It’s well-known that the directional pad (often known as a d-pad) on the Xbox 360 controller is a big load of pants. Pretty odd for a system known for its large collection of quality downloadable retro re-releases, such as Pac-Man Championship Edition, Dig Dug, Paperboy, Frogger, and the like.

So it’s definitely a very good thing that hackmaster-in-chief Ben Heckendorn has found a way to cram an Xbox 360 controller into one of gaming’s most iconic input devices, the classic Atari 2600 joystick. The stick even has an almost-full complement of 360 buttons, including Start, Back, X, Y, B, and even a guide button on the bottom.

The creation is known as the “3600″, is actually based on a Guitar Hero III controller, and is the product of only 5 hours work. It’s wireless, being powered by two AA batteries, and uses the original sensor pad from the Atari joystick, cramming the 360 stuff into the bottom part of the case.

There’s a video of the joystick in action here.

As a massive Atari geek, I would so pay good money for one of these.

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