The Joystick/Controller discussion thread

[Dunk]

You know what people are like though. If I don't send them a precise link, I'll end up with one of these

I don't think my stepson knows the level of compliment he was receiving when I told my wife that only said stepson could order my birthday/Christmas present (the joystick), as he would not order the wrong thing. He didn't disappoint.

 

[Kazzerigian]

Here are some stores and prices if you're in the States: http://www.getabetterpc.com/s~q-x52-flight-system.aspx

Is anyone in the Alpha and using both stick and rudder pedals? I've heard a rumble that using 2 USB devices can be problematic with drivers/configuration/compatibility? I also understand some systems have their pedals plug into the stick portion and have only one USB lead to the PC?

 

[[VR] Mad Mike]

Does anyone know if my fanatec club sport racing pedals could be used as rudder pedals ? Obviously not the brake pedal but was thinking accelerator and clutch.

Cheers

 

[xyphic]

Madkatz UK shop redirects to Gameshark who don't have stock. The main problem with ordering from outside the EU to the UK is the extra customs duty and VAT, and worse, the shipping delay incurred by UK customs.

And Gameshark / Madkatz are a joke. I ordered an X52 Pro while the website was showing they had one in stock. After over a week of complete silence -- including attempts to email them -- I called them (which redirects to their technical support team in Europe) and it turns out that I've been put on the backorder list. They were unable to tell me when they expect stock because they're technical support and not sales, and you can't contact sales directly!

I decided against cancelling because I'm not sure they'd know how, and I *should* get first dibs on the next lot of stock. I certainly won't be ordering from them again, though.

 

[Joe nose]

Does anyone know if my fanatec club sport racing pedals could be used as rudder pedals ? Obviously not the brake pedal but was thinking accelerator and clutch.

Cheers[/]

I'm sure you'll be able to map the fanatecs to any axis you choose. Could be useful for retros. They won't have the same slide motion as proper rudder pedals, but you probably knew that already.

 

[insanephoton]

Currently I'm using my ancient Sidewinder and although it's an improvement on mouse/keyboard, it's still not quite up to it.

 

[noodle]

Currently I'm using my ancient Sidewinder and although it's an improvement on mouse/keyboard, it's still not quite up to it.

I'm using one of these, until I decide for certain what to upgrade to.
It's not bad, but it's worrying that it's old enough to have "USB" as part of the name as though it's a feature :S

 

[Flavio]

Did you search outside Amazon? I found a local (Denmark) hardware store which had it on their web store. Unfortunately they don't ship out of the country. I think I may have been lucky as the page showed they weren't in stock at the moment but I still got it very quickly.

I suppose one could always bite the extra shipping cost and order from here: http://store.madcatz.com/brands/saitek/Saitek-X52-PRO-Flight-Control-System-for-PC.html

There might be more available soon. A guy on the SC forums spoke with Saitek who said they've experienced a sudden surge of joystick sales (I wonder why? ) and they were making more to be distributed. So maybe just keep an eye on the retailers.

Why don't you see how many people here want one and will buy it through you, then you buy the required number and ship them to the people yourself, obviously making sure that the amount you ask covers your own postage etc and if you get enough takers, an extra couple of Euros from each person as a thank you will mean your stick is free !

 

[Jezzah]

Was someone looking for x52 pro in UK?

http://www.dabs.com/products/saitek-x52-pro-flight-control-system-4BYR.html?q=x52 pro&src=16

Take it for whats its worth as in "short supply" im not sure it means they have stock or not.

 

[Ref Minor]

The X52 Pro is going for between £90-£100 on eBay for a used one. I have been following them for a couple of weeks. This seems a bit steep considering a new one when available is only £110-£120

 

[Jezzah]

Id expect that to only get worse on eBay when the other Space sim game comes close to release.

 

[Ref Minor]

Was someone looking for x52 pro in UK?

http://www.dabs.com/products/saitek-x52-pro-flight-control-system-4BYR.html?q=x52 pro&src=16

Take it for whats its worth as in "short supply" im not sure it means they have stock or not.

It also says "Standard delivery. Delivered within 3 working days once we receive stock" so I am assuming they don't have them and "short supply" means it might take a while

 

[noodle]

Was someone looking for x52 pro in UK?

http://www.dabs.com/products/saitek-x52-pro-flight-control-system-4BYR.html?q=x52 pro&src=16

Take it for whats its worth as in "short supply" im not sure it means they have stock or not.

You missed this bit:

"Delivered within 3 working days once we receive stock"

 

[ZeeWolf]

I'm using one of these, until I decide for certain what to upgrade to.
It's not bad, but it's worrying that it's old enough to have "USB" as part of the name as though it's a feature :S

ooh, I think I still have one of those that isn't USB. I remember using the little allen key to change it between left and right handed mode just because I could.

 

[Jezzah]

@ Noodle


Shrugs - can only try.

I ordered off em in at the end of summer and found them very quick at getting stock and the delivery was spot on. Decent price too considering.

 

[Jack Schitt]

Currently I'm using my ancient Sidewinder and although it's an improvement on mouse/keyboard, it's still not quite up to it.

I'm using one of these, until I decide for certain what to upgrade to.
It's not bad, but it's worrying that it's old enough to have "USB" as part of the name as though it's a feature :S

The only real issue with some of these older sticks is the lack of buttons. As flight controllers they're perfectly serviceable, in many cases they're more comfortable than modern HOTAS sticks, and I still find the thumb throttle on my MS Sidewinder FF2 more repeatable in ED than that of the X52 Pro even after a couple of weeks' practice.

So comfortable was the FF2 that I actually toyed with the idea of physically attaching extra buttons to its base and stick and wiring them into a USB keyboard module, but then I'm such a procrastinator the first ED expansion pack would likely be out before I'd finished modifying it. The fact that it only has one hat switch is also something of a drawback, and there's no room to practically add another without glueing extra bits onto the side.

 

[Gorrfink]

More X52 Pros at Pixmania. Bought mine from there a few weeks ago. Price is creeping up - I paid £125, now at £156.

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/joystick-and-gamepad/saitek-x52-pro-joystick/00029482-a.html

Hope this helps.

 

[ZeeWolf]

The only real issue with some of these older sticks is the lack of buttons. As flight controllers they're perfectly serviceable, in many cases they're more comfortable than modern HOTAS sticks, and I still find the thumb throttle on my MS Sidewinder FF2 more repeatable in ED than that of the X52 Pro even after a couple of weeks' practice.

So comfortable was the FF2 that I actually toyed with the idea of physically attaching extra buttons to its base and stick and wiring them into a USB keyboard module, but then I'm such a procrastinator the first ED expansion pack would likely be out before I'd finished modifying it. The fact that it only has one hat switch is also something of a drawback, and there's no room to practically add another without glueing extra bits onto the side.

Yes. I've been using my FF2 with Oculus Rift but switching back to a control pad when not using the headset. I'm actually thinking about trying the FF2 in combination with my arcade stick for buttons but now it's just getting silly.

 

[Mikevet]

Daft question time; I've taken the plunge and ordered my first ever gaming pc, to arrive Thursday. Received my Saitek x52 pro today. So I will want to get everything up and running within, hopefully, a day, if I want to join in the alpha 2 at the beginning! So the question; do I just connect up the Saitek and select it in the alpha panel and set to go or do I need to do other stuff to get going.
I thought I'd ask now to save time and frustration on the day as I always seem to be scratching my head with techy stuff for days before I get things to work.
Sorry if this is a bit of a dumb ass question!

 

[Asp Explorer]

Daft question time; I've taken the plunge and ordered my first ever gaming pc, to arrive Thursday. Received my Saitek x52 pro today. So I will want to get everything up and running within, hopefully, a day, if I want to join in the alpha 2 at the beginning! So the question; do I just connect up the Saitek and select it in the alpha panel and set to go or do I need to do other stuff to get going.
I thought I'd ask now to save time and frustration on the day as I always seem to be scratching my head with techy stuff for days before I get things to work.
Sorry if this is a bit of a dumb ass question!

Your best bet is to download and install the drivers ahead of time, you'll find them on the Saitek site. Reboot, and when the stuff arrives, plug the joystick into the throttle with the round cable, and the throttle into your PC with the USB cable.

From there, go into the Saitek control panel and disable Clutch mode (this will let you use the (i) button), set the LED's to your preferences, and save the profile. Load the profile, fire up Elite, choose the X52 Pro profile in-game in the controls section, and off you go! Enjoy!

Having said that - if it's a new PC, I'd first spend time running updates, installing an antivirus, updating sound and graphic and chipset drivers before starting to game on the thing