Our last post looked at a gaming keyboard and today I thought I would look at another peripheral for the gaming enthusiast.  When I was quite a bit younger than I am today I was quite keen on the flight sim games, or more specifically space flights sims like the classic Wing Commander. Unfortunately they don’t really make many of these games anymore!

Something that one really had to have to play these games was of course a joystick as playing these games with a mouse was never easy or particularly convenient.  A joystick was perhaps the first accessory that I ever bought for my computer. Joysticks have come a long way since the one I first purchased which just about had the directional control and a couple of firing buttons. They now often come with separate throttle controls, multiple buttons and switches.

A good example of what is available of the market these days is the highly rated Saitek X52 Flight Control System. This beauty comes with a separate throttle control which includes its own set of buttons and can act as a mouse for easy in game control.  The joystick unit has plenty of programmable buttons and two “hat” controls for point of view control.

Do you use a joystick for gaming? Which joystick do you prefer?