Gamepad

This article is about the type of video game controller. For the TV show, seeGamepad (TV series).For the primary controller for Nintendo's Wii U console, seeWii U GamePad.For the Android device, seeArchos GamePad.

"Action button" redirects here. For the game development studio founded byTim Rogers,seeAction Button Entertainment.

Not to be confused withGaming keypadorJoystick.

ANintendo Switch Pro Controller,a typical modern gamepad

Agamepadis a type of videogame controllerheld in two hands, where the fingers (especially thumbs) are used to provide input. They are typically the maininput deviceforvideo game consoles.

Features

Shoulder buttons ( "bumpers" ) and triggers on anXbox 360controller

Some common additions to the standard pad include shoulder buttons (also called "bumpers" ) and triggers placed along the edges of the pad (shoulder buttons are usually digital, i.e. merely on/off; while triggers are usuallyanalog); centrally placedstart,select,andhomebuttons,and an internal motor to provideforce feedback.Analog triggers, like that of theGameCube controller,are pressure-sensitive and games can read in the amount of pressure applied to one to control the intensity of a certain action, such as how forceful water is to be sprayed inSuper Mario Sunshine.

There are programmable joysticks that can emulatekeyboardinput. Generally they have been made to circumvent the lack of joystick support in some computer games, e.g. theBelkinNostromo SpeedPad n52.There are several programs that emulate keyboard and mouse input with a gamepad such as thefree and open-sourcecross-platformsoftware antimicro,Enjoy2,or proprietary commercial solutions such as JoyToKey, Xpadder, and Pinnacle Game Profiler.

History

Analog joysticks

The 1962 video gameSpacewar!initially used toggle switches built into the computer readout display to control the game. These switches were awkward and uncomfortable to use, soAlan Kotokand Bob Saunders built and wired in a detached control device for the game. This device has been called the earliest gamepad.

Entry into the mass market

The iconicNES controller

It would take many years for the gamepad to rise to prominence, as during the 1970s and the early 1980sjoysticksandpaddleswere the dominant video game controllers,though severalAtari joystick port-compatible pushbutton controllers were also available.Thethird generation of video gamessaw many major changes, and the eminence of gamepads in the video game market.

Nintendodeveloped a gamepad device for directional inputs, a D-pad with a "cross" design for theirDonkey Konghandheld game. This design would be incorporated into their "Game & Watch"series and console controllers such as the standardNES controller.Though developed because they were more compact than joysticks, and thus more appropriate for handheld games, D-pads were soon found by developers to be more comfortable to use than joysticks.The D-pad soon became a ubiquitous element on console gamepads, though to avoid infringing on Nintendo's patent, most controller manufacturers use a cross in a circle shape for the D-pad instead of a simple cross.

Continued refinements

Six-button Genesis/Mega Drive controller that was released later

The originalSega Genesis/Mega Drivecontrol pad has three face buttons,but a six-button pad was later released.TheSNES controlleralso featured six action buttons, with four face buttons arranged in a diamond formation, and two shoulder buttons positioned to be used with the index fingers, a design which has been imitated by most controllers since. The inclusion of six action buttons was influenced by the popularity of theStreet Fighterarcade series, which utilized six buttons.

TheSNES/Super Famicomgamepad (Japanese Super Famicom version is shown), which popularized the layout used by most modern gamepads

For most of the 1980s and early 1990s,analog joystickswere the predominant form of gaming controller for PCs, while console gaming controllers were mostly digital.This changed in 1996 when all three major consoles introduced an optional analog control. The SonyDual Analog Controllerhad twin convex analog thumbsticks, theSega Saturn3D Control Pad had a single analog thumbstick, and theNintendo 64 controllercombined digital and analog controllers in a single body, starting a trend to have both an analog stick and a d-pad.

Despite these changes, gamepads essentially continued to follow the template set by the NES controller (a horizontally-oriented controller with two or more action buttons positioned for use with the right thumb, and a directional pad positioned for use with the left thumb).

Three-dimensional control

Wii Remotecan also be played with two hands like a gamepad controller.

Though three-dimensional games rose to prominence in the mid-1990s, controllers continued to mostly operate on two-dimensional principles. Players would have to hold down a button to change the axes along which the controls operate rather than being able to control movement along all three axes at once. One of the first gaming consoles, theFairchild Channel F,did have a controller which providedsix degrees of freedom,but the processing limitations of the console itself prevented there from being any software to take advantage of this ability.In 1994Logitechintroduced the CyberMan, the first practical six-degrees-of-freedom controller; however, it sold poorly due to its high price, poor build quality, and limited software support. Industry insiders blame the CyberMan's high profile and costly failure for the gaming industry's lack of interest in developing 3D control over the next several years.

TheWii Remoteis shaped like atelevisionremote controland containstilt sensorsand three-dimensionalpointing which the system uses to understand alldirections of movementand rotation (back and forth around thepitch, roll, and yaw axes). The controller is also multifunctional and has an expansion port which can be used for a variety of peripherals. An analog stick peripheral, called "Nunchuk," also contains anaccelerometerbut unlike the Wii Remote, it lacks any pointer functionality.

Usage across platforms

Gamepads are also available forpersonal computers.Examples of PC gamepads include theAsus Eee Stick,theGravis PC,theMicrosoft SideWinderandSaitek Cyborgrange, and theSteam Controller.Third-party USB adapters and software can be employed to utilize console gamepads on PCs; theDualShock 3,DualShock 4,DualSense,Wii Remote andJoy-Concan be used with third-party software on systems withBluetoothfunctionality, withUSBadditionally usable on DualShock 3, DualShock 4 and DualSense.Xbox 360andXbox Onecontrollers are officially supported onWindowswith Microsoft-supplied drivers; adonglecan be used to connect them wirelessly, or the controller can be connected directly to the computer over USB (wired versions of Xbox 360 controllers were marketed by Microsoft as PC gamepads, while the Xbox One controller can be connected to a PC via its Micro USB slot).

Non-gaming use

Trent Tresch piloting theOceanGateCyclops 1using a modifiedLogitech F710 Game Controller.

Gamepads or devices closely modelled on them are sometimes used for controlling real machinery and vehicles, as they are familiar to users and (in the case of actual gamepads) provide an off-the-shelf solution. TheUS ArmyandUS Navyuse Xbox controllers for operating devices, and theBritish Armyuses a device modelled on gamepads to operate systems on theChallenger 2main battle tank. The ill-fatedTitansubmersibleused a gamepad for control.

See also

• Computer keyboard
• Computer mouse
• Game port
• Racing wheel