I talked via PM with with VincentGR and Gryzor about this subject.
I would like to thank them for their help and Gryzor suggested that I should open a thread.
I have the legendary Pacman joystick:
(http://mirrors.pdp-11.ru/_atari/2600connection.com/faq/controllers/faq_controller_pac-man.jpg)
I had heard when I was a kid that it may fry the 6128 ( I had switched to Amiga when I purchased it).
Is this true?
I am awaiting my 6128 off ebay and would like to use it in case there is no danger.
I think the problem with the fried Amstrads, was with some metal joysticks with a second joystick port attached to the body. Back in the days I heard that one shouldn't touch the pins of that second port, or the CPC went goner, but I don't know exactly what was the failure, or the symptoms.
I have one of those though, a CMS one with a second port, as well as a Tomahawk one and I haven't encountered this kind of problems.
Electrostatic discharge into the joystick port can really easily kill your CPC. If you touch the port pins when you've got a charge built up you'll send all that current into the AY soundchip, which also handles the keyboard.
It's very likely that a metal-cased joystick connects the case to what it thinks is a ground pin on the port. Unfortunately due to the way that Amstrad wired the port, there isn't a true ground pin available that could provide a safe discharge path for the ESD - all the pins go into the AY chip. So picking up the stick is the same risk as touching the port.
That said, there's no guarantee that a plastic joystick is safe either. I killed my 6128 back in the 80's by holding a connected plastic-cased joystick and touching the monitor glass (which was significantly charged at the time).
Just to sum up,is it safe to use the tomahawk joystick with amstrad considering no live plug into the joystick port?I just received my pair of anerousis joysticks since i had sold my original one back in 2003.
This went nowhere then?
I remember using those (the metal versions) with my 464/6128. Never had an 'incident'. However, I've heard since that indeed some are wired in such a way that they may damage the CPC... Weird.
Incidentally, those *are* the best retro joysticks ever produced. It's such a shame they were only available in Greece; for decades the world was looking for 'arcade' controllers and we had them locally produced :D
Probably they should reverse the fire button.
We are the only one who have the stick on the right ;D
Never had a preference myself, always could work both configurations and never understood people who whined about the one or the other!
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Although I can use both hands with keyboard games and left for joypads, can't do that with a joystick.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZfmBbWFL2A&feature=youtu.be (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZfmBbWFL2A&feature=youtu.be)
In arcade, the stick is on left and buttonS on the right... I will never understand why (except Vectrex) those console joysticks are not properly designed.
It wasn't like that, at least here 95%
After the potentiometer and only buttons era, sticks were in the middle or right side.
They changed that to make games more difficult, that is what I red :-X
There's no 'proper' design. It's just how one is used to.