This Atari-joystick, originally dubbed as "The Totally Accurate Controller mk2" by Suncom, is something most people probably have used if they ever got the chance to play games on a C64 or Amiga.
It operates differently to normal microswitch-joysticks, namely so that it doesn't have any switches. The shaft has a metal ball on the bottom that hits contacts that are arranged around it. The fire buttons weren't that great though, a copper ring that closes two contacts sounds workable, but in reality it was very unreliable.
All in all, many people love this little stick, and I believe it was one of the best sold joysticks back in the day.