What of the Joystick?

[marurun]

What with the recent thread about favorite controllers, I wanted to start one to talk about the venerable joystick. I really like joysticks, especially for arcade-style games, but here's the rub. While a joystick is great in an arcade, when you are sitting or standing over the machine, where the screen and controls are mounted and angled just so, I have trouble with joysticks at home.

There's something about having one of those big things plopped in your lap or pressed against your abdomen that just makes using them to play video games a lot less effective. When I try to play fighting games and pull off quick specials I always just feel like I'm convulsing ineffectively.

What do you all think of joysticks and what strategies do you employ to make them useful for competition play versus, say, a good fighting pad?

[lordofduct]

What I find annoying about home joysticks is the weight issue.

In the arcade you bang and rap on that joystick all over the place... but it is stationary and stuck to a huge, heavy box that will not move. At home you've got a small box that is light and easy to move around... as you bang and wrap on the damn this it slides about causing you to have to slide it all the way up to your belly in your lap just hoping your abdomen and thighs will keep it from moving. Unfortunately placing it in this really strange position that makes it difficult to have full control.

[neohx_7]

I have a Hori stick and its pretty heavy, but I pull of supers better with a saturn controller. Its fun to have around. When I play against amatuers I use the stick, but against better players I use the pad. In my circle of friends at SSF2X I am undefeated with a pad, but I lose a quarter of the time with the arcade stick. I love using the stick for emulators though. TMNT arcade for lief!!!