Microsoft SideWinder joysticks

discussed in 654 posts, 1995-2010 · overall tone mixed

Posts per month

Key threads

• Getting the Sidewinder 3D Pro working in digital mode 1998-02-04 · 25 posts
  A user celebrated getting his Sidewinder 3D Pro working in digital mode after gameport problems. Others shared experiences of conflicts with various sound cards such as Ensoniq Soundscape and ESS chips, along with fixes and the Profiler software.
• Joystick maker surveys gamers on a new high-end stick 1996-04-29 · 50 posts
  JAG Technologies asked gamers what they wanted from a new high-end joystick. Replies covered sturdy hat switches, programmable buttons, freedom from drift, and force feedback, with comparisons of the Sidewinder, Thrustmaster, CH and Suncom sticks. A long tangent followed about the lack of left-handed joysticks and how many people are left-handed.
• Request for adjustable joystick sensitivity curves in Windows 95 1997-12-27 · 20 posts
  A poster asked for a utility to set nonlinear sensitivity for wheels and joysticks in Windows 95 games. Others agreed and suggested calibration tricks; Charles Gilley of Brave Software said he would look into it. Microsoft's SideWinder Game Device Profiler was suggested but appeared to lack sensitivity settings and to support only SideWinder devices.
• Motocross Madness controller failure and DirectX fix 1998-08-19 · 24 posts
  A user could not get any controller working in Microsoft's Motocross Madness even though they worked in other games. Suggestions included reinstalling, updating Sidewinder drivers and installing DirectX 6. He eventually fixed it with Microsoft support by renaming joystick and DirectX files and reinstalling DirectX 6.
• Combat flight sims equivalent to GPL, GP3 and NFS 2001-02-15 · 39 posts
  A racing-sim fan asked which combat flight sims correspond to the hardcore, mid-level and arcade tiers of racing sims. Suggestions included Jane's F/A-18, Falcon 4, European Air War, MiG Alley, Combat Flight Simulator 2 and Fighter Squadron: SDOE, which Gregor Veble praised for its physics engine. The thread also featured Navy-versus-Air-Force banter and joystick troubleshooting.
• NASCAR 2 joystick not detected under Windows 95 OSR2 1997-03-06 · 24 posts
  A user's joystick did not work when NASCAR Racing 2 was launched from Windows 95. Others identified the OEM 'B' (OSR2) build as the likely cause, and Jim Sokoloff confirmed that Microsoft's changed joystick drivers had broken the game and that Papyrus was investigating; running from DOS was the workaround. Eric Busch had it working under OSR2, which led to a testy exchange, and installing Microsoft's Sidewinder 1.5 software fixed it for some users but not all.
• Simulating motorcycle lean and countersteering in GP500 and AMA Superbike 1999-06-23 · 34 posts
  Mark Dod described how MicroProse's GP500 alpha modelled rider position and lean, and others discussed how a bike sim could map lean and countersteering onto joysticks, twist axes or pedals. Motorsims's Mark S. Miller revealed that AMA Superbike would allow independent lean and steering, with countersteering handled automatically because full manual control proved unstable, and that a Dutch beta tester got about 150ms pings to their server.
• Gameport wheel spikes in rFactor traced to sound noise 2005-09-06 · 21 posts
  Remco Moedt's gameport Hyperstim wheel produced spiking inputs in rFactor but not in Papyrus titles. After testing he concluded that noise from his sound hardware was corrupting the gameport readings, which Papyrus's own controller code had masked. Suggestions included a Rockfire USB adapter and better grounding.
• Papyrus posts the NR2003 patch readme 2003-06-28 · 106 posts
  Tim relayed Papyrus developer Steve Myers's readme for the upcoming NR2003 patch, which was in QA and included bug fixes and mod-friendly features such as a track directory option. Reaction was positive, but posters demanded a race-list filter and debated whether the ideal racing line and other aids should be controllable by league hosts. Larry noted no mention of random damage changes.

Busiest threads

• Getting the Sidewinder 3D Pro working in digital mode (8 posts about it)
• Joystick maker surveys gamers on a new high-end stick (7 posts about it)
• Request for adjustable joystick sensitivity curves in Windows 95 (7 posts about it)
• Joystick recommendations? (7 posts about it)
• Motocross Madness controller failure and DirectX fix (6 posts about it)
• Wingman FF Wheel & FF Joystick Combo (Sidewinder FF2 or Wingman?) (5 posts about it)
• Joystick of choice? (5 posts about it)
• Superbike Controller Setup (5 posts about it)
• EA Superbikes: Controllers (5 posts about it)
• Best Steering Wheel? (4 posts about it)
• Re: AMA Superbike Won't Run (4 posts about it)
• MS Sidewinder Pro Experiences? (4 posts about it)
• Good joystick? (4 posts about it)
• Game controller (4 posts about it)
• Superbike World Championship pretty fun (4 posts about it)

Sentiment by year

Each post that discussed it was rated from −2 (very negative) to +2 (very positive).

Who talked about it most

Joe McGinn · 15 Chris Bloom · 12 Alan Chandler · 8 Dave Henrie · 7 Mark C Dod · 7 Txl · 6 Larry · 6 Carl Ribbegaardh · 6 Don Chapman · 6 jason moyer · 5 Scott B. Husted · 5 Michael E. Carver · 5 Victor Chan · 5 Jean Perraz · 5 Ian Parker · 5 Phil Lee · 4 Moon-Watcher · 4 Paul Jager · 4 Domagoj Malovic · 4 mb · 4

Search the archive for Microsoft SideWinder joysticks