Arkay Firestar
09-26-2006, 04:22 PM
I just recently got into some of my old space shooters again (Freespace, Wing Commander, etc) and remembered that it is not only the genre (along with adventure games) that I started with as a gamer (good ole Wing Commander 1), but also one of my most favorite.
So I ordered Freespace 2 off ebay, a game I should have definitely bought off store shelves ages ago, and started playing Freespace: The Great War until it gets here, and suddenly realized I really wanted a joystick.
So I researched all the joysticks, and was all set to get a Logitech until I read a lot of frustrated user reviews that cited lost calibration and poor internal sensors in the joysticks...and it rang true since I used to have an old Dual Action gamepad and they were notorious for the same thing. So I looked at Saitek, but their best joysticks are rather uncomfortable, and I looked at Thrustmaster, but they're pretty much a dead company and their joysticks, while good, aren't as feature heavy as I'd like for the price. But I settled on a cheap and well reviewed stick, the Saitek ST90, the budget one that looks like a tripod and can be folded up.
All set to go to Fry's and find one, I decided to look in my brother's closet (he's been moved into his own place for a while now) and I just stuck my hands deep into the enormous pile of crap he left on the closet floor and clearly has no intention of ever tidying up...and I dug around...and my hand suddenly hit was seemed not unlike the base of a joystick.
With a little exertion, I pulled out my long lost Microsoft Force Feedback 2 joystick...one of the best joysticks I've ever had the pleasure of owning, and made of the kind of quality that MS was famous for back when they made kick ass peripherals. So I air-dusted it, and cleaned it till it was nice and pretty, then proceeded to plug it in...and it worked as if I had just taken it out of the packaging.
Then I popped in Freespace, turned on all the force feedback, got in-game, and...unbelieveably (or believeably, considering how well these were made) it still performs as perfectly as day one.
So I just recovered a long discontinued and highly praised 70 dollar force feedback joystick (and it was before they redid this model and gave it clear red triggers...yuck) and now have it to enjoy as I go through my catalog of classic flight sims...it'll also kick ass with FS X when it comes out.
I'm still so excited that I saved money and also recovered a discontinued joystick better than ANYTHING I could plop money down on now...I just had to share.
Anyone else miss the good old days when MS made the best joysticks? I also used to have a Precision Pro, but that one is definitely long gone...
So I ordered Freespace 2 off ebay, a game I should have definitely bought off store shelves ages ago, and started playing Freespace: The Great War until it gets here, and suddenly realized I really wanted a joystick.
So I researched all the joysticks, and was all set to get a Logitech until I read a lot of frustrated user reviews that cited lost calibration and poor internal sensors in the joysticks...and it rang true since I used to have an old Dual Action gamepad and they were notorious for the same thing. So I looked at Saitek, but their best joysticks are rather uncomfortable, and I looked at Thrustmaster, but they're pretty much a dead company and their joysticks, while good, aren't as feature heavy as I'd like for the price. But I settled on a cheap and well reviewed stick, the Saitek ST90, the budget one that looks like a tripod and can be folded up.
All set to go to Fry's and find one, I decided to look in my brother's closet (he's been moved into his own place for a while now) and I just stuck my hands deep into the enormous pile of crap he left on the closet floor and clearly has no intention of ever tidying up...and I dug around...and my hand suddenly hit was seemed not unlike the base of a joystick.
With a little exertion, I pulled out my long lost Microsoft Force Feedback 2 joystick...one of the best joysticks I've ever had the pleasure of owning, and made of the kind of quality that MS was famous for back when they made kick ass peripherals. So I air-dusted it, and cleaned it till it was nice and pretty, then proceeded to plug it in...and it worked as if I had just taken it out of the packaging.
Then I popped in Freespace, turned on all the force feedback, got in-game, and...unbelieveably (or believeably, considering how well these were made) it still performs as perfectly as day one.
So I just recovered a long discontinued and highly praised 70 dollar force feedback joystick (and it was before they redid this model and gave it clear red triggers...yuck) and now have it to enjoy as I go through my catalog of classic flight sims...it'll also kick ass with FS X when it comes out.
I'm still so excited that I saved money and also recovered a discontinued joystick better than ANYTHING I could plop money down on now...I just had to share.
Anyone else miss the good old days when MS made the best joysticks? I also used to have a Precision Pro, but that one is definitely long gone...