o_O.Q said:
"The joystick, on the other hand is different. The Vectrex was the first home console to feature analog joysticks. Most arcade games and consoles had 8-directional (or fewer) controls. The design decision to go with analog was most likely because of the nature of the console. With vector graphics, 3D games are more common and lines/objects aren't as locked into the cardinal "8 directions" like traditional raster hardware. It wasn't until about a dozen years later that 3D games and analog control really took off in home consoles."
from those two paragraphs the writer shows that the vectrex employed several of the gameplay aspects that the n64 is supposed to have popularised like 3D gaming and as i said before analog control but regardless if it is your opinion that the vectrex was a poor example to use then thats cool, you have your opinion and i have mine
2) the emersion arcadia is another example "and other devices that used analog sticks" ...um computer applications for example? where do you think analog sticks came from in the first place? or do you believe that they originated from gaming? |
1) Taking a close look at my point 1), notice I was clear to point out my gripe with the vectrex, I'll just quote myself k, and I'll bold the important part. I'll address the directionality in point 2, hoping that's fair and covering all points.
"The Vectrex is a poor example to use. You need yet to prove to me the unlikely: that ppl used it with their thumbs."
2) Okay, I understand other devices used analog controls for direction before. I used to play tie fighter with my gravis joystick back in the day, way before the N64. But the gravis joystick was digital joysticks, and didn't provide the same level of precision. What I'm trying to say is that there were two types of joysticks: analog joysticks, and digital joysticks. The analog joysticks used a potentiometer ever since the first one.
Here, read this when you have a chance. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_stick
One thing is true, is that the Vectrex did offer analog technology prior to the N64, but there was even one before it.
"In 1982, Atari released their first controller with a potentiometer-based analog joystick for their Atari 5200 home console."
The proof that Nintendo didn't use the vectrex as a basis for their controller, lies here: the N64 control isn't an analog stick... It's digital!!!
| Initially announced for release on April 21, 1996, Nintendo released their Nintendo 64 controller on June 24, 1996.[5] The new controller included a thumb-operated control stick which, while a digital stick[6] (the stick operated on the same principles as a mechanical computer mouse), still allowed for varying levels of movement and near-360-degree control, translating into far more precise movements than were possible with a D-pad. |
Not only that, but the N64 truly is the first true bona fide thumb stick we've ever had.
So, I can't say the N64 is the first analog controller, since it isn't even analog! But I'll claim this:
Claim 1) The N64 controller is the first video game input device to have a thumbstick which provides varying levels of movement and near-360-degree control.
Claim 2) The first analog stick is credited to Atari.
