Competition Pro

From Sega Retro


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Competition Pro is a brand created in the UK during the early 1980s. Similar to QuickShot, it is a brand which derives from a specific (and extremely popular) joystick, the "Competition Pro". The Competition Pro line lasted throughout the 1980s to the point where the name was considered more relevant than the companies involved, and so was used on a variety of other products during the late 80s and early 90s.

Despite its widespread success, very little documentation exists about the creator of the Competition Pro, and its ownership history. Multiple companies marketed the product and distributors varied between regions. Four distinct models of the joystick were created during the 1980s, the original Competition Pro, the Competition Pro 5000, the Competition Pro Star and the Competition Pro Extra. Multiple colour schemes and third-party offshoots were created during this time, but aside from turbo features, most Competition Pro joysticks involve two buttons (later four) and a joystick.

During the early 1990s the Competition Pro line expanded past traditional joysticks and onto game pads and similar accessories. In most situations, these products were not produced in-house, but rather licensed from ASCII or Honey Bee. In this period, Happ Controls distributed products in the United States, while the Powerplay Group were the distributors in the United Kingdom. This conduct continued until the mid-to-late 90s, where for whatever reason, the brand went out of circulation.

Today, the Competition Pro line is owned by Speed Link, which produces cheaper USB versions of the classic joysticks. No other products use the Competition Pro name.

Hardware produced

Master System

Mega Drive

Saturn

Dreamcast

References