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Whatever Happened To The Joystick?
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."
...TFA makes a rather grievous error when it refers to the "Nintendo joypad". The joypad was an early attempt at combining both control methods. e.g. The Atari CX78 was a joypad:
http://www.atariage.com/controller_page.html?SystemID=7800&ControllerID=24
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.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
I for one love my X-Arcade joystick (link warning: some video game sounds present). Nothing makes for a better MAME experience short of building an entire MAME cabinet.
The TAC-2 was the only joystick to to make it through a 100 meter relay.
Ahh the nostalgia... TAC-2 was THE joystick.
See it wasn't a niche peripheral, you're showing your age, or lack of it. On the C64, Amiga, Sinclair Spectrum etc in the 80s the joystick was THE way to control things.
FlightGear - Linux and Windows, great modelling and strong developer community. Speech and beer free too. http://www.flightgear.org/
agreed. That Reznor soundtrack was awesome, especially the first track on the CD. I can still hear it now. And you could put the quake1 disc in a regular cd player too ;-)
ZuluPad, the wiki notepad on crack
You could probably make one. Get a microcontroller with USB support. Choose one with some HID class sample code and you could add support for reporting from an Atari joystick in a weekend. Here's the connector
http://www.hardwarebook.info/Atari_2600_Joystick
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
Note the PIC has A to D converters - it's probably got more circuitry than a 2600! - and so could handle Atari paddles too.
echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
It's not that I have a problem reaching the left stick. The problem is that I have to reach at all. Like I said, with a gamecube/xbox/360 controller, the way your hand naturally rests on the controller places your thumb directly on the left thumbstick. On the DualShock, your have to keep your thumb at an angle in order to operate the left thumbstick, thus not keeping your hand in a more neutral position.
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.
Living With a Nerd
And between the "G", "H" and "B" keys on ThinkPad keyboards.
---anactofgod---
"Equal opportunity swindling - *that* is the true test of a sustainable democracy."