I was excited to see X-Wing & Tie Fighter available here on GOG, but I haven't played these games in nearly two decades. As these are two of my favorites, I would like to get a good joystick for them. Any recommendations for a good joystick would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance!

This one

(saw it in another thread and it's perfect for these games!)

http://www.pcgamer.com/the-best-pc-joysticks/

An affordable choice that won't break the bank seems to be either the Thrustmaster T.Flight HOTAS X or the Speedlink Black Widow.

Have a read of the article as well. It explains some of the jargon and keywords for what you should look out for in a joystick.

Thanks guys! I think the Thrustmaster T-Flight Hotas X Flight Stick looks like my best option. I appreciate the help.

I also recommend this one. It is a great joystick and reasonably priced.

Thirded, mainly because I just bought one as a a backup joystick. :) Then again my MS Sidewinder Precision 2 is also still working fine, but at least I have a stick ready if it ever breaks down during a heated space battle.

The place where I bought that stick (their last one) had also several Logitech Extreme 3D Pro sticks. They felt fine to me, but then I read online some people reporting an issue that after awhile (weeks, a month...), for some reason its Z-axis (rotate) goes haywire, e.g. you get only half of the Z-axis anymore in the calibration screen. I don't know if that is some driver or hardware issue, but that was enough to convince me not to get one.

[url=https://www.google.fi/search?q=logitech+extreme+3d+pro+z&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=nts&gfe_rd=cr&ei=KuxZVIOXDdiBcLTjgcAD]Link[/url]

Gravis Analog Pro :D

I'm not a fan of HOTAS. Especially with XW and TF. They have a lot of keyboard commands and I like to have a hand on the keyboard and a hand on the joystick almost always. I can jump to the throttle if I need to, or use the keys for max, 0 and match speed on the keyboard.

I've been a big logitech fan forever. For the price, I've never gone wrong. It's not the awesomest flight stick ever, but it does everything you need it to, it lasts for many years, and it doesn't break the bank.

I've also heard all the talk about bad logitech sticks. I've owned two in the past 17 years. One was a 15-pin game-port version, the next was USB. They've lasted forever. I've never had one break even a little bit. However, they sometimes don't perfectly center their axis and I have to wiggle it just a bit to make it decide it's centered. I'm used to it, but some sticks might just be awesome in that department.

I've tried Saitek once and hated them (it was one of the Cyborgs). I don't like the feel at all (and I don't like sticks that have a million configuration pieces -- lefty, righty, high, low, whatever). But that may be important.

Ages ago I tried a Microsoft HOTAS (and I think it had foot rudders). It was about $200 if I remember correctly (probably about $280 in today's dollars). It had a really nice feel for MS Flight Simulator, but not a good space combat sim stick.

Stop recommending this one! I asked first and I've been going nuts trying to track one down ;) I don't need a bunch others looking for it too ;)

By the way, does this item usually go out of stock, but then end up restocking? I'm wondering if I should give up hope of my local stores getting it back in stock and just keep an eye on Amazon - though even there the thing seems to be mostly out of stock (aside from the insanely marked up ones).

*edit* also, the Thrustmaster HOTAS seems a bit more available (though I think I'm with Tallima on this - hand on the keyboard for TIE Fighter)

BUT - I'm left handed. The thrust DOES disconnect from the base, but can any lefthanded people chime in on how easy that thrust would be to use righthanded? If I turn the thrust around and just change up thrust to down thrust, would I still be able to grip it and hit the thumb buttons? Thanks!

Favorited as I will be needing a joystick soon for Tie Fighter myself. I used logitechs back in the day, but my last one did not survive during a move 15 years ago. I am also left handed and will be doing some research on these myself.

So... haven't seen it addressed in any of these joystick threads.

Are any of these sticks compatible with Mac out of the box? I'd like to buy one that is compatible w/ both Mac & PC.

Good news. I'll make sure to delve into the issue before buying to make sure of the specific model, whatever that may wind up being. Thanks!

I believe it is quite a popular joystick so they should restock it, I definitely bought it much later than it came out.

Another thing to make you struggle even more, the HOTAS joysticks, at leas the throttle part, are only usable with your left hand (i.e. for right handed people only). The T.16000M however can be configured for right or left handed use, you change a few bits around and switch a switch on the bottom.

Good luck tracking one down.