Ever hear of a Dreamcast flightstick?

[Kitsune Sniper]

I was at the flea market today and I found this weird left handed flight stick thing. I couldn't figure out what it was, and I couldn't buy it either - I had to leave early.

The stick was white, and said stick was on the right side. The stick had two thumb controllers, and about three buttons. The left side had enough space for you to rest your palm on it, and use your fingers to play. The middle of it had the start button and what I believe were the two L/R triggers.

I've tried to find information on this contraption on the internet but have had little luck. Nothing on eBay, all I can find are pictures of the official Agetec fighting stick.

Can anyone help me? I think this thing was meant for use with the system's FPS games, but I dunno.

[Ze_ro]

Was this it:

http://www.elecplay.com/features/E3/screens/dcpanther.jpg

--Zero

[Kitsune Sniper]

Yeah, that was it. It's even got a trackball. What the heck is it? Is it any good?

[norkusa]

I think that's the Mad Catz 'Panther' controller. The DP guide says some games have dedicated support for it but I don't know which ones.

[Ze_ro]

I'm pretty sure most of the Dreamcast's FPS games support it... Quake 3 Arena and Unreal Tournament being the main ones. They don't include a badge on the case to tell you this though. I believe it can be used with any game, though obviously, not every game will take advantage of the extra buttons and trackball.

I find it hard to use, as I expect to be able to use a mouse with my right hand, while the Panther forces you to use it with your left. Your mileage may vary, but I would say that unless you get a good deal on it, it's probably not worthwhile.

They also made a PC version that was slightly different (black, with a red trackball, some button changes around the trackball) called the Panther XL (the Dreamcast version was called the Panther DC).

--Zero

[Pantechnicon]

They also made a PC version that was slightly different (black, with a red trackball, some button changes around the trackball) called the Panther XL

About ten years ago I wound up with a pair of these after Mad Catz mistakenly sent me a box containing two of them on a botched RMA LOL. They were better than the single unit I sent in for repair so I never bothered to complain.

Well...they were better until they stopped working. One was iirc not working straight out the box and on the other the trigger button went out and I never bothered trying to fix it or replace it. Until that time, though, pretty good flight stick and the trackball was nice for Quake II.

I still have them so maybe I could piece together a whole working unit. I don't do PC gaming anymore so it's not a huge priority.

I imagine the Dreamcast stick is essentially the same animal but with a proper DC connector.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Pan... I would LOVE to have that stick for Team Fortress 2... ;D

[Ze_ro]

I imagine the Dreamcast stick is essentially the same animal but with a proper DC connector.
The Panther XL has two buttons and a small throttle for your left thumb, while the Panther DC replaces these with two awkwardly placed analog triggers, and a start button that you can't press without taking a hand off the controls.

I can understand needing to work the analog triggers in there, but they just don't work well.

--Zero

[josekortez]

Pan... I would LOVE to have that stick for Team Fortress 2... ;D

I own that Dreamstick flight stick and while it would seem good for first-person shooters, I tried it on Quake III Arena, Soldier of Fortune and Unreal Tournament and it made each game nearly unplayable.

It was really good for Starlancer and I've heard it was good for Deep Fighter.

[Phyeir]

Found this thread while searching around on goole, oddly enough. This controller, the Panther DC is the balls. I've found it the best way to play Unreal Tournament and it's awesome for Outtrigger, too (both games have full Panther DC support in game). For Quake 3 Arena, I found it a little too loose in the controls, but it's still better than the controller or mouse+keys, IMO. Any Dreamcast fan shouldn't be without this. I have two (just in case ;))

[Sonicwolf]

Yeah, that was it. It's even got a trackball. What the heck is it? Is it any good?

I have it, it works nicely with Quake III Arena.

[PSony]

I used to have that stick but found it very hard to play fps games with it. I just used it for flight games (Aerowings, Air Force Delta).

[CosmicMonkey]

I'm sure there was a different DC Flightstick released in the UK and Japan. It was either made by Sega or an officially licenced 3rd Party. It was certainly different to the one you've found.

However, yours had a trackball!! Is there anyway you can test to see if it works with Outtrigger? The Naomi cabinet uses a trackball/stick and this is the first DC peripheral I've seen with this combination.

[GM80]

Yes, that's the "Panther DC" and I had a pair. You'll find several reviews under that name through Google. IMHO, it doesn't work well enough to mess with.

The idea has merit, but it was so cheaply produced that the trackball was not nearly as smooth as it needed to be for intense FPS play. It rubbed and ground against the moving parts and made the whole thing too much trouble.

IIRC you could actually choose the "Panther" control setup in the menus of certain games once it was connected, such as Outtrigger, Unreal, Quake III, and perhaps the HL2 leak.