I always though the N64 had pots inside. But even with the sensor light emitters, still an analog type of feed in a sense. I think the determining factor is how the GAMEPLAY is affected by the controller. Not just on or off, but a control of walk to run or speed of camera movement depending on how far the stick is pushed.Jamisonia wrote:I was hoping maybe you guys could clear something up for me. I was always under the impression the Nintendo made popular the self centering analog thumbstick. However a thread on another forum has one poster arguing that the stick was in fact digital in nature, but with enough points that it simulated an analog feel. He cited this article from 1up http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.off ... Id=3143627 and the wikipedia article on the N64 controller http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_64_controller.
So can anyone shed light on this subject. Was Sony or Sega then in fact the ones who popularized the self centering analog thumbstick?
I love playing CHOPLIFTER on the Apple II+ vs other computer digital versions of the era. The analog control of keeping that helo afloat added to the game play. Luckily the 5200 got a release, along with GORF exploiting the Analog function. I wrote on this in my Unique Controls in games.
So when did analog sticks become a big hit? One of the first was the pre-Arcade Space War with the Dual Sticks controlling Y and X movements or Apple II+, both just a niche to the owners. As for consoles, Vectrex and the Atari 5200, both came out earlier but maybe flopped because of non centering sticks? Perhaps most of the 2D games were made for digital control? I lean towards the N64 when the first 3D games such as Mario 64 came out.
An interesting post:
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/jo ... /printable
