CX78+ Gamepad (Atari 2600 Plus) (Exclusive to Amazon.co.uk)

The original CX78 game pad that came with the original European 7800 console back in the day was a much covated controller in the US. Because they got the unwieldy CX24 ProLine joystick bundled with the system instead. So for many, an imported Euro CX78 was the gold standard and a big upgrade over the CX24. I never had to endure CX24 having grown up in UK and using several original CX78 controllers. But as much as they were an upgrade over the US stick, they have there own issues. The main one being, the D-pad and buttons could very occasionally slide briefly into the controller housing before springing back into position and thus ruining gameplay. The D-pad was cheap and creaky and the buttons had too strong a spring, so not best suited to rapid shooting, it was serviceable, felt like a cheap NES pad clone. Well I'm delighted to say the new CX78+ addresses those issues. It may look the same but construction and parts are of a much higher standard. The D-pad and buttons no longer feel cheap, it feels like a modern, acurate and responsive experience. I set a new PB on Asteroids first go with this new pad. It's now at least comparable to a NES pad. Other small changes are a slightly bigger D-pad, which is welcome. A high quality brass screw housing (instead of plastic) in the centre of the D-pad if you choose to use the small screw-in thumb stick (never been bothered with that personally, but plays fine). There is an extra indentation on the back for some logos etc. that don't cause any bother. There are no extra buttons, it's just a superior version of the original and hooks up just like the original and can be used on the original console or VCS/2600/2600 Jr etc. etc. I highly recommend and for twenty quid, it's a steal!

I ordered two of these modern replica Atari CX 78 controllers to use with my original Atari 2600 and Atari 7800. I compared them against my existing original CX 78 (see photos) and found them to look pretty much the same with the following being improvements. The cable is slightly longer, the game pad controller thumb pad is just a little larger to make it easier to press, the thumb stick screws into a brass fitting so hopefully is easier to remove than the original which was plastic. The only difference is that the 9 pin d sub connector is no longer rectangular and is of a more like the connector found with the original atari joysticks on the Atari 2600. I found it to work exactly as the original. Couldn't be happier with the quality. Well done Atari.

The atari 2600+ gamepad functions well and is more comfortable and familiar to me as I am used to controllers not joysticks. games that can be difficult with a joystick (defender 2) are a lot more manageable in my experience so far, customer support kindly replaced a prior purchase because it didn't include the stick that screws onto the d- pad controller in the box which was brand new and sealed when bought,the situation was resolved within a day,a great product and an excellent customer service provided by Amazon. 5/5 stars.

I bought this for an Atari 800XL, which has the same DB9 joystick connector as Atari 2600+ and 7800+. This is quite a good little joypad. It's lightweight but doesn't feel cheap and works and feels exactly as you'd expect an 80s/90s era joypad to do, of which this is a repro. Apparently the dpad in the original model could get trapped under the casing but this has been rectified in the remake. There's a decent length of cord so no need for extenders. It does however come out of the top right corner of the pad which your index finger will probably brush against. So far, not a big deal for me. The Atari 8-bit computers only support a single joystick button so in this case, both buttons act as the same, single button. If you have a 2600+ or 7800+ then the second button will work in supported games. The small screw-in thumbstick is a nice feature, I prefer using it but you can also use as a simple dpad. £20 is a little bit on the high side for a 2-button dpad but it is an official Atari accessory and there aren't that many new sticks/pads being made with DB9 connectors any more.

If you have the original already then you may only want this for collectors purposes. It's a faithful replica of the original pad and also feels very similar too.

Bought this for Karateka on the Atari 2600 +, it is an improvement on the original Atari pad, but I dont like it and Karateka is an bad version on the system. I far prefer the version on the Atari 400 mini. If I had known I would not have bought this pad, as it was just to play this one game, as it was fro the 7800, which the Atari 2600+ plays. If you liked the original version, you will love this as its better made and far less likely to break. I would only buy this, if you have used the original pads by Atari.

Nice quality and mostly pleased with it. It doesn't play well with my Atari Mega ST though. When plugged in the keyboard keys are all screwy :( Plan to try it on my Atari XE at the weekend and hopefully won't have the same problem.

Like the description this is game pad size with a thumb stick. I never owned one originally so I thought it would be bigger. I know these keep to the original but it’s just a shame you can’t turn it into a proper controller d-pad.

Genauso kenne ich das Pad aus meiner Jugend. Es ist eigentlich eine Frechheit und Nintendo zeigt, wie man ein fast gleiches Pad auch ergonomisch hinbekommt. Machen wir uns nichts vor: Alle Atari Controller sind ergonomische Katastrophen. Das D-Pad ist scharfkantig, der Stick gewöhnungsbedürftig, die Knöpfe haben diese Gräben darunter und sind zuwenig erhaben und das Kabel kommt dort heraus, wo es am meisten stört. Doch es ist nach meinem Empfinden eine perfekte Nachbildung des Originals. Ich will kein geschöntes Spielerlebnis, sondern das gleiche wie früher. Und deshalb bin ich voll zufrieden.

Entiendo que es un clon del original con mejores materiales. Pero ya puestos, podían haber sacado el cable por el centro y no por la derecha, para así poder colocar cómodamente el índice de la mano derecha. Por lo demás es precioso, un poco cuadrado eso si. La cruceta y los botones responden bien.

La même qualité que l'original

Preso per prova durante il black friday visto l'ottimo prezzo, nell'ottica di preservare i miei gamepad originali del mio Atari 7800 originale (quello metà anni 80, per intenderci) e devo dire che ho fatto bene. È un'ottima replica, non identica, ma solo se si vuol essere pignoli e si guarda bene da vicino, perché ad occhio e come risposta dei comandi durante il gioco, la sensazione è la stessa dei gamepad originali, anzi sembra un po' più robusta. Un suggerimento alla Plaion, realizzate anche un minkit dei due pomelli del gamepad avvitabili, perché al tempo era la prima cosa che si rompeva e alla fine eri obbligato a usare il gamepad con la crocetta e ti diventava a quello del NES 😅

Ich habe diesen Gamepad 2 Tage lange getestet und damit auf meiner Atari2600+ knapp ein Dutzend Spiele gespielt. Einen Unterschied zum Originalpad aus den 80er Jahren konnte ich nicht wirklich feststellen, auch optisch ist der neue Pad nahezu identisch zum alten. Sicherlich waren unter den Games auch welche darunter, die sich mit dem Atari-Joystick besser spielen lassen (z.B. Ms Pac Man oder Missile Command), andere wiederum funktionieren mit dem Gamepad besser / flüssiger (z.B. Vanguard, Dig Dug oder Keystone Kapers). Klare Kaufempfehlung!