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Atari 7800 Control Pad


RickR

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Does anyone else have one of these?  Apparently, they came with the European version of the 7800.  I got this one from Ebay a few years ago, but it was broken.  I finally opened it up this weekend, and it turned out to be a bad wire.  I had a standard 7800 controller with a broken shaft...so grabbed the wire out of that one and transplanted it into the gamepad.  It involved some cutting and soldering.  The standard controller uses slide on clips for the wires, but the gamepad uses soldered connections.  Gamepad wiring was really cheap -- low gauge. 

 

Now it works perfectly, and I'll say, it's a big improvement over the standard controller.  It's a shame these weren't standard in the USA.  I've heard bad comments about the gamepad, but it works really well if you ask me.  Buttons are a little squishy, but no big deal.


post-41-0-78615200-1418594816_thumb.jpg

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I've never held one nor used one.............it seems to me that the fire buttons are too low down on the controller to be effective. Is it similar to the NES gamepad controller?

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It is a good controller. But, for me, it can be somewhat unbecoming at times. It depends on the game. I use it anyway. I think it is the combination of joystick and joypad that can be confusing, at least for me. But, it has its pros and cons as anything would. No doubt. Personally, I like it overall. It just needs a few minor tweaks, but it does a good job.

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I've never held one nor used one.............it seems to me that the fire buttons are too low down on the controller to be effective. Is it similar to the NES gamepad controller?

It is similar to the NES controller.  I'm sure Atari used the NES controller as inspiration for this.  On the inside, it looks almost exactly like the NES controller...rubber boots with the metallic dot.  I'm not sure why the buttons feel squishier than the NES...maybe the placement as you mentioned. 

 

It is a good controller, but not really worth what they cost on Ebay these days due to rarity. 

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Yep, two of these came as standard with my PAL 7800.

 

I really like the 7800 joypads, they are far far better than those awful Proline Joysticks and the screw in thumbsticks are very cool.

 

Far prefer them to the NES and SMS pads.

WOAH!  The thumbstick DOES unscrew.  I had no idea.  OK, I'm raising my rating of this thing even higher.  Thanks.

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WOAH!  The thumbstick DOES unscrew.  I had no idea.  OK, I'm raising my rating of this thing even higher.  Thanks.

 

 

The Atari Lynx originally would've had this removable thumb stick too. There was a picture of it in a magazine when the Lynx was first shown before it went on sale, back in the days when Electrocop was still called Impossible Mission. You can see a remnant of this stick in the first Lynx models that had a little hole for the peg in the center of the D-Pad.

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I have a set of these. The gamepads are ok but both the NES and SMS pads feel better to me. I do love the look of them and the removable thumb stick. Best Electronics has them for $25ea.

 

For those looking for a good pad option for the 7800, I've heard great things about the Edladdin Seagull 78. It's an adapter that let's you use the Genesis 3 button pad on the 7800 with full two button functionality. I can't wait to try it! http://www.edladdin.com/Adapters_c3.htm

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I had a couple of these, I bought mine from either Best E., or B&C, but they were selling for $10-15 back when I got mine. I sold them along with my video-mod 7800 a while back, but I liked them, grade B-. I too removed the thumb pad, but kept it handy as a few games worked better with it installed. I also used it with my 2600 and Atari 8-bit computer and Atari ST. Before I got those, I modded a Genesis controller myself two work with two buttons. I've heard that Master system controller work with 2 buttons on the 7800 without modding, but I never tried one myself.

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On 12/14/2014 at 4:20 PM, RickR said:

Does anyone else have one of these?  Apparently, they came with the European version of the 7800.  I got this one from Ebay a few years ago, but it was broken.  I finally opened it up this weekend, and it turned out to be a bad wire.  I had a standard 7800 controller with a broken shaft...so grabbed the wire out of that one and transplanted it into the gamepad.  It involved some cutting and soldering.  The standard controller uses slide on clips for the wires, but the gamepad uses soldered connections.  Gamepad wiring was really cheap -- low gauge. 

 

Now it works perfectly, and I'll say, it's a big improvement over the standard controller.  It's a shame these weren't standard in the USA.  I've heard bad comments about the gamepad, but it works really well if you ask me.  Buttons are a little squishy, but no big deal.


post-41-0-78615200-1418594816_thumb.jpg

I use one at home. It is a good controller, but if you use the pad and not just the joystick part of it, it might be more accurate. I have to see if it needs reconditioning, though. It does not respond as well on a game I am testing with it. I do not think that there is anything wrong with it. But, it may need some diagnostics. I wonder if there are better builds of the European joypads, like with better electronics in them recently. Like a mod, I mean. It might breathe new life in these pads and they might be better with more responsive control.

Edited by DegasElite
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On 5/15/2019 at 7:43 PM, RickR said:

Oh man, this is an OLD post :)  I still have this controller but I rarely use it.  I have an NES gamepad that was modified to be used on a 7800, and that's what I use exclusively. 

 

3 hours ago, BlackCatz40 said:

Cool! How does the modified NES controller work?

Yeah I'd love to hear about your experiences with the modified controller @RickR

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Well, I'm not sure what exactly you guys are looking for.  The controller is awesome. NES gamepads, as you know, just feel a lot better than anything Atari did on the 7800.  It's a pleasure to use.  Very responsive.   

I know the procedure to make them.  The 7800 uses the same pin for both buttons, and there's a little circuitry you have to add in.  It's not hard.  The problem is getting the Atari cables to use.  You'd need to use the cables from existing joysticks.  You're probably looking at $25 dollars in parts (an old Atari stick, an NES pad, and some components).  I could make more, but would anyone be willing to pay to have them?  I figure with shipping, it would end up being right around $40 or more.  I'd guess the first one would probably take an hour, and it would go quicker once you do a few. 

 

 

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You can also get an Edladdin Seagull 78. It lets you plug in any Sega Genesis controller to use with 2 button 7800 games. I constantly use it with a 6 button controller. It costs $25 plus shipping. You can order it at AtariAge and his main site. (If you use his main site, you might still be able to use coupon code NSG to save 10%. No, I get no kickbacks from it. He just did it for my viewers to be nice)

seagull-01-600w.thumb.jpg.e70fdd306579fe4945079d5d0d9dabe6.jpg

https://edladdin.com/Seagull-78-Controller-Adapter-ec-2-001.htm

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The Edladdin Seagull is a great option for sure. Although I don't have one, I imagine it's great.  The beauty of the NES pad, though, is that it has 2 buttons, not 3.  No time wasted figuring out what does what.  And I know exactly why Ed chose the Genesis pad instead of NES -- the NES pad needs a trace cut to get it to work with the 7800. 

 

 

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Yep...I own one with the thumb stick as well.  Very comfortable controller.  Too bad these didn't get included with the NA systems.  It would have made a huge difference over the original joysticks.  Then again I play Ms. Pac-Man best with a joystick.  I've tried playing with the Europad and I sometimes can't get the direction I want.

 

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