Best joystick and combat sim

[LethalWolfe]

What is a well-round, inexpensive joystick I can use for some casual combat sim playing? Also, what are some good combat sims? I played Jane's F-15 at a friends house and liked it a lot. Any and all suggestions are welcome.


Lethal

 

[Staver]

To be honest, you need to go to the store and try some out first. Only then will you know what you are looking for in a new joystick. What feels right in my hand, may be too loose or too light in yours. Here are some manufacturers: Saitek, Logitech, Thrustmaster, Microsoft and CH. I seen some reviews for some of these up on Gamespot and Avault.

Good Luck.

 

[manly]

I believe the best value in a stick/throttle (HOTAS) setup is the Saitek X36 and X45 series. The X45 is the current version, retailing around $75. I got mine a while back w/ a $30 mail-in rebate I think.

Unfortunately, their software stinks from what I understand. It's so bad that 3rd parties have stepped in to write drivers & button-mappers. So there are a lot of downloadable mappings for all popular games out there. It's a pretty full-featured stick, and the build quality is good. Two main things I don't like are it's built for large hands, and there's a pinky <shift> button that while adds functionality, really is not ergonomic.

I can't really give more specific recommendations because I've never really invested the time to really get into a flight sim, even though I own quite a few titles. :/ If I weren't buying Saitek, I'd probably go with CH. They have a long, successful track record as well.

 

[LethalWolfe]

Cool, I'll check those Saitek's out, and go man-handle some other stix at the store.


Lethal