@vampiress If it’s any consolation, the original Commodore joystick was the same as an Atari joystick, just injection moulded in a different color.
The pinouts on the DB-9 were the same.
There weren’t many joystick OEMs at the time.
If you pull it apart you’ll see a board with switches made out of steel wafers pressed into a dome shape which completes a circuit when flattened. The wafers eventually crack. These joysticks are definitely life-limited.
@vampiress I'm only mildly surprised that they've survived for long enough to be available on eBay in 2024. It's even odds whether it'd survive being driven over by your car tyre. Very solidly built.
@vampiress Dunno if the 7800 pads are affected but I know Sega ones are... are you aware of the problems with those where you can pop half your keyboard (I think it's one of the CIA chips that gets toasted)?
IIRC it's button 2 + any of a certain number of keys and you end up with voltage where it shouldn't be and something goes pop.
(We used Sega controllers all the time when i was a kid, no idea how close we came to popping something)
@vampiress Yeah I really don't remember what the specific problem is, I would guess it's probably fine and you're at least as capable as me of understanding the pinouts.
There was a really great forum post ages so that explained exactly what happens but I can't find it and don't recall the details.
Mainly just when I see someone say "this is my first c64" I hit em with one of the two major foot guns just for safety (you're probably aware of this too but don't use the potted original PSU).
@vampiress Totally a fair assessment! C64 BASIC really isn't great - it was a port of PET BASIC, simply because CBM outsmarted MS and got a perpetual license for it.
There's two different carts CBM put out which upgraded things - Simon's BASIC and the Super Expander, but I think most serious devs moved over to 6502 as soon as they could to get the most out of it :)
@vampiress I just got luckyish i happened to see one very nearby that probably works (tho minus the SID and a couple of keys) for $80 usd, which is as cheap as I've seen anything in person