The best joystick, ever

[Kevris]

So after years of using a Saitek X-52, I upgraded to the Thrustmaster Warthog.

Put simply: It's the best peripheral I've ever owned.

With the Space Sim genre seeming to make a serious comeback, I figured there will be at least a few of you out there that are looking to get into them.

If you are in the market for a joystick and on the fence about spending the extra money, I can tell you it's worth every penny.

The accuracy of the stick, the feel of the throttle, the button placement, it's all legit awesome and I feel no remorse for dropping the money on it. The god damned thing is incredible.

My only gripe is that I haven't figured out how to make some of the switches on the throttle function as actual switches (e.g. switch position 1 extends landing gear, switch position 2 retracts landing gear). Right now it's switch on switch off to extend gear, switch on switch off to retract. That said, I haven't messed around in the control software much, so it may be possible. But that's a really, really small gripe for the amount of accuracy and natural feel this thing has.

Next purchase: Crosswind or Slaw pedals.

[big_ole_jpn]

i know a thrustmaster named tyrone, guarantee he can outdo what you've got avail

whats ur number?

[Kevris]

Yeah the humor of a big black joystick called "thrustmaster" was not lost on me.

[big_ole_jpn]

ya i guess those fruit were hanging pretty low, much like my home boy's nuts

ur number?

[Thulack]

i know a thrustmaster named tyrone, guarantee he can outdo what you've got avail

whats ur number?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPsw5ssi-58

[maskedmelon]

Neat. Thanks for sharing OP. Never been a huge fan of joysticks for gaming, but always nice to have device reviews. I still contest that the orb weaver is the best device ever though ^^

[Baler]

I've looked at the Thrustmaster Warthog several times. Its build looks rock solid, better then the saitek x52 which as you may agree can feel plasticy at times. I am pretty aggressive on my joystick (that sounds wrong) so I tend to stress it when I turn. How does the Warthod feel?
Another thing, I'm keen on trying to fit as much onto my stick and throttle as possible. Does the warthog have enough mapping to suit your needs or are you left with a keyboard in your lap or elsewhere?

I've owned a Saitek x52 pro for several years now and it's a great starter stick+throttle but I wouldn't buy it again.
When I want to use it I have to disable my usb 3.0 support in my bios. I can't install the software or latest drivers because if I do it's like windows starts to fall apart slowly inexplicably. If I am running team speak I have to close team speak before disconnecting the throttle or my computer becomes unusable and all I receive is a series of beeps as I move my mouse around unable to click anything.

I got it for DCS: Black Shark a helicopter flight sim. I could probably start, fly and land one in real life.
I also use it for the X series and elite dangerous. Messed around with it in mech warrior online but that's a KB & Mouse game.

I also have a TrackIR 5 with the trackclip. I love using trackIR in sims and arma games. VR headsets are a bit too expensive for me to feel good about buying at the moment.

[Kevris]

I've looked at the Thrustmaster Warthog several times. Its build looks rock solid, better then the saitek x52 which as you may agree can feel plasticy at times. I am pretty aggressive on my joystick (that sounds wrong) so I tend to stress it when I turn. How does the Warthod feel?
Another thing, I'm keen on trying to fit as much onto my stick and throttle as possible. Does the warthog have enough mapping to suit your needs or are you left with a keyboard in your lap or elsewhere?

I've owned a Saitek x52 pro for several years now and it's a great starter stick+throttle but I wouldn't buy it again.
When I want to use it I have to disable my usb 3.0 support in my bios. I can't install the software or latest drivers because if I do it's like windows starts to fall apart slowly inexplicably. If I am running team speak I have to close team speak before disconnecting the throttle or my computer becomes unusable and all I receive is a series of beeps as I move my mouse around unable to click anything.

I got it for DCS: Black Shark a helicopter flight sim. I could probably start, fly and land one in real life.
I also use it for the X series and elite dangerous. Messed around with it in mech warrior online but that's a KB & Mouse game.

I also have a TrackIR 5 with the trackclip. I love using trackIR in sims and arma games. VR headsets are a bit too expensive for me to feel good about buying at the moment.


Very familiar with the DCS series, for a while I was right there with you in Black Shark, but I lost interest after a while, went back to IL-2 1946/X series/etc and at this point probably couldn't remember how to get the KA-50's engines started.

The marketing material says the "feel" of the stick is supposed to match that of the real A-10. This is cool but at the same time it is taking some getting used to. The buttons require some real force to depress, my pinky finger is getting calloused from the trigger, etc. The best way I can describe it is that everything has a real feeling of weight to it. Where the x-52 felt like a toy, the warthog feels like a professional tool.

Some people dislike the lack of a twist-rudder on the stick, but I've been using separate pedals for long, long time.

edit r/e VR:

I've been using VR for Elite since my first DK2 showed up in late 2014....I can never go back. I can't see VR and first person working properly until we have a good Omni-directional treadmill. But for cockpit games, racing games, etc, I can't even put into words how incredible it is. Imagine the feeling you got when you first started using TrackIR, multiply it by about 1000.