Size and Specification
It's about 1m in length, 9" in width and 1.5" in height. My version is in Red, Silver, Black and White. There might be other colours available. Mine is a Twin Joystick like the ones you find at the arcades. The reason why I got the twin instead of the single is because I was looking for stability. I wanted the joystick to stay in place when I am constantly making semi circles in street fighter. Because its base is 1m by 9" the joystick will not shift around even when you get excited and start to become vigorous in your movements. Obviously you must already have a base large enough to rest your joystick on if you are planning on buying one. For the sake of common sense, make sure you also have suitable chairs to go with your make shift arcade. And get a big TV. There's hardly any arcade simulation when your joystick is before a 10" TV.

Price and Bargaining
The price ranges from $90 upwards depending on your bargaining skills. The sellers would usually quote a higher price but are quite willing to take it down to $90 after some hard working parasitic persuasion on your part. This is my second twin joystick and for both I managed to reduce both to $90. Much has to depend on how thick your skin is. I won't be surprised if any of you guys are able to reduce it to below $90. Hey...it's who gets the best price right not who has the thickest skin. Let's not get confused people.
Recently I just got myself another joystick - steering wheel. The asking price was $120. Again I got it down to $90 by faking that I'm still a student and that I loved it sooo much but don't have enough of pocket money and all the bull shit. Some other older men next to me asked the price and the shop assistant immediately told them $130. Guess they're used to bargaining huh or maybe they're just putting on a show for me to make me quit bargaining. Anyway, with the knowledge that Grand Turismo requires at least 5 memory blocks I feign ignorance and told him that I have problems saving the game as planned, he acted heroically and told me in a professor like manner that I needed at least 5 blocks.
Haha! what an idiot just fell into my second plan. I then expressed my disappointment that its now useless even with my new purchase of the Steering Wheel and that I don't have anymore cash to get a memory card. (Do note that I have never stopped trying to get the price to $80). Finally, I popped the magic question - give me one card free lah, then at least I have some money left to take taxi home. The joystick so bulky cannot take bus right?
After some hustle and tussle we struck a 'compromise' the price would remain at $90 but he'll give me one memory card for free! HAHAHA.... looks like I won.
Just a note, the Bishan Shop, they rather collect cash, if you're paying by cash, there's more room for bargaining.

Testing
Remember to always test out the joystick if you're thinking of buying one and for God's and your own sake, test it out completely and fully before giving the shop guy your money. Please don't be 'CHIN CHAI' or 'PAI SEH' for if you are, most likely you'll bring home a piece of trash. Test it out with Street Fighter, only if you are able to execute all the moves in a single try (that's assuming you know how to lah) should you buy the joystick.
Don't ever let the guy test it out for you. Do it yourself and at your own pace. Remember, don't pay attention to whatever dirty looks that they might give you. This is only temporary, you'll be walking home a more happy man for a more permanent future.
Don't settle for a less that perfect Joystick. These stuff are very susceptible to wear and tear. If when you first bought it, it was already less than perfect, expect it to be completely unusable in about 2 to 3 months time.

Care
Repairing the joystick is no easy task. I've searched around and most shops claim to not have the spare parts to do the job. Basically the interior is just a couple of wires with some chips here and there. Most of the time when your joystick is not responsive just open it up and mess around with the wire and the metal plates a little. It might just be a loosening of the connecting wires or a misalignment of the plates. Please don't pay some lowly educated technician $50 for doing this for you. Do it yourself!
Try to secure your joystick on some table and avoid shifting it around too often. If you must do so, rest it lightly. Also, when you play games try not to be so rough with your new toy (like how Gavin is) this will surely put the plates out of alignment and loosen the wires. Wires are glued on I don't know if its some special glue but I'm not about to try applying some elephant glue so what I do? KEEP GAVIN AWAY.



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