Customers like the value and ease of setup of the adapter. They say it's worth the price of admission, and a simple and cheap solution to old games. They also appreciate the short, clear, and to the point instructions. However, some customers have reported issues with the buttons and the top hat switches not working. Opinions are mixed on performance.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

8 customers mention8 positive0 negative

Customers find the adapter worth the price of admission, and say it's a simple and cheap solution. They also mention that it'll save them money over buying new USB components.

"...HOTAS setup, driving wheel and pedals, whatever, this is well worth trying to save money on a new expensive stick/setup...." Read more

"...recommend the Rockfire RM-203 Gameport Adapter for a simple and cheap solution." Read more

"...up off eBay for playing old games off GOG/in DOSBox, it's worth the price of admission...." Read more

"...This is a much less expensive alternative to new controls and easier to install than a card." Read more

6 customers mention6 positive0 negative

Customers find the electronic adapter easy to setup. They say the instructions are short, clear, and to the point. They also mention that the axes are easy to figure out.

"...Then I then opened Clearview went to controller set up. The axises are easy to figure out. The throttle is called "Slider" in the set up. "..." Read more

"...Instructions are short, clear, and to the point. Set the switch, plug in your old-timey joystick, then stick the USB end into your computer...." Read more

"...is a much less expensive alternative to new controls and easier to install than a card." Read more

"...Allowed me to use an old analog joystick on a newer laptop. A quick and easy solution to play those old games we know and love." Read more

57 customers mention38 positive19 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the performance of the adapter. Some mention that it works well, while others say that it doesn't work for their flight stick. Some customers also report issues with the pedals working.

"...It plugged into the game port on the computer's sound card and worked just great...." Read more

"Using this with Microsoft 3D PRO (no force feedback model). Works great. Put joystick switch in position #1 for analog CH Flightstick Pro mode...." Read more

"...Mode 3. All Axis with 4 buttonsMode 4: Does not work. (All axis and buttons show as button 6)..." Read more

"...This will do it, but it does it with a bit of over kill. It works really well set on that mode...." Read more

5 customers mention3 positive2 negative

Customers are mixed about the quality of the adapter. Some mention it's great with old flightsim yoke, perfect for an old PC, and allows them to use their older joystick on their newer computer. However, others say that it was useless, defective, and the computer only recognized the game port adapter

"it does what it's suppose to do. It allows me to use my older joystick on my newer computer. It's worth the money" Read more

"...the adapter to use the flight stick but the computer only recognized the gameport adapter. I laughed, I cried, I kissed $20 goodbye." Read more

"Perfect for an old PC" Read more

"...It's simply possible that the adapter was defective, or perhaps my joystick was somehow defective, or maybe the magic adapter gnomes were on..." Read more

7 customers mention0 positive7 negative

Customers are dissatisfied with the buttons on the adapter. They mention that the calibration didn't work, some buttons are crossed, and some are not responsive.

"...Here is what works in the 4 modes.(The base buttons did not work in any mode, and I did not test the throttle.)Mode 1...." Read more

"...in Windows Game Controller Settings, however the four buttons are treated as 2; that is even though Windows recognizes the controller as a 4 button..." Read more

"On Windows 10 64bit, it worked for MS Sidewinder 3D Pro (4 buttons on base didn't work)..." Read more

"...I'm pretty happy with it. Some of my buttons on my joystick are not responsive, but I think that's the game and not the adapters fault." Read more

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Kevin Lewis

Works with old Dave Brown Simstar

Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2013

Verified Purchase

I'm into radio controlled aircraft. In 1997 I bought Dave Brown's RCFS 5, a flight sim for R/C aircraft. It came with a Simstar flight controller similar to the actual R/C transmitters we use to fly the actual R/C aircraft. It plugged into the game port on the computer's sound card and worked just great. Since then I've upgraded to Dave Brown's RCFS 2001, got new computers twice and got big time into R/C helicopters. The Dave Brown heli models were not very realistic so I got Clearview as an R/C flight sim. I was able to get a sound card with a game port in 2003 for my last computer. My new computer's sound card don't have a game port and I understand they don't make them like that any more. I got a GWS transmitter to USB cable that allows me to use my actual Spektrum DX7s transmitter to control the sim. It works OK but I could not get the "Throttle Hold" switch to function correctly. This is important if one wishes to perform auto rotations on the sim. I bought this converter hoping for the best. I wasn't disappointed!!
My new computer is Windows 7. To be on the safe side, I first unplugged my Saitek X-45. I put the Rockfire unit to mode 3; 4 axis 4 button joystick. I followed the 4 installation steps. I ignored the Win98 steps. I then calibrated the controller through Win 7. This is sorta tough if you don't know where to look. No "Game controller" icon is on Win 7 desk top. So here's the procedure: "Start" then "Devices and Printers". Right click on 4 axis 4 button joystick, then click on "Game controller settings". Finally click on "Properties", "Settings" then "calibrate". Follow instructions. Then I then opened Clearview went to controller set up. The axises are easy to figure out. The throttle is called "Slider" in the set up. "Throttle Hold/ Landing Gear" is button 0 and "Idle up/ Flaps" is button 2. Note that for both on and off the buttons are the same. Pow! You're done & ready to fly!!! I hope the Simstar will last another 16 years...

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

CoryH

Generally works, but may not work with specific devices or games.

Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2020

Verified Purchase

First, if you have a relatively inexpensive gameport joystick, just buy a new USB one that will be fully supported. Don’t spend half the price of a new $50 USB joystick on this thing (and certainly not if you have a $25 joystick). But if you have an expensive high-end stick or HOTAS setup, driving wheel and pedals, whatever, this is well worth trying to save money on a new expensive stick/setup. See all of the details below to know if it may work for your stick (or wheel, HOTAS, pedals, or whatever).

Generally works, but some games/devices may not. I give it 4 stars because it does what it should at a general level, as long as you know its limitation (details below), but I take 1 star off because of the following issue…

It’s main drawback is that Windows sees it as a "gamepad" type of device, like the gamepad used for an Xbox or PlayStation, instead of a true "joystick." I don’t know exactly how Windows tells the difference, but it does. You won’t see this distinction in the device properties or calibration settings in Windows itself, but some Windows games explicitly look for a "gamepad" or "joystick" device. So if the game explicitly wants a "joystick" type device, this won’t work with that game. (The new Star Wars Squadrons being my primary example.) Although it will likely work with older games, or games that don’t explicitly care about the device type. I’m experimenting with various game controller utility software to remap a gaming input device to another joystick device, or even the keyboard, but so far I have not found a combination that works with Star Wars Squadrons.

UPDATE: I found a work-around for it being recognized as a "game pad" instead of a true joystick. Using 3 pieces of open source software, vJoy, Joystick Gremlin, and HidGuardian via WhiteKnight (Google them), you create a virtual "joystick" using vJoy, use Joystick Gremlin to map the original physical device to the virtual stick, and HidGuardian to hide the original physical device.

Tested on Windows 10 64-bit. Windows recognized without needing to install any special drivers.

NOTE: The Windows "Game Controllers" config and calibration tool is difficult to find in Windows 10. It cannot be found through the new style Windows 10 "Settings" screens. The easiest way is to simply click Start, then search for "joy.cpl". Otherwise, bring up the classic "Control Panel," then open "Devices and Printers." You'll see the device listed and should have a "gamepad" icon. RIGHT-click on the device and select "Game controller settings."

Tested with a CH Flighstick Pro, CH F-16 Fighterstick, and Thrustmaster X-Fighter. CH Flightstick Pro, and Thrustmaster X-Fighter worked great, both with Mode 2, except for the above issue (being detected as a "gamepad" instead of "joystick"). The TM X-Fighter is functionally the same as the CH Flightstick Pro (x & y axes, 4 buttons, 1 POV hat) except that the CH Flightstick Pro also includes a throttle z axis slider that the TM X-Fighter does not have.

The CH F-16 Fighterstick worked as far as the x, y, and z throttle axes, and 4 base buttons. But none of the hats worked because they were intended to be mapped to keyboard keys. It has a 2nd cable that plugs into an old PS/2 keyboard port, and this adapter can't mimic the keyboard part. But I didn't expect it to.

UPDATE: With the CH F-16 Fighterstick, I was able to get the hats working by using an ACTIVE PS/2 keyboard/mouse to USB adapter. The catch is that there's no way to program the hat switches on the old F-16 Fighterstick on a modern PC. You'll need to find an actual Win 98 PC with a real game port and ps/2 KB connector to program them. But once programmed, it'll work on a modern PC with the active ps/2 to USB adapter. What I did was to program all the hats (4 hats, 4 directions each, thus 16 "keys") to the Num Pad keys (there are 16 num pad keys including Enter), and then I remap in game to whatever "key" the specific hat and direction I want to use is.

Beyond that…

Some general comments about it’s known limitations. As long as you go in knowing this, and your devices work within these limitations, it should work for you.

ANALOG STICKS ONLY. Some later gameport joysticks were "digital". These will not work. I see reports in other reviews of the MS Sidewinder working for some people and not for others. I believe there were different versions of the Sidewinder. At least one version had a mode switch for analog or digital. Make sure it’s set to analog. Other versions might be digital-only. There was a version made to run on either gameport or USB and had its own little gameport to USB adapter. That version of the Sidewinder will NOT work with this adapter, but you can find an buy an adapter cable specifically for that model of Sidewinder.

NO FORCE FEEDBACK. It’s built to pass through the control signals only. It doesn’t have capacity to handle force feedback.

YOU MIGHT NEED 2, or more. Depending on how fancy your old setup was, you might need multiples of these to make it all work. The most it can support is 4 axes with 4 buttons and 1 POV hat. If you have a separate HOTAS throttle with its own buttons and hats, pedals, etc., you might need additional adapters. (There is also a 2 axis, 8 button mode, with no hat. See mode list below.)

UNPLUG AND PLUG BACK IN IF CHANGING THE MODE SWITCH. If you need to try different modes for your stick, you must unplug it from the USB, change the switch, and plug it back in. Windows will not recognize the device change if you just change the mode switch while it’s plugged in.

Mode explanations - More detail than the manual gives you. The "quoted" part is how the device shows up in the Windows Game Controllers configuration tool (joy.cpl). This should give you a better idea of which mode to use with your device/setup. If your device doesn’t fit these modes, especially if it has MORE buttons/hats/whatever than defined in any of these modes, then you may get limited functionality (additional buttons/hats, etc. won’t work) or it may not work at all.

1 - "2-axis, 4button joystick w/view finder, rudder" - x & y axes, 4 buttons, 1 POV hat (view finder) and a "Z Rotation" axis for rudder/twist (for joysticks where the handle actually twists side to side, might also work with pedals as the Z Rotation/rudder). So technically it’s 3 axes with the x, y, and z rotation/rudder.

2 - "4-axis, 4button joystick w/view finder" - x, y, z Throttle & z Rotation axes, 4 buttons, 1 POV hat. Oddly, the actual "CH Flightstick Pro" for which this mode is named in the instructions does not actually have a 4th "Z Rotation" axis. It only has the z Throttle slider. This IS the mode I use for both the CH Flightstick Pro and the TM X-Fighter. It just ignores whichever z axes that the particular stick doesn’t have. But I suppose if you had a device with the 4th Z Rotation axis, and the other features matched this mode, this mode should work.

3 - "4-axis, 4button joystick" - x, y, Z Throttle & Z Rotation axes, 4 buttons. Essentially the same as mode 2 without the POV hat. I'm not sure why this needs its own mode, even if your joystick doesn't have a hat, vs. just using mode 2 and ignoring the hat. But try this mode if the other modes don't work.

4 - "2-axis, 8button gamepad" - x & y axis, 8 buttons. Trades the 2 Z axes for additional buttons. I was not actually able to test this mode because I don't have a device that fits this.

One thing I found is that the most common base functions of the x & y axes and 4 buttons worked in all modes no matter which stick I was using on which mode. It's the additional z axes and buttons beyond 4, or POV hats, that may or may not work depending on the mode.

Compatible Devices	PC
Specific Uses For Product	gaming
Connector Type	USB Type A
Item dimensions L x W x H	7.1 x 1.7 x 6.4 inches
Brand	RockFire

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USB Game Port Adapter Rockfire RM-203 gameport

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