ASCII Stick for Family Computer

Release date:	1986
Series:	ASCII Stick
Model No.:	AS-2088-FC
Company:	ASCII
Designer:

Purpose:
Main colours:	Silver Black Yellow Red

System:	Family Computer
Connection:	Expand Connector (DA15)
Mechanisms:	Digital joystick (Seimitsu) Digital button

Attractive, solid, arcade-like stick for the Famicom. Buttons and stick are by Seimitsu and use microswitches, but are smaller (24mm) than is typical. Real jump in quality over most console joysticks of the era (except for Micomsoft's nice XE-1 ones). Joystick has a square gate.

The size and squareness of the case means the bottom-right corner can dig into you palm, which can make it a bit uncomfortable to use without something to rest your wrist on. The short joystick might bug some people too.

The original model has concave buttons, but in 1987 they switched to flat ones.

Various ASCII Sticks were released for the Famicom and other systems, and later versions included variable-speed Rapid-fire and Slow-motion functions. Most later versions implement cost-saving measures, such as non-microswitched sticks and buttons, and plastic housing. An identical version was also released for the MSX, with the product code AS-3088-MX: ASCII Stick for MSX, MSX2.

Press

• Famicom ASCII Stick // LEGENDARY ARCADE STICKS - Youtube video, Scanline City, 2021.
• ASCII STICK: Review and NES Adapter Mod - Youtube video, K-2, 2015. Concave button model.

Sources

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6omVSb3UTJE

See Also

• Category:ASCII Stick - Other sticks in the same series.
• Arcade Stick For Retrofreak - Eight-button, USB stick themed like the ASCII Stick.
• XE-1 Pro FC - Another Famicom stick with good quality parts.
• Capcom Power Stick Fighter - Famicom and SNES stick with microswitch joystick (but not so great buttons).