The Atari joystick is part of the original experience, or so I assume it would be claimed. I get the impression it's not a great joystick by later standards (even those that used it seem to complain about the construction) but it's certainly iconic.
Personally, I wasn't impressed the very few times I used one. Then again, I wasn't used to it- my Atari 800XL didn't come with a joystick when I bought it, so the first (and main) joystick I had was a Quickshot II Turbo. To me, that's the joystick *I'd* want.
OTOH, someone else wrote to Atari User complaining that it felt like a shovel after they'd got used to the Atari stick (IIRC). I'm not sure any new stick would be an exact replica internally, though, possibly just one that resembles it cosmetically for nostalgia purposes.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
