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."

Comments

Re:What happened to the joystick?

[morgan_greywolf]

Yep. The last joystick I owned was one of the popular 'Thrustmaster 3D' joysticks, with the hats and the buttons and so forth. After a particularly intense session of Doom II, it broke. It was the the third one. After that I got a gamepad-type controller and never looked back.

What happened was...

[Sinbios]

It got too expensive. I recently looked into purchasing an USB arcade joystick for use with 2D fighter games, and the only ones worth looking at (X-Arcade, Hori) cost about $100, for a single controller. In comparison, a new PS2 can be had now for $130. $100 is just too much to shell out for a gaming peripheral.

Fine motor control and accuracy

[Alzheimers]

There's something to be said about the fine motor control that the fingers are capable of that can't be easily replicated by the entire arm. Joysticks require a steady hand and a working surface you can rest your arms on so they don't tire, while the smaller analog sticks of today only require the thumbs to rest on them. They're best used in situations that simulate Joysticks in real life, such as in flying simulators. They don't translate nearly as well to the (mostly) 2D movement in an FPS as a simple crosspad does because most movement in those environments don't require analog sensitivity. A joystick requires much more of a response to achieve the same results.

That being said, the immersive qualities of holding the joystick while leading an enemy target is much greater than the simple twitch movements that most games rely on today, as well as improved dexterity when using both large and small muscle groups at the same time (see also: autoaim). If anything replaced the joystick it's the mouse, not the analog stick. It's much more comfortable to use, requires less effort to achieve the same sensitivity, and is much more ubiquitous (imagine trying to use a joystick to move the Windows mouse).

The good old days

[FuzzyDaddy]

One of my favorite games as a kid was Battlezone. It had two joysticks that only moved forwards and backwards. There was something about that huge, wireframe landscape that was really appealing. And the two handed control really worked well.

Of course, the first really good non-joystick action/puzzle game I played was Lode Runner. You used the keyboard. The left hand controlled movement with six keys, and the right hand controlled actions with six keys. You rested your hand on the keyboard. It worked sort of like xevil. It was surprisingly easy to get the hang of.

Re:What happened to the joystick?

[bughunter]

The sisters and nieces to this comment really have hit on what was wrong with the joystick in my anecdotal experiences: It broke too often.

Mind you, the models being praised for durability were indeed up to the task of gaming, but most joysticks sold were not. I went thru three Gravis sticks in two years before giving up and switching to a trackball.

Generalizing this leverage theme, the length of the lever arm of a joystick poses two problems 1) the mechanical advantage of the users' force leveraged onto the innards made it expensive to make a durable device, and 2) this mechanical advantage also made it difficult to perform precise control movements.

Starting in the mid-90s, games emerged that required players to do things like select units, lasso groups of units, click on targets and waypoints, aim FPS weapons, etc. The joystick really was not suited to these actions. The much shorter lever arm of a control pad allowed more precise control for aiming FPS weapons, and an absolute displacement interface (mouse or trackball) works better for selecting and commanding RTS units.

I really have never had better controller than a good mouse. I've used trackballs, control pads, joysticks, touchpads, and wiimotes -- the mouse is still the most natural, least RSI-inducing controller I've used. The touchpad comes close, but it lacks precision and has a higher error rate. Of course, I make exceptions for automobile and aircraft simulators, where mockups of the actual vehicle controls can't be beat.