate with a joystick.

[Gredler]

I haven't come across any sticks that are even decent for any of the 8 or 16 bit games. I recently finally broke down and used a 3rd party SNES controller to mod an American style arcade stick with IL buttons and stick. Now Turtles in Time feels the way it was supposed to.

Maybe in the future I'll get a 6 button PCE controller and do the same for my Duo.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

I hear the Micromsoft and I know the Hori Fight sticks use microswitch sticks and buttons, and work great.

I didn't know Hori made sticks for that era. I haven't run across any Microsoft sticks worth noting except the flight sim sticks.

It's worth mentioning that not all micro switches and buttons are created equally. There are some Hori sticks that use arcade quality parts, and some that use Hori brand parts. Only the most casual players will play their games little enough to not wear out the Hori parts quickly.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

The pce hori sticks have good quality parts, sanwa I believe, but is easily modifiable to add sanwa and seimitsu parts. Mine was rusted and beatup when I received it so I modded it out and it works great with a seimitsu ls 32 stick, and I left the buttons as is because I liked them so much.

I didn't say Microsoft, I said micomsoft they made elite sticks bitd.http://m.ebay.com/itm/Micomsoft-XE-1-PRO-FC-Joystick-Controller-Nintendo-Famicom-/152050921668?_trkparms=aid%253D222007%2526algo%253DSIC.MBE%2526ao%253D1%2526asc%253D20150519202348%2526meid%253D8df1dd375cb144aeb8b103afbd86d90f%2526pid%253D100408%2526rk%253D2%2526rkt%253D2%2526sd%253D231497828322&_trksid=p2056116.c100408.m2460

[jenkinsmitchell]

Cool. I didn't realize they made those so long ago. I used to play a lot of fighting games, so the sticks I own got a lot of wear and tear.

I assumed you meant Microsoft since Google wasn't showing me anything for micromsoft. I've never heard of them, but it's difficult to give them a fair shake after only seeing that one stick.

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[csgx1]

I picked up a Innovation Multi-system arcade stick somewhat recently.  I was never in the market for a joystick but I picked it up because it was cheap and surprisingly it's compatible with the Turbo Duo/PC Engine. 

Probably not talked about much since it's kind of hard to find and basically a generic brand.  I'll give my opinion on the Innovation stick if anyone cares to know.   

I usually prefer controllers, so I don't have a lot of experience with various console joysticks.  I've never used the TurboStick or NES Advantage so I don't know how those compare.  I did grow up playing SFII and Neo Geo fighting games in the arcades.

The Innovation stick seems good, but probably far from the best.  It does use micro switches. Best feature is that it works with 4 consoles: PC Engine, SNES, Genesis, and Neogeo. Also has turbo and slow motion functions.  Negatives: the overall weight is light(all plastic case) and the overall size seems a bit small.  Buttons feel a little flimsy/loose and the button spacing is kind of wide. 

Plays well with the SFII ports and fighting games that I've tried on the PC Engine, SNES, and Genesis.  Fighting moves and combos are easy to pull off.  I haven't tried too many other types of games but for the most part the stick controls well. 

With shooters, action or other type of games I'll still grab a controller instead because that's what I'm used to. For me, a joystick is not an essential piece of hardware, but having the Innovation stick is great for casual use with my fighting games that it works with.

[Keith Courage]

I use a turbo stick for most of my gaming needs now. Mainly because it keeps my thumbs from being sore later unlike a regular control pad does. This is probably due to all the work I do on a daily basis requiring my hands or possibly too much phone use.

I'd rather use a regular control pad but can't anymore.

This being said I don't think the joystick is all that bad. Mine still has the turbo fire controls on it and it works great. I have had a few in the past where the turbo stems pulled out but it really wasn't that big a  deal since I could still use a small flat head screw driver to adjust them if I ever wanted to. I usually just left them all the way up all the time anyways.

[DragonmasterDan]

I picked up a Innovation Multi-system arcade stick somewhat recently.  I was never in the market for a joystick but I picked it up because it was cheap and surprisingly it's compatible with the Turbo Duo/PC Engine. 

Probably not talked about much since it's kind of hard to find and basically a generic brand.  I'll give my opinion on the Innovation stick if anyone cares to know.   

I usually prefer controllers, so I don't have a lot of experience with various console joysticks.  I've never used the TurboStick or NES Advantage so I don't know how those compare.  I did grow up playing SFII and Neo Geo fighting games in the arcades.

The Innovation stick seems good, but probably far from the best.  It does use micro switches. Best feature is that it works with 4 consoles: PC Engine, SNES, Genesis, and Neogeo. Also has turbo and slow motion functions.  Negatives: the overall weight is light(all plastic case) and the overall size seems a bit small.  Buttons feel a little flimsy/loose and the button spacing is kind of wide. 

Plays well with the SFII ports and fighting games that I've tried on the PC Engine, SNES, and Genesis.  Fighting moves and combos are easy to pull off.  I haven't tried too many other types of games but for the most part the stick controls well. 

With shooters, action or other type of games I'll still grab a controller instead because that's what I'm used to. For me, a joystick is not an essential piece of hardware, but having the Innovation stick is great for casual use with my fighting games that it works with.

I bought one of these off of Amazon a few years ago. Several buttons were totally dead. I wound up returning it at a loss for shipping.

[GoldenWheels]

Any opinions on the best PC Engine stick? I actually prefer pads but after playing some of the shooter my damn left thumb feels like it's going to fall off.

I really don't need a 6 button one because I am super unlikely to ever play SFII with it.

But I've seen the 6 button Hori, the Ascii stick with green buttons, the Japanese Turbo Stick version...I think that's it. It seems I'm going to have to drop some change no matter what I do--I don't really want to go nuts but man I want a stick.

[StarDust4Ever]

...it's too big. I know they were trying to be bigger than the NES Advantage...

Wow, does anyone want to offer up a comparison picture along with the NES Advantage?

I had to re-read this, I never realized the stick is even larger; I kept my NES Advantage on top of the NES console since it was so large.  Wow!  After reading the threads, I sort of want one for the size of it.

You guys are doing it wrong if you think the NES Advantage is too big. I built some truly jumbo sized controllers. They are sturdy on a table or in your lab, and effing huge. Size comparison of my homemade controller:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/30203515@N04/albums/72157629736738048


https://www.flickr.com/photos/30203515@N04/albums/72157634800361528


https://www.flickr.com/photos/30203515@N04/albums/72157649774625620

I also have a multiconsole Cthulhu I'm using for USB/MAME/Retro Freak. The Cthulhu also works with several consoles including Turbografx/PCe and I have an 8-pin DIN cable but I haven't wired up the harness yet. No photos yet as it's a work in progress but I used a "kit" controller instead of cutting my own, curtesy of retrobuiltgames.
http://www.retrobuiltgames.com/diy-kits-shop/arcade-fight-stick-v3/
I stained and finished the wood myself. It is a thing of beauty. Because I'm using it primarily for classic consoles and MAME, I plugged the rightmost pair of buttons. I was originally going to add SNES and Genesis (and by extension NES and Atari through backwards compatibility) by pad hacking Yobo clone controller PCBs, but the rats nest of wires inside got to be too much to deal with so I scrapped the clone pads.

I also have a Porta Pi MAME cab from retrobuiltgames. It's the perfect little arcade cab and the perfect compromise between practical size and portability.

http://www.retrobuiltgames.com/diy-kits-shop/porta-pi-arcade-wood-kit-10-hd/

= = = = = = =

As for the TG-16 Arcade stick, is it comparible to the NES Advantage and Sega 3-button Arcade Stick? They're good but not great. If so, I may have to buy one for the collection.

EDIT: Sorry if the embedded photos cut off due to the forum software. Right click and view image for full view.