I fondly remember the good old days of PC gaming. Playing X-wing, Tie Fighter, Advanced Tactical Fighters were among my most memorable experiences.

Back in the day I had a Microsoft 3D Pro joystick, it had optical sensors, rudder twist, throttle and hat switch. It had everything you needed for these games. But then they phased out the gameport connector :-( .

When this happened, I went and bought a cheap china-made joystick from CDR-King, unfortunately it was a waste of money for me because of a very large deadzone at the center (though some people like these CDR-King sticks - maybe a bad batch I bought). That was back in 2007 and have lost interest because of the bad purchase.

Recently I was in the mood for flight simulators again. I looked at what was available in the local market. To my surprise joysticks were no longer readily available except for Logitech brand ones. You had to go to specialized gaming stores for Thrustmaster, Saitek and the like.

Knowing my interest could pass I opted to save money and just go for a Logitech stick. I wanted an Extreme 3D model but it was not available so I went for the Attack 3 model - the cheapest Logitech joystick at the moment :-)

I've used it several times now and am quite happy that there is no deadzone in the center. The spring is a bit stiff though.

Overall feel of the unit is solid and you feel the quality compared to a cheap china-made stick. There are 11 buttons and a throttle. All feels nice considering the price. Some slight mechanical bumps in the gimbal system but I would expect that for a cheap joystick (fixed it with some spacer inserts).

On the downside, it does not have rudder-twist and a hat switch. One can assign rudder to any of the buttons or to keyboard keys. Alternatively for a DIY guy, I can convert the china-joystick to a rudder pedal set. Or just buy a wheel pedal combo.

The hat-switch's most common use is for cockpit views which can be emulated quite realistically by using head tracking tech like FreeTrack and FaceTrackNoIR. You just need a good webcam and some patience setting it up.

Going back to the Attack 3, I am pleased with the purchase and just hope it lasts long too. My old MS Sidewinder still works but is no longer supported - sad that Microsoft left the joystick market.