They were probably best know however for their popular range of Quickshot joysticks.
The Quickshot 2 Turbo
The Quickshot 2 Turbo was released in 1985 and sported a striking red and black livery.
It featured two fire buttons, one on top of the grip and one in the index finger trigger position.
Fire at Will
It also had a secret weapon, the appealing but often ineffective ‘Auto Fire’ option. You now no longer needed to concern yourself with the rigours of pressing the fire button, the joystick did it for you.
To engage this mode you used the black slider switch on the back of the stick base which even featured a special selection especially for the troublesome Amstrad CPC464.
As it turned out this feature was often more trouble than it was worth especially in games where ammunition was restricted or you could only fire one shot at a time and had to carefully aim each round.
Noisy but Nice
The stick featured the reliable but noisy micro-switch style contacts that resulted in frantic gaming sessions sounding more like a hail storm on a tin roof. It was however satisfying and responsive to use feeling more robust than some of the dome contact sticks that were prevalent at the time.
Stick the Stick
Once mounted in this way it could be placed on your lap and easily steadied with your non-playing hand giving you that all important edge in games of Match Day 2.
Sadly these suction cups were prone to detaching themselves and getting lost, you could get away with losing one but any more and your book sticking days were over.
A True Classic
We’ve fond memories of the Quickshot 2 Turbo forged during hours of space travel in Elite and frantic games of Sensible Soccer. Our stick still works a treat (lost suckers aside) and the contacts still feel as responsive and loud as ever.
If you want to pick up a Quickshot 2 Turbo then they can be found on eBay and from specialist retro gaming suppliers. They cost around £12-£15 each depending on condition with boxed examples commanding a higher price.
