Do Amstrad joysticks/pads work on MSX?

Resident (49)

26-01-2014, 21:18

I'm asking because I'm looking for a cheap controller for my MSX
I have one of those joysticks
http://www.ebay.de/itm/Ancien-joystick-vintage-type-Atari-Am...
and when it's switched to CPC mode all buttons work properly, sadly I suck with joysticks (I have to use it like an arcadestick if I don't want to get an instant game over^^')
Anyway, I suppose other CPC compatible controllers should work then too, shouldn't they?

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By mars2000you

Enlighted (6562)

26-01-2014, 21:27

Probably not, CPC /Amstrad has an Atari compatible joystick port, but the MSX joystick pin out is different :

http://old.pinouts.ru/Inputs/JoystickMsx_pinout.shtml

http://www.faq.msxnet.org/connector.html#joystick

By DerZocker

Resident (49)

26-01-2014, 21:57

Thanks, though that makes me wonder why my joystick then. ._.' I can play Gradius just fine with it, well, as fine as I can play with a stick, but one button shoots and the other activates the power ups as it should.

By NYYRIKKI

Enlighted (6093)

26-01-2014, 22:01

Amstrad CPC 464 has practically same pinout as MSX, so yes... If your joystick has CPC 464 mode then it is fine with MSX as well.

By NYYRIKKI

Enlighted (6093)

26-01-2014, 22:02

See here: http://www.grimware.org/doku.php/documentations/hardware/ams...

By bakoulis

Master (166)

26-01-2014, 22:52

Amiga, C64/C128 and Atari joysticks is 100% MSX compatible. So, Amstrad CPC joysticks will be 100% compatible too. But mice are not interchangeable between this models.
Spectrum, PC, C16/C+4, Acorn and Apple joysticks are not MSX compatible. Of course also the mice don't.

By Manuel

Ascended (19685)

26-01-2014, 23:27

Even the 2nd button?

By NYYRIKKI

Enlighted (6093)

26-01-2014, 23:34

Yes, even the second button...

By zPasi

Champion (499)

28-01-2014, 14:16

I thought that the common 9-pin one button joystick was called Atari type. We used to have those on Spectrum too, with an adapter (usually Kempston). When Sinclair finally got joystick-ports, they were not compatible (the pins were scrambled).

The Atari type that I know, does not have the second button function. If there are more than one button, they all are on the same pin. Maybe in the ST times Atari had the second button, I don't know.

By bakoulis

Master (166)

28-01-2014, 14:46

zPasi wrote:

The Atari type that I know, does not have the second button function. If there are more than one button, they all are on the same pin. Maybe in the ST times Atari had the second button, I don't know.

You have right almost at any word!
But exist Atari type joypads with more buttons for different actions.
Atari 7800 have 2 different fire buttons, Amiga CD32 have many different buttons, Sega SMS/MD/Genesis have many buttons and for sure forget some more.

By NYYRIKKI

Enlighted (6093)

28-01-2014, 16:24

Every Joystick with 9-pin D-type connector is not "Atari type"-Joystick. The manufacturers had no any standard, how the pins should be connected, so in worst case you could cause shortcircuit by using wrong type controller.

The "Atari type" usually means Atari 400/800/2600 compatible joysticks that became quite a popular. These Atari type joysticks have only 1-button.

Like most of the computers of the era MSX is also backward compatible with Atari joysticks but naturally then you can't use 2nd button. CPC 464 joystick is made quite close to MSX solution and therefore it functions as 2-button joystick on MSX. Some joystick makers (ie. Spectravideo) added a switch to the joystick to switch between different wiring standards. How ever this does NOT mean that CPC 464 or MSX joysticks are "Atari type".

Almost all computers expanded the "Atari type" in SOME way. C64, Colecovision etc. usually kept the the basic "Atari type" compatibility, but other than that they expanded the "standard" to all directions...

ie. Sega, Atari 7800 and MSX can all use Atari joysticks as 1-button input devices, but ie. Sega, Atari 7800 and MSX joysticks can't be mixed with each other.

From electronic side this means that pins 1,2,3,4,6,8 functionality is "defined by Atari" but pins 5,7 and 9 can be pretty much anything... I hope this clears things out.