How many consoles used DB-9 controller plugs?

[SteveW]

I bought a couple 3DO controllers out at a flea market today, and I opened one up and realised that it was a DB-9 based controller, which kind of suprised me. How many game consoles and computers used this kind of plug? It seems like there's a lot of them out there.

 

Atari 2600

Intellivision II

Colecovision

Vectrex

Sega Master System

Sega Genesis

Atari 7800

Atari XEGS/Atari 8-bit

Commodore 64

VIC-20

TI-99/4A

3DO

Atari ST/TT/Falcon

Commodore Amiga

Commodore CD-32

 

Am I forgetting any others? There's got to be more. Didn't the Sinclair Spectrum use Atari compatible joysticks? How about the Emerson Arcadia, or the Fairchild Channel F?

[Stingray]

Fairchild Channel F?

 

They're hardwired, at least on the one I have.

 

-S

[Rob Mitchell]

The Bally Astrocade and the Magnavox Odyssey 2 (detatchable controller one) use the DB9 sockets. All these maufacturers chose to use the male sockets in the consoles and the females in the controller cables.

 

The Vectrex is unusual in that a small amount of the controller plug be trimmed off to fit.

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[Lost Monkey]

The Spectravideo 328 used them as well as many of the Famiclones..

 

If the Arcadia is like the Leisurevision, they are hardwired.

[sku_u]

The Amiga used DB9s.

[Dr. Van Thorp]

An era ended when these connectors went out of use.

 

For some reason, PC hardware makers decided to use analog potentiometer joysticks back in the 80's. I guess that this allows finer, more detailed controle, but it is really not needed for most games. PC interfaces for Atari-style sticks were not common, and this had to have been a big part of the old-style controlers dieing off.

[JB]

The DB9 was a good plug. Standard, so it was cheap. And a good number of pins.

 

It only started to fizzle with the NES. And kept going strong through the Genesis anyways.

 

 

Modern manufacturers enjoy using nonstandard connectors at every turn. I think that's the big issue. It doesn't really hurt the consumer on controllers like it does on the AV out area(controllers use fancy serial communication protocols, so you don't have much choice of input devices anyways), but it's still a nuisance if a plug gets broken.

[Dr. Van Thorp]

Modern manufacturers enjoy using nonstandard connectors at every turn. I think that's the big issue.  It doesn't really hurt the consumer on controllers like it does on the AV out area(controllers use fancy serial communication protocols, so you don't have much choice of input devices anyways), but it's still a nuisance if a plug gets broken.

 

Nonstandard conectors and serial protocols are not an accident. This prevents thrid party manufacturers from making unlicensed replacent controllers. The greediness of the console manufacturers is a primary factor in the death of the 9-pin controller.

[JB]

Modern manufacturers enjoy using nonstandard connectors at every turn. I think that's the big issue.  It doesn't really hurt the consumer on controllers like it does on the AV out area(controllers use fancy serial communication protocols, so you don't have much choice of input devices anyways), but it's still a nuisance if a plug gets broken.

 

Nonstandard conectors and serial protocols are not an accident. This prevents thrid party manufacturers from making unlicensed replacent controllers. The greediness of the console manufacturers is a primary factor in the death of the 9-pin controller.

There's plenty of unlicensed 3rd party controllers, so it doesn't hurt anyone but those few enterprising individuals that make their own input devices.

 

 

 

In the NES, it saved Nintendo several lines, since they only needed 4 wires instead of 9(which would've left a DB9 with no lines for exotic input like the Zapper and Arkanoid paddle).

SNES coldn't be done without serial data on a DB9 regardless.

 

 

On modern systems, serial makes things more stable in addition to keeping pincount down(matrixing sucks, and that many buttons with direct connections would be absurd).

The analog data isn't sensitive to interference across the whole length, and the system doesn't need twitchy ADCs in it.

[SteveW]

After Atari sued Sega for copyright infringement for using Atari-compatible configurations on the SMS and Genesis, the DB-9 socket fell out of use, because nobody else wanted to get sued.

 

What about the Amstrad line of computers? Or Acorn/BBC Microcomputer? Did they have 9-pin plugs? I know that Apple II computers use a similar plug, but opposite genders than most other machines.

[Jeff Lodoen]

I know that Apple II computers use a similar plug, but opposite genders than most other machines.

 

The ][ and ][+ had 16-pin internal connector usually used by a set of paddles. It would support 4 paddles or 2 joysticks but almost no software supported it (One On One for example). The port was capable of more than that, like running a printer. Someone on usenet uses it for networking even now.

 

The //e added a male DB9 to the back.

[carlsson]

The MSX line (which SVI-328 was a forerunner to) used the same type of joystick. Sord M5 also seem to follow the "standard". According to the 'net, Amstrad CPC models used the same connector, but with a different pinout (which may have been true on other systems too).

 

Acorn Electron and BBC seem to have required some kind of interface or at least adapter - as far as I understand, the BBC had four 12-bit A/D converters on an "analogue input" which could be used to connect joysticks to.

 

The first generation Sinclair Spectrum didn't have a joystick interface by itself, but there were in-house and 3rd party interfaces which I assume conformed to the "standard". Starting from 128K and later models, it was included. The somewhat obscure Lambda 8300 (a ZX81 clone) also had a DB9 joystick.

 

TRS-80? CoCo? IBM PCjr?

[Jeff Lodoen]

TRS-80? CoCo? IBM PCjr?

 

TRS-80 Model I/II/III- none (I'm sure somebody hacked up one)

 

TRS-80 Color Computer- 2 6-pin analog (64x64 res)

 

IBM PCjr- 2 non-standard analog (not the once common 15-pin gameport)

[MrRetroGamer]

Fairchild Channel F?

 

They're hardwired, at least on the one I have.

 

-S

 

The Channel F System II has detachable joysticks with DB-9 connectors.