Whatever Happened To The Joystick? 421
Ant writes "MSN UK has up an article that looks into the 'downfall' of the joystick: 'Sometimes technology disappears completely, but often it just fades into the background — still existing, still being used and sold and, occasionally, desired, but probably looking wistfully back on past glories. Which neatly described the joystick's steady slide away from its role as THE gaming peripheral to a fondly remembered also ran. But the joystick's tale is a long and convoluted one — and it is worth looking back into its often mysterious and ill-studied history before explaining why it will rise from the ashes like the mythical phoenix.' Seen on ClassicGaming."
As an aside... (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.atariage.com/controller_page.html?SystemID=7800&ControllerID=24 [atariage.com]
The NES controller was properly referred to as a gamepad. Modern controllers blur the distinction by having both DPad controls as well as thumbstick controls.
X-Arcade, anyone? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:What happened to the joystick? (Score:3, Informative)
Ahh the nostalgia... TAC-2 was THE joystick.
Re:X-Arcade, anyone? (Score:2, Informative)
I'd much rather have a Hori Real Arcade, or one of their similar sticks. The Dreamcast arcade stick was an absolute masterpiece, and works just fine when set up in MAME via the relevant pad converter.
Re:Flight Sims (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Exactly! (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Its easy (Score:4, Informative)
Re:What happened to the joystick? (Score:2, Informative)
http://www.hardwarebook.info/Atari_2600_Joystick [hardwarebook.info]
Just pull the pins to 5V with a pull up and then see if they go low when the switches inside the joystick short them to ground. You'll need to debounce in software - just wait for a few milliseconds before reporting a transition.
Here's an example with a PIC.
http://www.eetkorea.com/ARTICLES/2004MAY/2004MAY25_ID_AN.PDF?SOURCES=DOWNLOAD [eetkorea.com]
Note the PIC has A to D converters - it's probably got more circuitry than a 2600! - and so could handle Atari paddles too.
Re:How big are your hands? (Score:4, Informative)
To me, it's a simple and stupid design flaw that they will never fix because people are used to it. Being used to a bad design doesn't suddenly transform it; it's still a bad design.
Don't forget the li'l red nubbin... (Score:3, Informative)