^the Joystick first gen weren't analog... not to be an ass... but that started with the N64.

This.u

 Not trying to be an ass either, but most joysticks from the 70's were analog (or acted analog).  Digital pads came in the 80's (depending on the console), but joysticks became analog again in the 90's.

Last time I checked a joystick used your entire hand for it's motory functions while an analog used only your thumb.

Also Joysticks beat the snot out of analog for fighters imo and most genre that were good with joystick.

I really hope so, because sell more and more consoles its the only way thw Wii have more games from third parties

Both are analog.  The only difference is the length and ergonomics of the stick, sensitivity, and possibly range of motion.  Although modern PS360 controllers are more refined, the basic technology has been used since the 70's.  That's old school, first gen technology.  PS360 controllers could have been practical in the 80's (minus the pointless PS3 motion sensors).

Aren't directional pads the best for fighters?

Maybe I'm getting lost in the terminology (or maybe I just don't know what I'm talking about), but I'd thought that old-school joysticks were basically d-pads (or, that the d-pad was a... sawed-off joystick).

That, the "new" analog stick found on the N64 and onwards was different because it could register varying shades of movement.  I mean, in Pac-Man, he only moves at one speed, in the direction of the joystick or d-pad.  But Mario in Mario 64 can walk slowly or run in a given direction.

Am I misremembering?  Do those old joysticks offer the same kind of gameplay as the N64 analog stick?

This is the holiday season, and the 360 had a price cut going into it. The PS3 saw large increases after going into the holiday season after a price cut last year.

Come next month, these sales will return to <200K/wk.

Yes.  Anologue sticks were used before the d-pads came out.  I hated the first d-pad I used due to the lack of control I was used to in certain games.  I'm pretty sure you could control the speed of the "bar" in pong.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_stick

P.S. I had the Atari 5200 when I was a kid and did not have any troubles with the joystick.  It was most definitely analog though.

I thought analogue referred to be distance sensative.

like the 1st gen joystick were only 1 speed so to say. What the N64 did was made it sensative, like if you push it half way down you would go half as fast. The pre n64 stuff was or nothing (at least that is how I remember it)