Posted By: Kaiser
Via IGN
When most modern gamers imagine a joystick, the image that comes to mind is that of the arcade stick—a flat slab with an array of large buttons and a short, springy joystick. The older set, however, will recall the old days of the Atari 2600 and its controller, a small, palm sized base with a tall stick protruding from the middle. It wasn't very comfortable or accurate, but it didn't really need to be. This style of controller design, however, went extinct relatively early in console history due to the arrival of the gamepad, generally a far more comfortable and accurate design for faster paced gameplay.
Recently, Xbox Live Arcade on the Xbox 360 has opened the doors to a wealth of easily accessible classic games on a modern system. For some the experience of tooling around with Dig Dug, Pac Man, Paper Boy, Frogger, Time Pilot, and others with a modern game pad is good enough. For purists, however, the experience is not the same without the controller these games were originally played with, the old school palm-top gamestick of 2600 vintage. Addressing such demand, MadCatz has developed and released the Arcade GameStick 360, essentially modernizing the console controller of the '70s with the accoutrement of our modern age.
Make sure to check out the full review in the link provided, in the mean time check out this picture.