Analog-Stick

An analog stick, sometimes called Control Stick, is an input device for a game controller (often gamepad) for two-dimensional signals. This can be tilted in several directions. An analog stick is very similar in the functioning of a joystick.

The analog stick has largely replaced the D-pad in computer games both in awareness and in the number of uses.

Operation

The signal generated by the drive, based on the position of the stick as a function of the default location. While digital sticks such as control crosses are based on individual electrical signals when pressing ( to be financed through internal contacts for the four directions up, down, left and right short electrical digital signals generated ) which use analogue sticks continuous electrical voltages controlled by a potentiometer be. The potentiometer measures the position left / right or up / down. By changing the position of the analog sticks, the voltage changes so. On the basis of the current tensions can be determined as the position of the sticks.

Use in computer games

In a computer game, an analog stick is often used to move a game object, usually the character. It is also used to rotate the camera, usually around the player character around. The analog stick can have a variety of other functions, depending on the game. Many modern analog sticks can also like other keys are pressed on the controller.

The analog stick is mainly used in 3D games, where more than eight directions are required ( eight directions by the directional pad allows ). To use a control pad in a 3D game, the ability to move sharply limits. In a 3D platform game like Super Mario 64, it would be with a directional pad only possible to the front, to the left and front-left, but not in between. Some early 3D games such as Resident Evil overcame this limitation by was used left and right on the D-Pad to rotate the character rather than to move. However, this caused problems of its own, because the character was not able to move during the rotation. With the proliferation of the analog sticks the mentioned problems of the control cross were past.

Dual analog sticks

Two analog sticks enable more functions and applications as a stick. Many modern gamepads the first left stick is attached to the left on the control pad, while the second right stick is to the left under the keys. Gamepads with this arrangement, for example, the Nintendo GameCube Gamepad, Xbox gamepad and the Xbox 360 gamepad.

Some gamepads have two analog sticks instead in a symmetrical arrangement with the directional pad on the left upper side and the buttons on the upper right side. Sony's PlayStation gamepads - the Dual Analog Controller, DualShock, DualShock 2, Sixaxis and DualShock 3 - use all this arrangement. The Classic Controller for Wii also makes use of this constellation. The original Wii U gamepad had two analog "Circle Pads " positioned symmetrically on the control pad and the buttons, but was reconfigured and now has two clickable analog sticks.

In genres such as action, adventure, platformer and third-person shooter, the left stick normally controls the game character, while the second stick controls the camera. The second stick reduces the problem of many earlier platform games where the camera was notoriously poorly positioned. The right stick is also important for most modern first-person shooters like Halo, where this vision direction and the goals controls, while the left stick controls the movement of the player character. In Katamari Damacy Namco and its successors both analog sticks are used simultaneously to control the game character.

Sony's PSP has been criticized for the lack of a second analog " Knubbels ". A critique of the later Nintendo Nintendo 3DS hit. Nintendo has now released a erwerbbares add-on for the 3DS, which provides among other things a second analog " Circle Pad ". The successor to the Sony PSP, the PlayStation Vita is the first handheld console that has two analog sticks.

History

The first game console that had an analog joystick, the 1292 Advanced Programmable Video System, was published in 1976. 2 The sticks used one pair of potentiometers, but were not self-centering.

Published in 1982 the company Atari their first controller with a potentiometer based on analog joystick for their Atari 5200 home console. However, the not self joystick design proved to be clumsy and unreliable. During this time, led General Consumer Electronics one of the Vectrex, one based on vector graphics system, which used a self-centering analog stick. Many years ignored consoles analog technology and used instead the digital control pad. It was not until the advent of 3D graphics and the game mechanics were associated with it led to widespread use of the analog sticks.

In 1985, Sega's third-person rail shooter game Space Harrier, published for arcade systems, a true analog flight stick one. It could register movement in any direction as well as the degree of pressure Thus, the character could be moved at different speeds, depending on how strong the joystick was pushed in a certain direction.

On April 26, 1996 Sony released a potentiometer -based analog joystick for use in flight simulation games. The Sony Dual Analog Flight Stick had two analog sticks and was used in games such as Descent to allow a greater degree of freedom of movement than typical digital joysticks of that time.

Originally announced for April 21, 1996, Nintendo released the Nintendo 64 and controller, only on 24 June 1996 and became the first standard gamepad for a console with an analog stick. The new controller included a controlled with the thumb control stick ( the stick works on the same principle as a mechanical computer mouse ), the different levels of movement and almost 360 degree control enabled and translated the signals into more precise movements than it would be possible with a control pad.

On July 5, 1996 Sega released the game Nights into Dreams ... for their Saturn console in Japan, which came bundled with the Saturn 3D Control Pad, which had an analog pad to give the player more control over the flight -based game mechanics. The analog pad was less complicated in structure compared to his contemporaries, as it had a Hall sensor, which served as the basis of the Dreamcast controller.

On April 25, 1997, Sony released a similar analog stick, based on the same Potentiometertechnik, which was also used in the larger Dual Analog Joystick. The Sony Dual Analog Controller Compatible force feedback, three analog modes ( flight stick, full- analog and analog- off), and two concave thumbsticks, while Nintendo and Sega's controller only ever had one stick.

On 20 November 1997 the company Sony released their third analog controllers: the DualShock. The controller had twin sticks similar to the Dual Analog Controller, this, however, were convex in shape and rubberized instead of molded plastic and concave. Sony also removed the third analog ( flight stick ) mode and added two new buttons under the analog sticks added, which could be activated by pressing the sticks.

1999 Sony's Ape Escape was the first computer game, the two analog sticks required to play.

In the game console generations that followed, most game consoles game controller has two analog sticks, with the exception of the Dreamcast console. Other exceptions to this dual-stick rule are Sony's PlayStation Portable and the Nintendo 3DS handheld console ( although the latter through an optional hardware upgrade with a second stick is expandable), both of which only have a small analog " nub ". Sony's PlayStation Vita has, however, again two analog sticks.