I’ve been playing video games since the late 80’s. My passion has always been fighting games; such as Street Fighter (All series), Mortal Kombat (All series), Double Dragon, Streets of Rage, Shinobi, Marvel vs. Capcom (All series), and many others. I always found it very difficult after several hours of gaming to perform certain moves with ease and quick precision because my thumbs and palms were sore and throbbing tremendously. This would bother me so much that I would consider leaving it.

Don’t get me wrong, I love traditional thumb pads, they’re great and have been shaped and tweaked over the years to make the gaming experience more pleasant, fun and with less thumb throbbing (smile). However, it doesn’t matter what systems you’ve played on; be it Saga Genesis, Nintendo, NEO GEO, PlayStation (1-4), XBOX, XBOX ONE, etc., I found that traditional pads couldn’t prevent sore thumb syndrome after hours of gaming.

I decided that I couldn’t take it anymore and that it was time to fully enjoy the various games that I loved to play over the years. My solution was to try something different… enter the Joystick! I bought my first joystick in 1992 for the Sega Genesis and it was the best investment from a gaming perspective that I chose to make. Suddenly I went from being a very good player to an exceptional player in my inner circle of gaming friends.

I remember before online games existed; I was playing with friends during our neighborhood hangout gaming sessions, and they accused me of unfair play because I was able to perform movements accurately and without hesitation thanks to playing with a joystick. Playing with a joystick made me even more passionate about gaming than ever before. He even got my friends to start using them because they saw the advantage it created for me.

I know that not all joysticks are created equal and can be expensive, but by doing your research you can find the cheapest ones that are right for you. I understand that some gamers still prefer to use the traditional pad that comes with consoles, but I must admit that playing with a joystick has saved my gaming experience and my thumbs; all while constantly maintaining and renewing my love for today’s old and new games.

If you are a true gamer and you love video games, and you want to get the most out of every game you play, I highly recommend you switch to a joystick and you won’t regret it!