Boomerang B102 Joypad

[crayzyian]

All,


Just thought I'd let the forum know; I recently purchased a Boomerang B102 joypad from www.AMIGAstore.eu and I have to say it was exactly what I was looking for to use with my CPC 464.

I've never got on particularly well with the traditional joystick; the only compatible device I had currently was a QuickShot thingy which made me even worse at games than usual.  The B102 is a revelation; well designed - it immediately worked without quibble.

Also I was extremely impressed with the service from AMIGAstore - a very nice lady Maria communicated well via email and delivery was prompt.  A good experience all round.

Let me know if you have any related questions.

[Gryzor]

Question of some interest - how many of us use pads instead of sticks? I never really liked joypads myself...

[GUNHED]

How does it compare to the GX4000 joypad? The directional controller looks the same.
It got 3 fire buttons, but the description talks about only fire 1. Are the other buttons connected?
From the picture it's hard to guess.

[crayzyian]

GUNHED,


I have no experience of a GX4000 controller unfortunately.


However I think the effectiveness of the Boomerang B102 fire buttons is determined by the game being operated.


The three buttons are (on my version);


Green (or button furthest to the right) called "Fire" - this is a standard fire button.
Blue (or middle button) called "Autofire" - this appears to perhaps do three quick normal fires, although I'd need to try more games with it to confirm.
Yellow (or button to the left) called "Turbo" - this I believe it what would've been referred to on old joysticks "Autofire" and is lock-able by pressing in and sliding to the left.  Again I need to test on more games.


The directional controller is cleverly designed, as you have the standard flat pad, but two additional modification pieces are supplied; one looks like an inverted cone and has a thick pin to positions it in the middle of the pad, making it more like a modern PS4 or similar directional stick; the second is a dome (or half a ball) with a similar pin to make it more like, well a domed knob.  I wasn't expecting these extras - I'm using the inverted cone and very nice it is too!

[arkive]

Is it really any good?

I rather prefer pads to joysticks, they are just too much hard work, though this depends on a game too. So I've looked at it many times before, because it's probably the only "new" pad for 8/16 bit available for sale. But the design looks very poor and I've read a few negative comments about it too, so I've never got one.

[crayzyian]

arkive,


Well I've no complaints!  It's lightweight, it's plastic.  Not sure what else to expect really.  The cable's nice and long.  It seems to work fine with every game I've tried it on; any unresponsiveness is typically the games' fault!