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I'd like to get either or both of these items, but I have no idea about good brands for either peripheral. Keep in mind that the mouse will be used for playing shooters.

Flight or arcade joystick?

I'm leaning more towards flight and less towards Pong, if that helps.

I do have a probably 7 year old Microsoft Sidewinder joystick that probably works, but it has a parallel port. Is a parallel to USB converter economical or would I be better off buying a new joystick?

StarshipTitanic wrote:Is a parallel to USB converter economical or would I be better off buying a new joystick?

Ugh, no. I spent an absurd amount of time and effort trying to get one for my old Microsoft beauty, but what few I could find did not support force feedback. I suppose if that's not an issue for you you could try getting one, but you'd probably be better off getting a new USB stick.

Saitek has a good selection of joysticks of various types for reasonable prices. The Saitek Cyborg line is USB, fully adjustable, and full of features. The Saitek HOTAS system is more expensive, but very powerful.

StarshipTitanic wrote:I do have a probably 7 year old Microsoft Sidewinder joystick that probably works, but it has a parallel port. Is a parallel to USB converter economical or would I be better off buying a new joystick?

Are you sure that's not a game port joystick? A parallel port one would be rather rare.

phongn wrote:

StarshipTitanic wrote:I do have a probably 7 year old Microsoft Sidewinder joystick that probably works, but it has a parallel port. Is a parallel to USB converter economical or would I be better off buying a new joystick?

Are you sure that's not a game port joystick? A parallel port one would be rather rare.

Then it probably is. I'm not up on the nomenclature. Does it make any practical difference in a converter price?

StarshipTitanic wrote:Then it probably is. I'm not up on the nomenclature. Does it make any practical difference in a converter price?

Not sure, I see not a few USB-gameport converters using Google, but I'm not sure how good they are. You could also get a sound card that has one built-in and just use it for that.

StarshipTitanic wrote:Then it probably is. I'm not up on the nomenclature. Does it make any practical difference in a converter price?

It makes a huge difference because AFAIK game port it serial (I'm pretty sure it's just the comm port, which I know is serial). Still, you're probably better off just getting a USB one.

For $40 US you can get a nice, 9 button 2 shifter 8-way hat 3-axis + throttle stick from Saitek with easy-peasy programming software to make your own macros and the ability to adjust it to just about any hand size or handedness. Plus they are solid sticks, and last for quite a while.

That's about the best deal you're likely to find, and if you find it on sale in a store, well hey, even better. Plus, it's USB, which is a "good thing". I hear you can't have too much of that.

Or you could spend $10-20 on a converter that may or may not work, assuming you can find one at all, getting an old ass sound card with the right port, struggling to get the drivers to recognize, etc. etc.

Look at that shiny Saitek Cyborg Evo. Isn't it cute? Won't you give one a home today?

Hotfoot wrote:Look at that shiny Saitek Cyborg Evo. Isn't it cute? Won't you give one a home today?

I'm sorry, but Saitek joysticks are among the ugliest things on the planet.

On the other hand, the Logitech Extreme 3D Pro looks damn good. Simple and Elegant. 12 fully programmable buttons, with a nice wide base for good stability even on a lap.

You just have to remember to be careful with it. A mean look will break it. I had to replace mine after only six months because the first one became unusable. The second is still going strong over a year since I bought it.

Game ports are actually analog.

There is only one joystick. The rest are cheap imitations

Link

I've also got the Logitech Extreme 3D Pro, which I got for CAN$12 new. I've had a few comparable joysticks and this one doesn't really stand out among them (although it does have more buttons than any other joystick I've owned, which is always a plus) but it does the job nicely and was cheap.

I haven't experienced any of the durability problems that Temjin mentioned, but then again I haven't really put it through much heavy use yet. Hopefully it'll hold out until I can afford a nice HOTAS setup.

Also, in my experience force feedback just isn't worth it. Sure, it makes a nice gimmick in games that make use of it, but it doesn't really improve gameplay at all and FF sticks tend to have problems centring. The one I had worked nicely in more fast-paced games like Freespace 2, but in something that requires more precision like TIE-Fighter it was hopelessly inadequate.