Choices for controllers for the TRS-80

[swlovinist]

I am getting a TRS-80, and I was wondering what the best controller would be for playing the games. Any recommendations for a controller that I could still possibly find????


I know that it is not a great system, but I have to at least check it out....I am very curious of the wierd!

[Ze_ro]

I don't remember where or when I got it, but I have a device that plugs into the TRS-80 joystick ports, and provides normal, 9-pin Atari style ports. I imagine that's about the best you can get. I've never seen any TRS-80 joysticks that could be described as "good".

--Zero

[YoshiM]

I'm assuming you mean the TRS-80 CoCo? Not many people I know of get the Model 1, 2 or 3 for gaming. The most common are probably the two Radio Shack released sticks. The single button joysticks (originally sold in pairs) offer up non-spring-centered analog action. They are OK but are touchy with twitch games and the buttons are cheesy. The Deluxe Joystick has a stick that is spring loaded and adjustable along with two fire buttons. This is probably your best bet and aren't too hard to find. As for "third party" controllers, there are a bunch out there but I've never used them. I've never seen these controllers out in the wild or on eBay so they may be difficult to find. If you want a list, let me know. I'll dig out one of my Rainbow or Hot CoCo magazines and see what was released.

Hope that helps.

[Captain Wrong]

Huh...I never thought there was anything but that crappy Rat Shack stick for the CoCo. Let us know what you find.

[swlovinist]

What can I say? I absolutely love vintage computer systems for games. I know that they are not that popular, but I think that is why I am collecting them. I am avidly collecting Atari 400/800 Vic-20, TRS-80, TI-994a, Odyssey 2, and Astrocade stuff, mostly because it is vintage cartridge stuff and that most casual collectors dont consider it....or dont want to spend any money on it. I have access to a very resoursefull area that has some good flea mart finds.....I am always finding "parts of this stuff" I would also include a Tomy Tutor which I stupidly sold with almost an entire US collection..........I dont know if I will ever get that one again!

[YoshiM]

Huh...I never thought there was anything but that crappy Rat Shack stick for the CoCo. Let us know what you find.

Oh yeah, there was a lot of stuff you could mail order for the CoCo. Drives, voice recognition, better joysticks, mice, RAM expansions and lots more I can't think of at the moment.

swlovinist: if you want some great games for the CoCo, go with disk or cassette games. Some of the carts are good (Dungeons of Daggarath, Rampage, Dragonfire to name a few) but a majority are sometimes painful to play. The Interbank Incident, Zonerunner, Rogue, Dragonblade, Dallas Quest, To Preserve Quandic, Bedlam and more are excellent examples of disk or cassette games. Don't forget the homebrew stuff: The Rainbow Books of Adventures offered up some pretty tasty treats and both Rainbow magazine and Hot CoCo (I think) offered up programs on cassette (and later disk) for each issue's programs.

[Captain Wrong]

Hmm...I guess I forgot about all that. I used to have a bunch of CoCo mags. In fact, my CoCo has additional RAM and a non-RS disc drive. Don't know why it never occured to me back then to get a better stick. LOL

[vespertillio]

I know WICO made a controller for the Co-Co. If you would like a pic of it and it's box, drop me a pm. Cheers.

[RangerG]

A new CoCo fan in the making - maybe :) .

I would recommend the Tandy 1000 pistol-grip joystick. It was made for the Tandy 1000, but the plug works on the CoCo and it a much better analog stick than either the original or the deluxe version. It is a nice stick.

The Wico stick is also nice. It is exactly like the Atari 5200 analog stick, but white instead of red. It is too loose for me (I don't like it on the 5200 either).

I would also recommend getting the Wico TRS-80 adaptor. This lets you use any Atari-compatible digital stick. It doesn't work well for many games in that most TRS-80 games were programmed for analog (Polaris, Bust-out, etc.) However, it is a godsend for Mega-bug and the "too hard" games on the CoCo, like Poltergeist. You will see a huge difference in gameplay.

Lastly, check out EbayUk and have your pick of the many joysticks that were made for the popular Dragon 32 or Dragon 64. The Dragons have a decent following in Europe - while here in the U.S., we CoCo fans keep a very low profile.

Honestly, I have most CoCo cart games, so if you have any questions, feel free to pm me.

Also, most CoCo3 games require two joystick buttons, so the original joystick, the first version of the deluxe (there is a second version with two buttons), and any Atari-compatible using the Wico adaptor, won't work. Stick with the deluxe two-button, the Wico or Tandy 1000 stick in this case.

By the way, if you come across the rare Wico TRS-80 trackball, I would like to see a picture.

Take care,
RG