[übermetroid]

Top Gun AfterBurner Force Feedback Joystick

So I need a new joystick.  My fiance spilt milk all over my Microsoft Force Feedback 2 and the force feedback does not work anymore.

Does anyone have any expercience with the Top Gun AfterBurner Force Feedback Joystick?

It has everything I want:
Force Feedback,
Twisting handle,
Lots of buttons,
Full size detachable throttle with idle and afterburner detents ,


Here is the link

What do you think about it?  Good or bad?  Why? (If bad what joy stick would you suggest?)

[mikhael]

Its not BAD. Its just not good. Its like a Sidewinder or Logitech or Gravis: they're all ****ty game sticks. That's just my opinion, because I'm a HOTAS freak. I recommend a Thrustmaster HOTAS Cougar. It doesn't meat your criteria though.

I assuming I were going to spend my money on game sticks though, I would avoid this one. Guillemot (the people who make that stick, despite the Thrustmaster branding) have terrible customer service.

Go toward the Logitech end, or even Saitek (you can get a Saitek HOTAS setup for under a $100. That's not bad).

[übermetroid]

links? ........  Fine I will google them.  THXs!

[WMCoolmon]

I've seen it (or similar brand) at the local CompUSA, but I've always liked this joystick, a Saitek, better.

The Saitek just seems less...cheap.

[mikhael]

That's the Saitek I was taking about. Its pretty decent for a 'game' style stick. Its too loose for my tastes. It does have one thing that my Cougar doesnt have though: on the back side of the throttle, where I have a 4-way hat, there's an analog rudder rocker (use it like the twist on other sticks, but without being tied to the stick, where it can be sloppy). Saitek moves the hat off to the right side of the stick.

I really wish that Thrustmaster had put an analog rocker on the Cougar like Saitek. I know why they didn't (there's no such control on an F16 mod 50 throttle and they were really striving for realism).

[übermetroid]

That Saitek does not have FF though...    The only stick that I can find that has everything I want is that afterburner stick.

[JC Denton]

I don't quite get what's so great about Force Feedback, to be honest.  It's, eh, 'annoying' I guess is the word.  The jolting of the stick distracts me from what I'm busy doing (like lining a precarious sniping-shot up), and it's not like I can _hear_ myself getting pegged by enemy fire.

Me, I use the aforementioned Saitek stick, and it's perfect for what I use it for.  I'm not a hardcore enough sim jockey to want something as extravagant as a Cougar, yet I do want something reliable and customizable enough in a HOTAS setup to make having one worthwhile.  The X45 fit that bill nicely.

[mikhael]

Force feedback is ridiculously overrated. It lowers your accuracy to give you 'realism' that isn't real. You don't get feedback forces from a stick in ANY fly by wire aircraft. If you want realism, why get a stick with a twist axis? That's arguably unrealistic.

Force feedback on a joystick (HOTAS or otherwise) is a silly gimmick. Leave it for things like steering wheels, where it is both useful AND realistic.

[Bobboau]

but it's fun

[mikhael]

The only fun I want to have with a vibrating piece of plastic in my hand involves a Thorn, not a computer.

[edit]
I meant a woman! Honest! Not Thorn.
[/edit]
[color=66ff00]You play dating sims on your PS2?
[/color]

[Martinus]

Originally posted by Bobboau
but it's fun

[color=66ff00]Damn straight and it's for playing games too. If you want to play Flight sims then all good and well.
[/color]

[mikhael]

What other games are you playing with a joystick except flight sims? Maeg, you're making my brain hurt.

[Martinus]

Originally posted by mikhael
What other games are you playing with a joystick except flight sims? Maeg, you're making my brain hurt.

[color=66ff00]Heheh hit edit instead of post there, damn these admin powers, damn them to hell.

Still, got the job done.
[/color]

[übermetroid]

So..  Back on topic...  I like Force Feedback.  Any good suggestions?

[Martinus]

[color=66ff00]I had a Microsoft sidwinder FFB 1 joystick, it's my favourite but I had to replace it with a USB stick so I got a Logitec wingman force 3D which does the job but doesn't have the same level of wallop to it, it's a good stick though.
Pity I can't install my sidewinder.
[/color]

[mikhael]

Seriously though, what good is a flight stick outside of a flight sim?

[vyper]

The first stick in this thread is my old one. It has crapped out in terms of the X axis and I've had it about a year and a half. Do not buy.


Was fun while it lasted though.

[Hippo]

I have that... without the detachable throttle and FF...

here...

very reliable, though the throttle is a bit twitchy from age... thing is, the twist handle is sensed as the Rx axis, but can be locked in place (i don't know why you'd want to)... so be sure you don't turn the little think that says "TURN TO LOCK" or it won't twist anymore