Less Flailing, More Pushing: The Joy of Joysticks

[Atari2008]

Interesting article on the slow return of traditional controllers to modern gaming from the New York Times: Less Flailing, More Pushing - The Joy of the Joystick.

 

I like the NES pad and Atari controllers in the pic.

[high voltage]

Since Nintendo forced the stupid NES controller upon the American Mario junkies real gaming controllers went downhill fast.

[Rex Dart]

Interesting article on the slow return of traditional controllers to modern gaming from the New York Times: Less Flailing, More Pushing - The Joy of the Joystick.

 

I like the NES pad and Atari controllers in the pic.

 

I don't get it. They didn't go anywhere. We've had controllers the whole time. Even the wii remote had a dpad & six buttons.

[fiddlepaddle]

“If you put a controller and a tarantula on a table, and you ask my mom to pick one up, I’m not sure which one she would choose,”

 

I have people like this in my family too.

[Jess Ragan]

Since Nintendo forced the stupid NES controller upon the American Mario junkies real gaming controllers went downhill fast.

 

Rrrrright. I've always been of the opinion that video game controllers were mediocre at best before the the NES popularized the game pad. The Atari 2600 stick was stiff and awkward, the ColecoVision had that terrible stubby stick, Intellivision gave us the dial and those tiny little side buttons, the Vectrex was prone to breaking, etc. When the NES arrived it made home game controllers bearable. Sure, even that is a little rough compared to what would come afterward, but at least the D-pad and buttons were tight and responsive.

[Atari2008]

I agree controllers weren't very comfortable pre-NES. I love the 2600 and have fond memories of the joystick but as you said it's stiff and not very comfortable especially for a left-handed gamer like myself. :-) Agree on the Colecovision and Intellivision controllers as well - the tiny side buttons weren't great for rapid fire action. None were very ergonomic. I like the Channel F controller - comfortable and effective for those type of games. The Astrocade controllers were good as well. But yes by and large controllers still had a way to go before the NES pad came on the scene.