The Wico Boss joystick was one of the better designs of the 1980s. Yours truly had one, and put it through many brutal hours of Amiga-based gameplay. [Drygol] was recently asked if he could alter some of these sticks to be even clickier than stock, and jumped at the change to do some modding.
[Drygol]’s idea was to swap out the original microswitches in the sticks for keyboard switches instead. In particular, the idea was to use the Cherry MX Blues which have a particularly nice click to them. But this wasn’t just going to be a straight swap. Instead, since the hardware was retro and preservation was desired, the modification had to be reversible.
The result was a drop-in 3D-printed bracket that holds four Cherry switches around the joystick’s central bauble. Thus, when the stick is moved, it actuates the keyboard switches with a satisfying click. A 12mm tactile switch was also installed in the base to be activated by the fire button. Then, it was a simple matter of tidying up some of the sticks during reassembly and wiring up the original cables to the new switches.
It’s a neat way to give an old-fashioned digital joystick a new lease on life. This would be a particularly great mod for tired sticks with worn out microswitches, too. Hilarious archaic marketing video after the break. They really are whacko for Wico.
[embedded content]
- SEO Powered Content & PR Distribution. Get Amplified Today.
- PlatoData.Network Vertical Generative Ai. Empower Yourself. Access Here.
- PlatoAiStream. Web3 Intelligence. Knowledge Amplified. Access Here.
- PlatoESG. Carbon, CleanTech, Energy, Environment, Solar, Waste Management. Access Here.
- PlatoHealth. Biotech and Clinical Trials Intelligence. Access Here.
- Source: https://hackaday.com/2024/03/22/wico-boss-joystick-modded-to-use-cherry-mx-keyboard-switches/
- :is
- $UP
- a
- activated
- After
- also
- alter
- an
- and
- archaic
- ARE
- around
- asked
- At
- base
- BE
- Better
- Blues
- BOSS
- bracket
- Break
- but
- button
- by
- cables
- central
- change
- click
- commercial
- content
- could
- designs
- desired
- digital
- do
- during
- embedded
- Even
- Fire
- For
- four
- gameplay
- Give
- Go
- going
- great
- had
- Hardware
- Have
- he
- hilarious
- holds
- HOURS
- HTTPS
- idea
- if
- in
- installed
- instead
- IT
- jpg
- jumped
- just
- keyboard
- Life
- many
- Marketing
- Matter
- moved
- MX
- Neat
- New
- nice
- of
- on
- ONE
- original
- out
- particular
- particularly
- plato
- Plato Data Intelligence
- PlatoData
- preservation
- put
- really
- recently
- result
- Retro
- reversible
- Simple
- since
- some
- Stick
- sticks
- stock
- straight
- swap
- Switch
- T
- than
- that
- The
- Them
- then
- These
- they
- this
- Through
- Thus
- to
- too
- truly
- use
- Video
- was
- Way..
- when
- which
- with
- Won
- would
- Your
- yours
- youtube
- zephyrnet