Joystick vs D Pads vs Thumb Sticks

[RugglesTx]

Whats your preference for general gaming.

 

For me its joystick all the way. D Pads are fine but much prefer the good ole joystick for control.

 

Thumb sticks like on the PS and Xbox are a good middle ground but still much prefer a joystick.

[pacman000]

I like joysticks.

[Rom Collector]

I prefer a large controller (like the Genesis) with D pad. However, the others are acceptable.

[RugglesTx]

I prefer a large controller (like the Genesis) with D pad. However, the others are acceptable.

Large is better overall. Been playing a lot of NES lately and that control is just too small overall IMO. Its well designed but just wish it was a wee bit bigger overall.

[jaybird3rd]

Joysticks for me all the way, at least for the 2600 and other platforms on which the joystick was the intended controller. Using a D-pad with a 2600 game seems anachronistic to me. As I've explained before:

I find gamepads to be poorly-suited for the kinds of games that were made for early consoles like the 2600. I forget who first said it, but someone pointed out once that the transition from joysticks to gamepads was a result of a paradigm shift in game design that occurred with the NES. Early systems like the 2600 were sprite-driven designs, which lent themselves naturally to games that primarily involved moving objects around on the screen (games like Pac-Man, for example). Since movement "commands" were the primary input from the player, the directional controls were designed to be used by the right hand (the dominant and best-coordinated hand for most players), while the more intermittent action button was given to the left hand.

From the NES forward, the situation was reversed. The primary emphasis became rapid action button combinations, so those were moved to the right hand, while the lesser-used directional pad was moved to the left. One example of this are games like Super Mario Brothers and most NES platformers, where the directional pad is mostly held in one direction for extended periods (during walking, etc) and the players spend most of their effort jumping/running/shooting with the action buttons.

Perhaps other players (such as those who grew up on gamepads) feel differently, but I think this is the reason I've found myself less coordinated and more easily fatigued whenever I try to play 2600/7800 games with a gamepad: it just doesn't give me the level of control and comfort that I can get with the joystick, since most of those classic games rely heavily on the directionals.

[ColecoJoe]

Depends on the game and the system I’m playing.

 

 

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[RugglesTx]

Joysticks for me all the way, at least for the 2600 and other platforms on which the joystick was the intended controller. Using a D-pad with a 2600 game seems anachronistic to me. As I've explained before:

 

Really well put. Thats how I feel as well. The more complex games of today require upwards of a dozen controls it seems. Understandable but something about one stick and one button just makes it more enjoyable for me. Guess Im just getting old!

[BassGuitari]

Joystick.

 

Sega controllers on Atari systems make me cringe.

[MrMaddog]

For Pre-Crash games I use joysticks but prefer arcade style joysticks over the stiffer Atari ones.

 

D-pads work better for platform games but I hate using them for fighting games.

 

Thumbsticks I actually like since they feel more like joysticks to me...

[AW127]

Really depends on the kind of game for me. Puzzle games i mostly play with gamepads, here i like the d-pad. Fighting-games i always with joysticks, here i would have no chance when using a gamepad.

 

2D jump and run games i can play with both, sticks and pads. But with pads only, when jumping is on a button instead of steering-up. When using a stick for such games, this don't matters at all. Here both work good, jumping on button or steering-up.

 

And for games which you see from above and where you can walk in all 8 directions i prefer playing with a joystick. For example "Speedball 2" on Atari-ST or Amiga, i can play very good with a stick, but absolutely NOT with a gamepad.

[Lordmonkus]

Depends on the game and the system I’m playing.

 

 

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This right here, it all depends on the system an d game.

But lately I have been using an old Genesis 6 button controller with my 2600 and the d-pad on it is perfect. I find the d-pad on the stock 3 button controller to be too stiff and annoying.

[Lord Thag]

The Genesis-era Asciiware Power Clutch SG is the perfect arcade stick for the Atari. I have two, they are worth their weight in gold.

[GeekDragon]

I don't have a preference. I've been gaming for so long, that I find it easy to go back and forth between the 3.

[Video]

Mostly thumbsticks, but for atari, it's gotta be a stick.

[80s_Atari_Guy]

Joysticks with microswitches.

[Zitruskeks]

Joysticks for me all the way, at least for the 2600 and other platforms on which the joystick was the intended controller. Using a D-pad with a 2600 game seems anachronistic to me. As I've explained before:

 

 

Wery well analyzed. I grew up on the Commodore eight- and sixteenbitters and thus with digital Joysticks. Never really switched to Gamepads (besides for Street Fighter 2 on the Amiga). So I never really adapted to the different input paradigm and I have a hard time with games like Turrican on the SNES - I am used to jump with the stick and not with a button, and so jumping AND gunning at the same time feels clumsy and unnatural for me with these systems.

[RugglesTx]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CnmMDzgTB7o

 

Interesting history of the D Pad

Edited July 11, 2018 by RugglesTx

[youxia]

Funny, I've been just thinking recently about how much I actually do not miss joysticks. Despite the fact that after ZX Spectrum - strictly QAIOP keyboard mode - I've spent many years in joy-land since these were mandatory with C64/Amiga. Even later had some flight sticks for the PC.

 

I don't know, they just seem like so much hard work now. Having to hold the base and wrestle the squeaking thing, or pray the suctions hold. One button, maybe two, so need to hit that Space now and then. Nah, I'll pass.
Sure, some games probably work better, like the aforementioned Speedball 2. Also the Atari joys look more elegant and requiring less effort to operate - something you can hold with 2-3 fingers even, not the whole hand like our Quickshot style things. But, still. It's all about gamepads for me now - sticks first (even for most SNES etc games), then d-pad for some games.

 

I'm afraid I don't really buy this "historical" explanation jaybird3rd has posted. It just doesn't seem plausible. There were plenty of sprite based games on NES and SMS that required full directional control and not all platformers were run-right affairs. Then you have arcades where the joystick was mostly on the left and games movement-heavy and in modern titles movement is strictly bound to the left thumbstick too. It just seems to work fine this way, even though I'm right handed like most people.

[Jstick]

For the 2600? Anything other than a CX40 feels wrong to me. I recently bought an upgraded pair from Best Electronics and while it took a bit of playing to get used to the feel (the domes click like microswitches) they are now my preferred sticks, the stock version feels ‘mushy’ in comparison. The silicone boot replacement is also nice and improves the comfort and feel, even if it doesn’t look quite right (matte vs. the shiny rubber of the original).

 

Other than that, I find the SNES pad perfect for 16-bit era games, and the Sony DualShock is my preference for PS1 and up. (Oh, and an arcade stick for M.A.M.E., etc.).

[mr_me]

Joysticks for me all the way, at least for the 2600 and other platforms on which the joystick was the intended controller. Using a D-pad with a 2600 game seems anachronistic to me. As I've explained before:

 

It sounds like your explanation has something to do with left-handed d-pads vs right-handed joysticks. I have a right-handed d-pad that I use for most games that use eight directions or less. I always found handheld joysticks uncomfortable. Analog thumb sticks are okay but for 8-way games, d-pads are more accurate.

[Flojomojo]

I think hand held joysticks are goofy. I like panel-mounted joysticks, as in an arcade game.

 

I always used Atari joysticks like a gamepad anyway, with my thumb on top.

 

They're all "fine" in their respective contexts, I guess ...but I have little issues using a dpad for Atari games.

[+LS650]

Depends on the game. I'm okay with the D-pad, though I think that for old school one-button games a joystick can be better.

I don't like thumbsticks generally.

[Atari PAC-MAN Fan]

Depends on what game I'm playing. For example, if I'm playing an arcade game like Pac-Man, I want a good 4-way joystick. For games like Mario, Sonic, and Mega Man, I want a D-pad. If I'm a am playing anything 3D or modern, I want thumb-sticks.

[+Black_Tiger]

I like using joysticks on arcade cabinets, but prefer d-pads because they respond better/faster and always make feel as though I have more control.

[digdugnate]

my answers are very similar to the other commenters-

 

for Atari, it's CX40 all the way (i have a really nice Best-Electronics refurb stick) unless my arthritis is bothering me, then it's a d-pad.

 

for NES/SNES games, I prefer a d-pad- the controller that came with the SNES Mini is actually a really nice one.

 

for current-gen, i do prefer the dual-stick of my xbox controller.

 

my preferences really i think just have to do with how i 'learned' to play the games. those just feel more natural to me

 

(edit to add that when i get the money saved up i'm buying an arcade stick for my xbox because Street Fighter just shreds my shoulders with the stock controller)

Edited July 15, 2018 by digdugnate