Possible elements of a video game joystick: 1. stick, 2. base, 3. trigger, 4. extra buttons, 5. autofire switch, 6. throttle, 7. hat switch (POV hat), 8. suction cups.
Ajoystick, sometimes called aflight stick, is aninput device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Also known as thecontrol column, it is the principal control device in thecockpit of many civilian and military aircraft, either as acentre stick orside-stick. It has various switches to control functions of the aircraft controlled by the Pilot and First Officer of the flight.
Joysticks are often used to control video games, and usually have push-buttons whose state can be read by the computer. A popular variation of the joystick used on modernvideo game consoles is theanalog stick. Joysticks are also used for controlling machines such as cranes, trucks, underwater unmanned vehicles, wheelchairs, surveillance cameras, andzero turning radius lawn mowers. Miniature finger-operated joysticks have been adopted as input devices for smaller electronic equipment such asmobile phones.
Joysticks originated as controls for aircraftailerons andelevators, and are first known to have been used as such onLouis Bleriot'sBleriot VIII aircraft of 1908, in combination with a foot-operated rudder bar for the yaw control surface on the tail.[1]
The namejoystick is thought to originate with early 20th century French pilotRobert Esnault-Pelterie.[2] There are also competing claims on behalf of fellow pilotsRobert Loraine,James Henry Joyce, andA. E. George. Loraine is cited by theOxford English Dictionary for using the term "joystick" in his diary in 1909 when he went toPau to learn to fly atBlériot's school. George was a pioneer aviator who with his colleague Jobling built and flew a biplane at Newcastle in England in 1910. The George and Jobling aircraft control column is in the collection of the Discovery Museum in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.Joysticks were present in early planes, though their mechanical origins are uncertain.[3] The coining of the term "joystick" may actually be credited to Loraine, as his is the earliest known usage of the term, although he most certainly did not invent the device.
The electrical two-axis joystick was invented by C. B. Mirick at theUnited States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and patented in 1926 (U.S. Patent no. 1,597,416)".[4] NRL was actively developing remote controlled aircraft at the time and the joystick was possibly used to support this effort. In the awarded patent, Mirick writes: "My control system is particularly applicable in maneuvering aircraft without a pilot."[5]
The Germans developed an electrical two-axis joystick around 1944. The device was used as part of the Germans'Funkgerät FuG 203Kehl radio control transmitter system used in certain German bomber aircraft, used to guide both the rocket-boosted anti-ship missileHenschel Hs 293, and the unpowered pioneering precision-guided munitionFritz-X,[6] against maritime and other targets. Here, the joystick of theKehl transmitter was used by an operator to steer the missile towards its target. This joystick had on-off switches rather than analogue sensors. Both the Hs 293 and Fritz-X used FuG 230Straßburg radio receivers in them to send theKehl's control signals to the ordnance's control surfaces. A comparable joystick unit was used for the contemporary AmericanAzon steerable munition, strictly to laterally steer the munition in the yaw axis only.[7]
This German invention was picked up by someone in the team of scientists assembled at theHeeresversuchsanstalt inPeenemünde. Here a part of the team on the Germanrocket program was developing theWasserfall missile, a variant of theV-2 rocket, the first ground-to-airmissile. The Wasserfall steering equipment converted the electrical signal to radio signals and transmitted these to the missile.
A prototypeProject Gemini joystick-type hand controller, 1962
In the 1960s the use of joysticks became widespread in radio-controlled model aircraft systems such as the Kwik Fly produced by Phill Kraft (1964). The now-defunctKraft Systems firm eventually became an important OEM supplier of joysticks to the computer industry and other users. The first use of joysticks outside the radio-controlled aircraft industry may have been in the control of powered wheelchairs, such as thePermobil (1963). During this time period NASA used joysticks as control devices as part of the Apollo missions. For example, the lunar lander test models were controlled with a joystick.
In many modernairliners, for example all Airbus aircraft developed from the 1980s, the joystick has received a new lease on life for flight control in the form of the "side-stick", a controller similar to a gaming joystick but which is used to control flight, replacing the traditionalyoke. The sidestick saves weight, improves movement and visibility in the cockpit, and may be safer in an accident than the yoke.
CH Products Mach II analog joystick for Apple II computers. The small knobs are for (mechanical) calibration, and the sliders engage the self-centering springs.
Ralph H. Baer, inventor of theMagnavox Odyssey console, released in 1972, created the first video game joysticks in 1967. They were able to control the horizontal and vertical position of a spot displayed on a screen.[8] The earliest knownelectronic game joystick with a firebutton was released bySega as part of their 1969arcade gameMissile, ashootersimulation game that used it as part of an earlydual-control scheme, where twodirectional buttons are used to move a motorized tank and a two-way joystick is used to shoot and steer the missile onto oncoming planes displayed on the screen; when a plane is hit, an explosion is animated on screen along with an explosion sound.[9] In 1970,[10] the game was released in North America asS.A.M.I. byMidway Games.[9]
In 1985, Sega'sthird-person arcaderail shooter gameSpace Harrier featured a true analog flight stick, used for movement. The joystick could register movement in any direction as well as measure the degree of push, which could move theplayer character at different speeds depending on how far the joystick was pushed in a certain direction.[17]
A variation of the joystick is the rotary joystick. It is a type of joystick-knob hybrid, where the joystick can be moved in various direction while at the same time being able to rotate the joystick. It is mainly used in arcadeshoot 'em up games, to control both the player's eight-directional movement and the gun's 360-degree direction.[18][19] It was introduced bySNK, initially with the tank shooterTNK III (1985) before it was popularized by therun and gun video gameIkari Warriors (1986).[18] SNK later used rotary joystick controls in arcade games such asGuerrilla War (1987).[20]
A distinct variation of an analog joystick is apositional gun, which works differently from alight gun. Instead of using light sensors, a positional gun is essentially an analog joystick mounted in a fixed location that records the position of the gun to determine where the player is aiming on the screen.[21][22] It is often used forarcadegun games, with early examples includingSega'sSea Devil in 1972;[23]Taito'sAttack in 1976;[24]Cross Fire in 1977;[25] andNintendo'sBattle Shark in 1978.[26]
Saitek's Cyborg 3D Gold around the 2000s. Note its throttle, its extra buttons, and its hat switch.
However, since the beginning of the 21st century, these types of games have waned in popularity and are now considered a "dead" genre, and with that, gaming joysticks have been reduced to niche products.[27][28][29][30][31] InNowGamer's interview with Jim Boone, a producer at Volition Inc., he stated thatFreeSpace 2's poor sales could have been due to joysticks' being sold poorly because they were "going out of fashion" because more modern first-person shooters, such asQuake, were "very much about the mouse and [the] keyboard". He went further on to state "Before that, when we didDescent for example, it was perfectly common for people to have joysticks – we sold a lot of copies of Descent. It was around that time [when] the more modern FPS with mouse and keyboard came out, as opposed to just keyboard likeWolfenstein [3D] or something.".[33]
Since the late 1990s,analog sticks (orthumbsticks, due to their being controlled by one's thumbs) have become standard on controllers for video game consoles, popularized byNintendo'sNintendo 64 controller,[34] and have the ability to indicate the stick's displacement from its neutral position. This means that the software does not have to keep track of the position or estimate the speed at which the controls are moved. These devices usually use potentiometers to determine the position of the stick,[35] though some newer models instead use aHall effect sensor for greater reliability and reduced size.
In 1997, ThrustMaster, Inc. introduced a 3D programmable controller, which was integrated into computer games to experience flight simulations. This line adapted several aspects of NASA's RHC (Rotational Hand Controller), which is used for landing and navigation methods.[36]
In 1997 the first gaming joystick with force feedback (haptics) was manufactured by CH Products under license from technology creator,Immersion Corporation.[37] The product, called the Force FX joystick was followed by force feedback joysticks fromLogitech,Thrustmaster, and others, also under license from Immersion.[38][39]
An arcade stick is a large-format controller for use with home consoles or computers. They use the stick-and-button configuration of somearcade cabinets, such as those with particular multi-button arrangements. For example, the six button layout of the arcade gamesStreet Fighter II orMortal Kombat cannot be comfortably emulated on a console joypad, so licensed home arcade sticks for these games have been manufactured for home consoles and PCs.[40]
A hat switch is a control on some joysticks. It is also known as a POV (point of view) switch in electronic games, where it allows one to look around in one's virtual world, browse menus, etc. For example, many flight simulators use it to switch the player's views,[41] while other games sometimes use it as a substitute for theD-pad. Computer gamepads with both an analogue stick and a D-pad usually assign POV switch scancodes to the latter.
Apart from buttons, wheels and dials as well astouchscreens also miniature joysticks have been established for the efficient manual operation ofcameras.[43][44][45]
In recent times, the employment of joysticks has become commonplace in many industrial and manufacturing applications, such as cranes, assembly lines, forestry equipment, mining trucks, and excavators. In fact, the use of such joysticks is in such high demand, that it has virtually replaced the traditional mechanical control lever in nearly all modern hydraulic control systems. Additionally, mostunmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) andsubmersible remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) require at least one joystick to control either the vehicle, the on-board cameras, sensors and/or manipulators.
Due to the highly hands-on, rough nature of such applications, the industrial joystick tends to be more robust than the typical video-game controller, and able to function over a high cycle life. This led to the development and employment ofHall effect sensing to such applications in the 1980s as a means of contactless sensing. Several companies produce joysticks for industrial applications using Hall effect technology. Another technology used in joystick design is the use of strain gauges to build force transducers from which the output is proportional to the force applied rather than physical deflection. Miniature force transducers are used as additional controls on joysticks for menu selection functions.
Some larger manufacturers of joysticks are able to customize joystick handles and grips specific to the OEM needs while small regional manufacturers often concentrate on selling standard products at higher prices to smaller OEMs.
Specialist joysticks, classed as anassistive technologypointing device, are used to replace thecomputer mouse for people with fairly severe physical disabilities. Rather than controlling games, these joysticks control thepointer. They are often useful to people withathetoid conditions, such ascerebral palsy, who find them easier to grasp than a standard mouse.[46] Miniature joysticks are available for people with conditions involving muscular weakness such asmuscular dystrophy ormotor neurone disease as well. They are also used onelectric powered wheelchairs for control since they are simple and effective to use as a control method.[47]
In 1996, ascientific study established that bothchimpanzees andrhesus monkeys could be taught to move a pointer on a screen by using a joystick. Both have consistently managed to demonstrate "conceptual knowledge" of the task required of them during trials, although rhesus monkeys were notably slower to do so.[49]
In 2021, another pair of researchers investigated the level ofintelligence in domesticpigs by designing a joystick which could be controlled with their snout. Unlike the chimpanzees or the rhesus monkeys, none of the four pigs was able to fully meet the 1996's test criteria for "motoric or conceptual acquisition" of the task, but they still performed "significantly above chance". Notably, the pigs experienced additional difficulties in comparison to the primates, as they were allfar-sighted and so may have struggled with the details on screen, and they could not move the target with a joystick without taking their eyes off the screen first.[48]
^Morgan McGuire & Odest Chadwicke Jenkins (2009),Creating Games: Mechanics, Content, and Technology,A K Peters, Ltd., p. 408,ISBN978-1-56881-305-9, retrieved2011-04-03,Light guns, such as the NES Zapper or those used in theHouse of the Dead series, are distinctly different from positional guns used by arcade games such as SEGA's Gunblade NY. ... Light guns differ from positional guns, such as in Gunblade NY (bottom), that are essentially analog joysticks. ... Positional guns are essentially analog sticks mounted in a fixed location with respect to the screen. Light guns, in contrast, have no fixed a priori relationship with a display.
^Yo-Sung Ho & Hyoung Joong Kim (November 13–16, 2005),Advances in Multimedia Information Processing-PCM 2005: 6th Pacific-Rim Conference on Multimedia, Jeju Island, Korea,Springer Science & Business, p. 688,ISBN3-540-30040-6, retrieved2011-04-03,The two routes to conventional gun control are light guns and positional guns. Light guns are the most common for video game systems of any type. They work optically with screen and do not keep track of location on the screen until the gun is fired. When the gun is fired, the screen blanks for a moment, and the optics in the gun register where on the screen the gun is aimed. That information is sent to the computer, which registers the shot. ... Positional guns are mounted stationary on the arcade cabinet with the ability to aim left/right and up/down. They function much like joysticks, which maintain a known location on screen at all times and register the current location when fired.
^Hirsch, Matthew (June 4, 2017)."VPC's MongoosT-50 joystick: A rare Russian-style controller for skies or space".Ars Technica. Archived fromthe original on June 5, 2017.Unlike most flight sticks for sale on the US market, which tend to be based with varying levels of verisimilitude on US fighter aircraft control columns, the MongoosT-50 is built to mirror the control stick on Russian aircraft—specifically, the fifth-generation Russian Sukhoi Su-35 and PAK FA (T-50).
^US Patent 5436640, David W. Reeves, "Video Game and Simulator Joystick Controller with Geared Potentiometer Actuation", published (1995-07-25), issued (1995-07-25), assigned to Thrustmaster, Inc.
^Bijlefeld, Marjolijn (2003).It came from outer space : everyday products and ideas from the space program. Burke, Robert (Robert L.). Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.ISBN0313058415.OCLC61247073.
^Hopkins, William D.; Washburn, David A.; Hyatt, Charles W. (1996). "Video-task acquisition in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): A comparative analysis".Primates.37 (2):197–206.doi:10.1007/BF02381407.PMID11541941.
