Thrustmaster Top Gun Platinum

Rating:
Summary: Great buttons, not so good joystick.
Review: I love and hate this joystick. Love because the button configuration is awesome. I can't believe how many joystick manufactures out there fail to realize that there are actually five (!) fingers on a hand. Yup, five. Most place one trigger button for your index finger, and a dozen buttons for your thumb, probably the least agile finger on your hand. Not to mention the addition of the hat. I like the Top Gun because it utilizes an extra finger (the pinky) and gives you two distinct thumb buttons. This means you can acutally press three buttons at one time and because the two thumb buttons are in different positions, you'll ALWAYS know what buttons you are pressing. The buttons themselves have a solid feel to them, and they'll last through an extreme amount of abuse. When you press them, they go *click*, and you almost EXPECT someone to go up in smoke. They almost dare you to press them a few thousand times just to prove to you they can take it.

My major gripe is with the joystick itself. I've already bought two of these sticks, and had the same problem with both. It starts out okay, but within 20 hours of gameplay, the stick gets less and less accurate. The spring assisted zero position (where the stick goes back to when you're not doing anything) gets bigger and bigger, which wouldn't be so bad, except for the fact that the joysticks zero position can extend beyond the default joystick dead zone (area where the joystick doesn't transmit movement to the game) for most games. This in and of itself can be dealt with, however, most troubling is a weird motion reversal I saw in both sticks I've used. In a small zone around zero position, after you get through the dead zone, games will read a small movement opposite of where the stick is. This means if you slowly pull back on the joystick from zero position to full back, instead of a slight climb turning into a full climb, you'll get a slight dive, turning into a slightly greater climb, into a full climb. This makes fine targeting very difficult. This motion reversal tends to get bigger the more you use the stick. On the second stick I bought (after the first one broke), this motion reversal became so prevalent on the left/right axis that when moving the stick left, I'd immediately get about 50% of full movement RIGHT, then gradual increase to 100% on left.

These joystick problems irritate me to no end because the Top Gun, in my opinion, still has the best button configuration I've seen yet. So when I really get into another flight-sim type game, I'll probably pull out my Top Gun, get irritated beyond tolerance, then go out and buy another one just so the joystick will work.

Rating:
Summary: This Joystick is Crap! Do not buy!!
Review: I warn you not to buy this product because it is very [bad]. It has a hardware fault in it so that after some hours of use it will develop a problem so that when you move it in a direction for the first half of your movement it will go the other way. This is very annoying and Thrustmaster is denying the whole thing even though more that 1 people have experenced this problem. There is no way to fix it. I think that [they] shoud not sell this product unless they like selling their customers faulty products. This is my opinion and you can do what you want.

Rating:
Summary: Great buttons, not so good joystick.
Review: My friend got this joystick and its soooo coool! durable! good support service! Great stick! I sooo have a crush on Risa Wong! Risaa

Rating:
Summary: Whazzam! Coolio man! Tight joystick!
Review: My friend got this joystick and its soooo coool! durable! good support service! Great stick! I sooo have a crush on Risa Wong! Risaa

Rating:
Summary: Too bulky and stiff
Review: This is a good joystick if you like to play with the controller on a desk. But I like to hold the controller in my lap. The base is too thick to be held comfortably. My left hand gets sore almost immediately. Also, the rubber rings around the stick make the resistance too high especially if you hold the base in your lap. Also, the buttons aren't badly positioned but I still prefer the layout for buttons on the Gravis Blackhawk. The Thrustmaster forces me to use a pinky finger for button number four. I prefer the Blackhawk because I can use a finger on my other hand for the fourth button. The only thing I like about the Thrustmaster when compared to the Blackhawk is the inclusion of a Point of View hat.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent joystick for flying, but not too durable
Review: This is one of the best joysticks I've ever used for flight sims. It has a sufficient number of well placed buttons to control most vital functions. All buttons are located on the stick itself; there are none on the base. Additionally, the stick motion is stiff. I've noticed that most sticks you find in a typical retail store now are very floppy. The sticks tend to flop over if you give them a little tap. Not so with this stick. It is stiff enough to provide some resistance, and will return to its upright centered position if you let go. The throttle is convienent, but not really sufficient if you want detailed control. But for that you can get the stand alone throttle designed to be used with the joystick. My only complaint with this stick is that I was able to break it after lots of hard use. Some little plastic pieces inside that tie the stick to the control system in the base broke. I couldn't figure out a good way to repair them, so the thing was basically junk at that point. Even so, I will buy another one of the same model, because for the price it is better than any thing currently on the market.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent joystick for flying, but not too durable
Review: This is one of the best joysticks I've ever used for flight sims. It has a sufficient number of well placed buttons to control most vital functions. All buttons are located on the stick itself; there are none on the base. Additionally, the stick motion is stiff. I've noticed that most sticks you find in a typical retail store now are very floppy. The sticks tend to flop over if you give them a little tap. Not so with this stick. It is stiff enough to provide some resistance, and will return to its upright centered position if you let go. The throttle is convienent, but not really sufficient if you want detailed control. But for that you can get the stand alone throttle designed to be used with the joystick. My only complaint with this stick is that I was able to break it after lots of hard use. Some little plastic pieces inside that tie the stick to the control system in the base broke. I couldn't figure out a good way to repair them, so the thing was basically junk at that point. Even so, I will buy another one of the same model, because for the price it is better than any thing currently on the market.