Gamepad
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Features
Some common additions to the standard pad include shoulder buttons (also called "bumpers") and triggers placed along the edges of the pad (shoulder buttons are usually digital, i.e. merely on/off; while triggers are usually analog); centrally placed start, select, and home buttons[clarification needed], and an internal motor to provide force feedback. Analog triggers, like that of the GameCube controller, are pressure-sensitive and games can read in the amount of pressure applied to one to control the intensity of a certain action, such as how forceful water is to be sprayed in Super Mario Sunshine.[citation needed]
There are programmable joysticks that can emulate
History
Analog joysticks
The 1962 video game Spacewar! initially used toggle switches built into the computer readout display to control the game. These switches were awkward and uncomfortable to use, so Alan Kotok and Bob Saunders built and wired in a detached control device for the game. This device has been called the earliest gamepad.[4]
Entry into the mass market
It would take many years for the gamepad to rise to prominence, as during the 1970s and the early 1980s joysticks and paddles were the dominant video game controllers,[4] though several Atari joystick port-compatible pushbutton controllers were also available.[5] The third generation of video games
Continued refinements
For most of the 1980s and early 1990s, analog joysticks were the predominant form of gaming controller for PCs, while console gaming controllers were mostly digital.[4] This changed in 1996 when all three major consoles introduced an optional analog control. The Sony Dual Analog Controller had twin convex analog thumbsticks, the Sega Saturn 3D Control Pad had a single analog thumbstick, and the Nintendo 64 controller
Despite these changes, gamepads essentially continued to follow the template set by the NES controller (a horizontally-oriented controller with two or more action buttons positioned for use with the right thumb, and a directional pad positioned for use with the left thumb).[4]
Three-dimensional control
Though three-dimensional games rose to prominence in the mid-1990s, controllers continued to mostly operate on two-dimensional principles; in order to move with six degrees of freedom, players would have to hold down a button to toggle the axis on which the directional pad operates, rather than being able to control movement along all three axes at once. One of the first gaming consoles, the Fairchild Channel F, did have a controller which allowed six degrees of freedom, but the processing limitations of the console itself prevented there from being any software to take advantage of this ability.[4] In 1994 Logitech introduced the CyberMan, the first practical six degrees of freedom controller; due to its high price, poor build quality, and limited software support, it sold poorly. Industry insiders blame the CyberMan's high profile and costly failure for the gaming industry's lack of interest in developing 3D control over the next several years.[4]
The
Uses
Gamepads are also available for
Non-gaming use
Gamepads or devices closely modelled on them are sometimes used for controlling real machinery and vehicles, as they are familiar to users and (in the case of actual gamepads) provide an off-the-shelf solution. The
See also
- Computer keyboard
- Computer mouse
- Game port
- Racing wheel
References
- ^ Schaaf, Tobiasa (July 2014). "Gamestation Turbo" (PDF). ODROID Magazine. No. 7. p. 17. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 26, 2016.
- ^ Ryochan7. "Graphical program used to map keyboard keys and mouse controls to a gamepad". GitHub. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Yifeng Huang (May 6, 2013), Enjoy2 v1.2 released: control games with your gamepad on OSX, retrieved May 19, 2017
- ^ Imagine Media. May 1996. pp. 34–42. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
- ^ Ahl, David H.; Rost, Randi J. (1983), "Blisters And Frustration: Joysticks, Paddles, Buttons and Game Port Extenders for Apple, Atari and VIC", Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games, 1 (1): 106ff
- Imagine Media. March 1996. p. 35. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
- ^ "6 Button Controller". segagagadomain.com. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
- ISBN 978-4-7700-3078-8.
- ^ Levin, Phillip (April 25, 2006). "Nintendo Revolution ::: Advanced Media Network - Mario, Zelda, Revolution Controller, Innovation". Revolution Advanced. Archived from the original on April 27, 2006. Retrieved 2019-11-20.
- ^ Jamin Brophy-Warren, Magic Wand: How Hackers Make Use Of Their Wii-motes, Wall Street Journal, April 28, 2007
- ^ Hanson, Matt. "How to use the PS4 DualShock 4 controller on a PC". TechRadar. Archived from the original on January 19, 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
- ^ Plunkett, Luke (July 23, 2013). "How To Use A Console Controller On Your PC". Kotaku. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
- ^ "From Joysticks to Warfare: Military's Rising Use of Video Game Controllers in Submarines, Tanks". 20 June 2023. Archived from the original on June 20, 2023.
- ^ "Real life gaming: How the British Army modelled tank controls on a gamepad". 14 October 2016.
- ^ "What it was like inside the lost Titanic-touring submersible". 22 June 2023.