Your Commodore - Commodore Is Awesome

HARDWARE REVIEWS
Pick of the
Sticks
If all that zapping has .
state fi nof a lcollapse l y l ethen f t read on to find out the best buys
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j
k
o
o
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y
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for games players.
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By Eric Doyle
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a
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So it is with joysticks. Choose the
eman
blames his tools but there are wrong size and your gameplay will
'occasions
when the workman may be suffer.
vbad
because of his tools. Choosing a Finally, we must consider the
joystick
e
is far more than just stringing sensitivity and robustness of the sticks
along with the latest trend. Ponder on manufacture. Robustness is essential,
a
the ergonomic complexities and you'll after a hard session of alien bashing. it
lsoon
appreciate the art of the joystick is very irritating to fi nd that the
l maker.
ultimate high score has been missed
h Firstly there is the problem of because the stick has become detached
e
which hand to use. Left-handedness is • from the base or because one of the
ano
longer considered to be a sinister switches has failed, Some people really
defect so the perfect stick should be give the control unit a lot of stick while
r
symmetrical. In simple terms this others prefer delicate movements. For
d means that if the fire button is not the former a highly robust but
tcentrally
positioned then there should insensitive stick would suffice but for
hbe
two of them.
the latter a more subtle unit with less
a The second consideration is a little 'throw' would be best.
t
more tricky because it depends on your Unfortunately, most players are
a
style of play. Most people seem to joystick bashers but the Commodore
prefer holding the base in their weaker joysticks have all proved to lack the
bhand
while waggling the stick with the
aother.
Problem number one is how
d large is the human hand? Obviously
wthere
is no fixed rule, all hands are
odifferent
and so this area is open to
r
much speculation.
As a student I worked on a Kit-Kat
k
production line where I learned that
-the
thickness of the chocolate bar is a
tenth of the span of the average adult
hand. As a packer I knew that a
handful of Kit-Kats woulds slot nicely
into a box, designed to hold 10, which
made the job extremely easy. What if
my hands were not within the
parameters of averageness? The result
would be cramp and aching muscles.
YOUR COMMODORE november 1986:65
necessary sturdiness. This has left the
field wide open for independent
companies to provide a range of sticks
to suit all tastes.
The Pro-Ace Competition Joystick
is probably one of the most physically
robust sticks on the market. If you
come from north of the Border you'll
appreciate that using this beast is akin
to stirring good thick porridge. In
other respects the stick is beautifully
designed. The base is small enough to
fit comfortably in the hand and is
stable enough to stand on a desk top.
The fi re button is a centrally
positioned bar which can easily be
operated by the side of the thumb. This
gives a better grip for the supporting
hand which is essential because the
stick takes some pushing and pulling
to make it work.
If you're not into bench presses and
weight lifting, the Micro-Ace is a better
bet. This is the same design as the Pro
except for one crucial difference. The
internal switches are not the crude leaf
switches of the cheaper unit and the
Micro label refers to the use of
microswitches internally. These not
only ease the amount of pressure
required but are also less likely to fail.
Often differences between joysticks
only become obvious when you delve
inside. Take the Euromax and
Micropro. On the face of it the
only difference is the shape of the twin
fire buttons. Rather novel square
buttons on one and oversize round