Star-Cursor Joystick

Your Sinclair

Linda Barker

TIDINGS OF COMFORT AND JOYSTICKS As we've no doubt pointed out about 20 times already this issue, Christmas is almost upon us, so what better time to take a good long gander at the wonderful world of joysticks? After all, they make an ideal stocking filler! (Or so LINDA BARKER thinks anyway.) Not really knowing a massive amount about joysticks (it has to be said) I thought I'd check with a couple of my sources before embarking on this feature. What a waste of time - the only comprehensible (and non-indecent) answer I got went along the lines of "Um, er, um, they're those smelly things you light, aren't they?" Useless. Vowing to get a better class of source, I made my excuses and left. The research was all up to me. Ahem. So where are we? Well, what with it being Christmas (the 21st time we've mentioned it this issue) and everything, we thought you'd be wondering what to ask good old Santa for this year. Well, how about a joystick? They really do make rather lovely little presents - not too extortionately priced (usually), made of spiffy red and black plastic (almost always) and just a nice size to wrap up too! The only problem is there are so many to choose from. Decisions, decisions. I hate 'em (and I'm sure you do too), so being incredibly kind-hearted souls we thought we'd save you the trouble of traipsing round all the stores. Now there's no need to work yourself into a hair-tearing ninny because you can't decide what to get, because we've done all the deciding for you. All you have to do is settle down, get yourself comfy and read on. (Hurrah!). COMPETITION PRO 5000 BLACK (£14.95). COMPETITION PRO PHANTOM (£14.95). COMPETITION PRO GOAL (£14.95). COMPETITION PRO 5000 CLEAR (£15.95). COMPETITION PRO 5000 EXTRA, RED GLOW AND GREEN GLOW (£17.50) The Competition Pro 5000 is the one that we generally use in the office. It's a good medium sort of size and simple in design - a car gear lever-like shaft with a knob on the top, and two big fire buttons on the base, all finished in ubiquitous red and black. Some may think it looks a bit old-fashioned, but I like it - there's no fuss and pretension here. It's been around a while (eight years or so) and is still popular, probably because it's so durable (the shaft's steel-plated, you see). Seeing as it's the one that's almost always plugged into our office Speccy it's been the standard I've been judging the others by. All versions of the stick come with microswitches on the fire buttons and a two-year guarantee, no suckers though (so desktop work isn't too hot) but the more expensive ones get autofire and slow motion features. It's easy to get to grips with and a good shape to hold but (but! But!) one problem - the stick's too stiff for me and doesn't waggle enough. They loosen up with age apparently (and tend to be fairly unbreakable) so perhaps that's worth putting up with however. Of course, if you're bored of black and red (and if you're not now, you will be by the end of this feature) you can get the same basic design finished in different ways. The Phantom is a ghostly white ('startling', according to the packaging), with a black handle and fire buttons (very stylish), while the World Cup series comes in ten different colour combinations for different teams. We've got the England one (a white body with red buttons and stick) but more exciting is Brazil - green and yellow. Ideal for Kick Off II! What else? Well, the Clear is, as you might expect, clear (so you can see all the wires and nice little gold bits inside) while the 'Glow Style' Extras are a sort of transparent luminous acid green or pink. Nice and bright, but really worth the extra three quid!? (I think not.) STAR CURSOR PROFESSIONAL COMPUTER JOYSTICK CENTRE (£29.95!) This is very big and not very pretty. It's a bit hard to describe really - initial reactions around here ranged from the surprised "blimey" through to the disgusted "what an ugly brute". It is ugly, but you shouldn't judge a book by its cover and all that. (Well, I think you probably should, sort of, but I feel a bit mean saying it, so let's just say you shouldn't.) Ahem. By now you're probably dying to know what it looks like so I'll tell ya - it's big, and I know I've said that before but this one really is, at least three inches tall and seven wide - massive. It's a sort of black 'n' white chequered affair with one yellow fire button and one red, the stick black with another red button perched on top. Sprouting out from the base of the stick are four big red arrows and four little yellow arrows - just to help you choose the right direction (aren't they thoughtful?). The suckers on this are incredibly strong and stick to anything (even our table) but for such a big boy the shaft is a bit small and not incredibly comfortable, a bit on the thin side too. In fact it's tiny and much too stiff - two factors which combined go to make it a bit crap really. The sheer bulk of it, combined with the weedy handle, made it a bit of a poor LINDA'S PICK OF THE STICKS So there you have it. After much debate and deliberation in the office (and a fair amount of arguing) we've managed to narrow it down to the top three. (Or at least, I have.) Here we go... 1) POWERPLAY CRUISER (in black) A nice shape, well-built, a good price and oh-so-sexy in black. A bit of a winner all-round really. 2) KONIX NAVIGATOR Quite well-built, small and futuristic-looking, and ideal for when you haven't a table to lean on (or don't want to anyway). Quite expensive for what it is though. 3) = COMPO PRO 5000 Super-sturdy and quite accurate - worth the high(ish) price. 3) = CHEETAH 125+ Accurate and comfortable, if a bit cheap looking in the plastic casing stakes. Very good value though. Now all you need to do is a) ring the one you want, b) leave this issue innocently lying around the house (open at these pages of course) and c) hope that someone with a bit of money takes the hint! Merry Christmas, everybody!

Clockwise from top left: Quickjoy Junior, Quickjoy Jetfighter, Cheetah Exterminator and the Quickjoy Supercharger.

Clockwise from top left: Tac 50, Command Control, Blue Powerplay Cruiser and the Black Powerplay Cruiser.

Left: Cheetah Star Probe. Centre: Cheetah 125+. Right: Cheetah Mach 1.

Left: Competition Pro 5000 Clear. Centre: Competition Pro 5000 Red Glow. Right: Competition Pro 5000 Green Glow.

Left: Konix Speedking. Centre: Konix Megablaster. Right: Konix Navigator.

Powerplay Crystal Standard

Star Cursor - Professional Computer Joystick: Centre.