zerkle@iris.ucdavis.edu (Dan Zerkle) (11/29/90)
My kid brothers have a computer (C128) I gave them with the cheap joysticks I
gave them. They need a couple of joysticks that work better than the
ones I gave them and are (nearly) indestructable. I would also like
to spend less than $15 apiece on them. So what do I want? The Epyx
500 XJ, of course. It even looks cool (important for kids). I have
one and I would never part with it.
For those who don't know, this sucker is very nearly impossible to
find. I called almost every 800 number in AmigaWorld, with no luck.
Finally, at my wit's end, I did the obvious: I called Epyx. Yes,
that's right. I talked with a nice lady and here's what she told me:
Epyx is NOT going out of business. They are, however, reorganizing
under the protection of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Apparently, they were
making loads of money off of their software, but they made the mistake
of trying to go into hardware. They spent their profits and their
venture capital developing (are you ready for this?) the Lynx.
Finally, they bailed out and sold the project to Atari.
Right when they were having problems with this, the Loma Prieta
earthquake hit. They are located in Redwood City, so their building
was practically destroyed, and a lot of records were lost. Oops.
This is not directly related to the joystick problem. Apparently, the
joysick market is plagued by cutthroat competition, and the 500 XJ
just wasn't making enough money. Epyx was getting out anyway.
However, Epyx never actually manufactured the thing. The company that
did was going to try to sell it on its own, but had the same problem.
Now, Epyx has none of the little buggers left, other than
reconditioned models. They are keeping these around so that they can
continue customer service on them as long as possible.
On a further note, Epyx is releasing California Games II next month.
It will be available for the Amiga 2nd quarter 91.
All of this is nice to know, but it doesn't help my original problem.
I want to get Christmas presents for the kids. So, can any of you
folks help out (e-mail, please)?
Does anyone know of any place that still has the Epyx sticks left in
stock?
If not, can you recommend a different stick? The most important thing
is that it is nearly indestructable, which means I need a metal shaft
in the stick and (at least) solid microswitches. It would also be
nice if it can fit small hands and doesn't cost more than about $15.
Tell me where I can find your recommendation. There have been some
mentioned here that I have never heard of before, and that aren't in
any of the magazine ads.
Dan Zerkle zerkle@iris.eecs.ucdavis.edu (916) 754-0240
Amiga... Because life is too short for boring computers.