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:



--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 . 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.

[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.