Game controller
A game controller, gaming controller, or simply controller, is an input device used with video games or entertainment systems to provide input to a video game, typically to control an object or character in the game. Before the seventh generation of video game consoles, plugging in a controller into one of a console's controller ports were the primary means of using a game controller, although since then they have been replaced by wireless controllers, which do not require controller ports on the console but are battery-powered. USB game controllers could also be connected to a computer with a USB port. Input devices that have been classified as game controllers include keyboards, mouses, gamepads, joysticks, etc. Special purpose devices, such as steering wheels for driving games and light guns for shooting games, are also game controllers.
Game controllers have been designed and improved over the years to be as user friendly as possible. The Microsoft Xbox controller, with its shoulder triggers that mimic actual triggers such as those found on guns, has become popular for shooting games. Some controllers are designed to be best for one type of game, such as steering wheels for driving games, or dance pads for dancing games.
One of the first video game controllers was a simple dial and single button, used to control the game Tennis for Two. Controllers have since evolved to include directional pads, multiple buttons, analog sticks, joysticks, motion detection, touch screens and a plethora of other features.
Variants
Gamepad
Paddle
Joystick
Trackball
Throttle quadrant
Steering wheel
Yoke
Pedals
Mouse and keyboard
Touchscreen
Breathing controllers
Motion sensing
Light gun
Rhythm game controllers
Wireless
Others
- Pinball controllers and multi-button consoles for strategy games were released in the past, but their popularity was limited to hardcore fans of the genre.
- Dance pads, essentially a grid of flat pressure-sensitive gamepad buttons set on a mat meant to be stepped on, have seen niche success with the popularity of rhythm games like Dance Dance Revolution and Pump It Up. The dance pad was first introduced by Bandai on the Famicom in 1986 as a part of their "Family Fun Fitness" set, then Exus released the "Foot Craz" pad for the Atari 2600 in 1987. Nintendo purchased the technology from Bandai in 1988 and used it on their "Power Pad", for the Famicom and NES.
- Balance board: The Wii Balance Board comes with the game Wii Fit. This was preceded by decades by the Joyboard, made to plug into an Atari 2600, to play skiing and surfing games.
- Buzzers: A recent example of specialized, while very simple, game controllers, is the four large "buzzers" supplied with the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 quiz show game series Buzz! ; both game and controllers clearly being inspired by the television show genre.
- NeGcon: is a unique controller for racing games on the PlayStation. Physically it resembles a gamepad, but its left and right halves twist relative to each other, making it a variation of the paddle controller.
- Microphone: A few games have made successes in using a headset or microphone as a secondary controller, such as Hey You, Pikachu!, the Rock Band series, the Guitar Hero series, the SingStar series, Tom Clancy's Endwar, the Mario Party series, and the series. The use of these microphones allowed players to issue commands to the game, controlling teammates and other AI characters. The Nintendo DS features a microphone that is built into the system. It has been used for a variety of purposes, including speech recognition, chatting online between and during gameplay sessions, and minigames that require the player to blow or shout into the microphone.
- Steel Battalion for the Xbox was bundled with a full dashboard, with 2 joysticks and over 30 buttons, in an attempt to make it feel like an actual mecha simulator.
- Fishing rod: the first fishing rod controller appeared as an accessory for the Dreamcast video console for playing Sega Marine Fishing. Later other games for PlayStation console use also a similar controllers.
- Floating Interactive Display: at least two commercial systems offer interactive "floating interfaces" which display an image projected in mid-air but can be interacted with by finger similar to a touch screen.
- Mind-controlled headset: As of March 24, 2007 a United States/Australian company called Emotiv Systems began launching a mind-controlled device for video games based on electroencephalography. It was reported by The Wall Street Journal's Don Clark on MSNBC.
- PCGamerBike similar to a pair of pedals removed from an exercise bike, then set down in front of a chair & used to precisely control game characters instead.
- Optical motion tracking systems such as TrackIR and FreeTrack use a video camera to track an infrared illuminated or emissive headpiece. Small head movements are tracked and then translated into much larger virtual in-game movements, allowing hands-free view control and improved immersiveness.
- Mechanical motion tracking systems like Gametrak use cables attached to gloves for tracking position of physical elements in three-dimensional space in. The Gametrak mechanism contains a retracting cable reel and a small tubular guide arm from which the cable passes out. The guide arm is articulated in a ball joint such that the arm and ball follow the angle at which the cable extends from the mechanism. The distance of the tracked element from the mechanism is determined through components which measure the rotation of the spool drum for the retracting cable reel, and calculating how far the cable is extended.
- Exoskeleton controllers use exoskeleton technology to provide the player with different responses based on the player's body position, speed of movement, and other sensed data. In addition to audio and visual responses, an exoskeleton controller may provide a controlled resistance to movement and other stimuli to provide realism to the action. This not only lets players feel as if they are actually performing the function, but also helps reinforce the correct muscle pattern for the activity being simulated. The Forcetek XIO is an example of an exoskeleton video game controller.
- Instrument panels are simulated aircraft instrument panels, either generic or specific to a real aircraft, that are used in place of the keyboard to send commands to a flight simulation program. Some of these are far more expensive than all the rest of a computer system combined. The panels usually only simulate switches, buttons, and controls, rather than output instrument displays.
- * Train controls: Other instrument panel like hardware such as train controls have been produced. The "RailDriver" for example is designed to work with Trainz, Microsoft Train Simulator and Kuju Rail Simulator. it is limited in ease of use by the lack of a Windows API for some of the software it is designed to work with. A train controller for a Taito bullet train sim has also been made for the Wii console.
- R.O.B. is an accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System, which allowed players to interact with NES games by controlling the robot. Known in Japan as the Famicom Robot, this short-lived accessory jumpstarted Nintendo's involvement in the western market, though only used for Stack-Up and Gyromite. It has been considered a "Trojan horse" for getting NESs into stores during the video game market crash of 1983 and the accessory was called by GameSpy the fifth greatest video game marketing move within twenty-five. As a character, R.O.B. appeared in later Nintendo games such as Mario Kart DS and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
- The Sega Toylet, an interactive urinal, uses urine as a control method; pressure sensors in the bowl translate the flow of urine into on-screen action.
Use on PCs
Sometimes support for mapping to different devices is built into the controller itself, as with the Nostromo SpeedPad n52, which can act as either a keyboard, mouse, joystick or as a hybrid between the three.