40 Years Competition Pro joysticks: the best joystick of all time

For many gamers, the Competition Pro is the best joystick of all time. Even after 40 years, the input device with its characteristic shape hasn’t lost any of its legendary reputation. The Competition Pro was produced in the United Kingdom during the early 1980s by the company Coin Controls. The Competition Pro 5000 joystick, which debuted in 1983, was particularly well-known. The Competition Pro joystick series was designed primarily for classic computer systems such as the Commodore 64 and Amiga, as well as Atari and Schneider devices. These joysticks were digital, meaning they sent digital signals to the computer rather than analog signals, and were known for their high precision and durability. Only the first examples of the Competition Pro 5000 still operated metal tongue contacts via the stick. The Competition Pro joystick series had several versions, the original Competition Pro 5000 model which had a black body with a black joystick and red fire buttons, followed by a model with a black body, red joystick and red fire buttons. The Competition Pro Extra had a transparent housing and red controls, while the Competition Pro Star had a blue-transparent housing and chrome-plated controls. Customizers sometimes created their own designs, such as a joystick with a transparent housing and chrome-plated controls that was never officially available. Other design variants included the Competition Pro 5000 Spesial with a green stick, pink fire buttons and a black housing with bright dots, the Competition Pro GLO Extra in neon colors with a semi-transparent housing, and the Competition Pro Mean Green with a bright green housing, yellow stick, and fire buttons. While the joystick line was often synonymous with 1980s home computing in Europe, game console controllers started to replace the legendary joystick in the mid 90s.

News source: Wikipedia

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