From buttons to joysticks - how the first gaming controllers evolved

Gamers often think that the biggest factor that influences how games look and play is the raw computing power of their computer or console. But we must never forget how big of an impact the controllers have as well.

The oldest form of game controllers was a paddle – a linear controller that uses a wheel or a lever – this controller was typical for one-chip home pongs – for controlling all the games, whether it was tenis, football, squash or any of the other games, this one big wheel is all that was needed.

Tele-Games Atari Pong console

Sometimes these controllers were pretty comical, looking like buttons from a radio, but over time, paddle vanished or more specifically got incorporated into gamepads or become specialized tools – for example the Microsoft Surface Dial is essentially just that. But we all have a paddle at home and we don’t even think about it. It is the wheel on your mouse.

In the year 1977 – with the Atari 2600 – the classical 4 way digital joystick was introduced. Joysticks were available before, but those were analog. The new joystick developed by Atari was digital and was really cheap to make.

Atari 2600 joystick

One of the huge advantages for the user was the ability to disconnect the joystick from the console. This might sound like nothing today, but at the time, most other consoles had their controllers permanently connected to the console and while that allowed a better quality of the connectors it also meant that if your controller broke the whole console had to go to the repair shop. Here you just plugged in a different joystick.