Thumb sticks give as much action in tiny movements. You could by a flight stick and use it as a joystick of you wanted that old school feel

The popularity of joystick was strongly tied to arcade machine; they are associated with fighting games because fighting games were the latest great thing Arcades had at their time to die out: home consoles such as DreamCast and N64 couldn’t give you the thrilling experience of beat “on the street” a random kid (as per “one quarter per virtual beating”). We talk about Tekken being an arcade experience before the world transitioned toward the triangular bosom of Lara at home (for those who were kids at that time). Arcade was the "mythical gaming”, the one all the kids knew they couldn’t have at home. Joystick, as such, was the ultimate “mythical” gaming device… to bad it was shit. Yeah, you could get the hang of “the moves”, the “feeling to push with your whole forearm if needed” just… not for too long. Not for pick a dialogue option, not for command trops, not for “dogeroll then attack”…or basically anything which wasn’t whatever arcade game was designed around that dumb, red clown-nose, big lever.

Nostalgia makes remember some things correctly: “yes, you had fun” but forget the fine details “the 35th side scrolling beat 'em up of this year… Cool!”

Joystick (emphasis on “joy”), Joypad… then a “joy-less” but more tame name as “controller” with added “thumb stick” if you need details… now everything seems to turn in touch, and maybe haptic… or probabily “let’s just wait for the AI reach the end of it” kind of controller device

Back when I was really into fighting games, I made a set for myself. They were awesome for fighting games, but not usable for any other games. Pretty much every other game at the time (late 90s) wanted the analog functionality from the joysticks, which a fighting game stick doesn’t have (or didn’t anyway, I admit I have not kept current).

I would add, at the time it was possible to find an arcade supply store and buy commercial parts direct. I don’t think those sources exist anymore.

Check out any of the recent FGC tournaments and you’ll see a pretty even spread of Controllers vs Fight Pad/Fight Stick users. Lots of pro players in Fighting Game circuits either buy pre-built or build their own pads and sticks to this day. There’s still a whole debate between which is better, but as always it typically falls to personal preference. Pads and Sticks never really went away, they were just adopted into a niche that could appreciate their design and make good use of them.

I personally started with a Xbox 360 Controller, then moved to a Hori Alpha FightStick, then eventually settled on a simple FightPad specifically for Fighting games (Guilty Gear, Skullgirls, DBFZ, MKX, a handful of indie fighters). I’ve never taken time to build my own, but I’ve also only ever been to a handfull of tournaments and don’t really have the friend group I used to play fighting games with today. For me, sticks offer greater precision and it’s a lot easier to pull off complex strings and combos with a more responsive device, but I just personally never got the hang of certain motions with sticks and end up whiffing a lot with them. Pads just work better for me.

It’s kind of like getting a steering wheel. The amount of games where it actually makes things better is limited. Unless you’re an enthusiast of a particular genre, a gamepad is good enough.

They still exist. They’re called fighting sticks generally because that’s their main use. For example there’s a number of then reviewed here: https://www.techradar.com/best/the-best-fight-sticks-in-2023

I have them, but prefer leverless controllers now for fighting games.

My uninformed opinion: Too big, too expensive, mostly useful for arcade games (up to the Neo Geo) but I would not use them for anything else. Even for Super Nintendo, Megadrive, or other consoles, I don’t think they would help. Also you need some space to put them on a desk or on your lap. Small gamepads don’t have that limitation.

I currently have the cheap Nintendo Switch Pro controller thing, and it’s perfect for most usage: Steam games, and every kind of retro emulation.

Joysticks were replaced by analog game pad sticks. Same motion in a compact package.

The games are now vastly more complex. You will still see a stick on an arcade fighting machine where key combinations and an array of buttons are used, but it’s not ergonomic. The same controls can be put on a standard 6 axis game pad and be significantly more accessible.

Here you go:

https://www.8bitdo.com/arcade-stick/

Haven’t tried this one myself. I have used some of their other controllers, most recently the pro3 and I’m a fan. Pro3 has the ability to swap the joystick nubs for arcade style balls which is pretty cool. They feel and work just like you would expect.

I used to play fighting games on console and arcade emulation on PC with an arcade stick. But I stopped playing fighting games with friends and it also takes lot of space on my desk, and arcade games sometimes require analog input too. But I miss it. Maybe I will take it out today to play some arcade games, for the somewhat authentic feeling. :-)

I have one. I use it to play fighting games and old arcade ports, mostly. I like it because I learned to play those games on arcade hardware as a kid, so it has the right feel for me.