Toyota Experimenting With Joystick Control For Cars

alphadogg writes "Today it's the stuff of video games, but Toyota is experimenting with joystick control for a new breed of compact cars and transporters. The world's biggest car maker built the technology into a couple of concept vehicles that were on display Wednesday at the Tokyo Motor Show. The FT-EV II, which got its world premiere at the event, is a compact electric vehicle designed for short trips. The car retains seats for four passengers despite being much more compact than most other cars, and packs drive-by-wire technology so it can be controlled with a joystick. The car's steering, braking and acceleration can be controlled by hand so foot pedals aren't needed, freeing up space to provide more legroom for the driver."

Comments

Re:Great

[T-Ranger]

A true manual tranny has somewhere between 1 and 0 sticks... and usually underneath a skirt.

Re:Great...

[Rei]

It's been over a decade since I've played *any* arcade game. I'm trying to remember... I think the two games I played with that control mechanism were "Cyber Sled" and "Mech Warrior". Cyber Sled was the only arcade game I could routinely beat with a single pay in single player mode, and which I had never had a competitor beat me in two player mode (I remember at times giving people quarters so they'd keep playing against me after they ran out ;) ). And I only ever played the Mech Warrior game once, but still hadn't died once when I had to leave 10-15 minutes later (I think it was in the lobby of a movie theater, and my movie was about to start)
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That control mechanism just feels so natural, and gives so many options for maneuverability.