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Use Atari 2600 Joysticks on your PC
For many the Atari 2600 joystick was their very first gaming controller and it holds a special place in their heart. Of course it only moved in eight directions, and it only had one button, and it put a horrible strain on your wrist, and it broke all the time, and if was difficult to use, and the rubber joystick made your hand sweat, and it didn't always work, but you loved it all the same.
Of course gaming technology has come a long way since then ... now our controllers have pressure sensitive analog buttons, shoulder pads, rumble packs, and no wires. But those of you who miss those earlier times when one button was all you needed to save the galaxy your prayers have been answered with the Stelladaptor.
The Stelladaptor is basically an Atari 2600 to USB adapter that will allow you to use standard Atari 2600 compatible controllers, including joysticks, paddles, and driving controllers, on your modern PC. It's compatible with Windows, Macintosh OS X, or Linux operating systems and requires no additional drivers to use. It's a bit pricey at $29.90 (not including shipping) but if you want to play your MAME emulated games using the "real deal" then this is what you need.
I am quite curious about that USB functionality. I wonder what would happen if I plugged that thing into my Xbox 360? Can you imagine trying to play Dead or Alive 4 using an Atari 2600 joystick? Of course, you could only kick with the one button, just like the old times...
More in keeping with control schemes used back then.
If you push up on the joystick and press the button, you punch. If you push down and press the button, you kick. :-)
OK, this is really cool, but not from what you might initially think. THere were a lot of early robotics, sensors, and stuff built to plug in to a atari game port. With a simple USB-to-Atari converter it looks like an easy way to reinstroduce those items. This would be a bridge piece between old world soldering and mordern tech.
If this sounds strange, remember that the old COM ports are going away, and there wasn't really anything to bridge the gap from home-made electronics to modern technology. $20 is a bit high though. hmmmmmm.....
-Lego
Posted by Legodragonxp at November 3, 2005 5:34 PM