Atari 2600 controller was not a Joystick at all.

[DYNAGOD]

Saw this picture of an Atari Space Invaders convention on destructoid and couldnt help but notice that everyone in the image is using the stick like an over extended thumb controller.
the atari 2600 controller was a joystick in form, but a thumb controller in function.
interesting slant on popular game history.

[horseboy]

Strange, I can't imagine using it that way.

[Samstag]

That's the "performance grip".  That's how I always held it when I wasn't screwing around and playing with my feet.

[saint]

That's pretty much how I held it when I had one

[Zero_Hour]

Yep. That was definitely the same grip I used. It definitely maximized the precision of your movement. My hands were pretty small and that grip stretched them to their limits. 5+ hour sessions of missile command were an excruciating experience. Of course, I could have just stopped playing for a while, but what fun would that have been? 

[leapinlew]

I hold the Atari joystick similar to how I hold my joystick in the bathroom. Deathgrip. I can't imagine using just your thumb.

Hell, those joysticks broke so much at my house, you couldn't get enough leverage with just your thumb. We had a pile of old joysticks that almost did everything. Some wouldn't fire, some wouldn't go certain directions, etc.

Yes. In case your wondering, they were broke.

[missioncontrol]

lew...

you my friend are wrong... the 2600 stick was the predecessor to the Nintendo stick.... I have never seen an Atari stick that was broken... only dumb clumsy souls who obviously didn't know how to work it....

[Howard_Casto]

lew...

you my friend are wrong... the 2600 stick was the predecessor to the Nintendo stick.... I have never seen an Atari stick that was broken... only dumb clumsy souls who obviously didn't know how to work it....

Mission, you my friend are wrong....  I'm in that unique age group that was around, young, and playing games during the transition between the 2600 and the nintendo.  The 2600 stick was stiff and hard to use for anyone between the ages of 6 and 16... you know, the actual age demographic of the 2600! Although the outer-shell was virtually indestructable, the inner workings, particularly the rubber gromet "thingy" wore out quite quickly.  If you mean it wasn't broken in that it technically still worked, then you are correct, but by this point you had to use said "death grip" just to get the thing to respond properly.

Everyone needs to wipe the nostalgia out of their eyes.. the 2600 joystick sucked, period. 

Real console gaming started with the famicom/nes when Nintendo basically invented the control scheme that is still the standard today.... small pad you hold in your hands, d pad on the left, buttons on the right, nice, easy to push buttons.  Heck, the only thing that made some of the atari games challenging was the fact that you couldn't accurately control the character.  Although I'll be the first to admit that I enjoyed a 2600 game or two back in the day I don't exactly jump at the chance to play on those crappy controllers again. 

[Naru]

I played the 2600 a lot as a small kid.
I always held the stick with my entire hand,
never with just a thumb.
The Atari brand controllers that came
with it never lasted very long.
I can remember having a box full of worn out
joysticks. Ultimately, a larger black and red
joystick with a white button on top
of the stick, ended up being the only
control that did hold up for me.

[danny_galaga]

lew...

you my friend are wrong... the 2600 stick was the predecessor to the Nintendo stick.... I have never seen an Atari stick that was broken... only dumb clumsy souls who obviously didn't know how to work it....

   sux em in every time

[Hoopz]

WHOOSH... the noise you just heard was the sound of the joke going over Howard's head...

 

[missioncontrol]

Howard you can't really fault the stick for your inability to own at Combat....

[RandyT]

Saw this picture of an Atari Space Invaders convention on destructoid and couldnt help but notice that everyone in the image is using the stick like an over extended thumb controller.

Hmmm, I could only count about 5 of them holding it the wrong way 

RandyT

[horseboy]

I played the 2600 a lot as a small kid.
I always held the stick with my entire hand,
never with just a thumb.
The Atari brand controllers that came
with it never lasted very long.
I can remember having a box full of worn out
joysticks. Ultimately, a larger black and red
joystick with a white button on top
of the stick, ended up being the only
control that did hold up for me.

Wico Command Control. Best Joystick ever.

[Zero_Hour]

Wico Command Control. Best Joystick ever.

Indeed. I got one when I picked up my first C-64 in '83. It was still working when I gave it, and my Amiga 500 to a friend in '94. Only thing I ever had to do to it was very occasional leaf switch adjustments. That thing was as bomb proof as home accessories get.

[boykster]

Wico Command Control. Best Joystick ever.

Indeed. I got one when I picked up my first C-64 in '83. It was still working when I gave it, and my Amiga 500 to a friend in '94. Only thing I ever had to do to it was very occasional leaf switch adjustments. That thing was as bomb proof as home accessories get.

I concur...greatest joystick ever.  Mine for my c-64 was briefely replaced by an epyx micro-switch joystick until it was broken during a game of winter games and the wico came out of retirement.  Clean/adjust leaf switches every few months and it was good to go.

[hypernova]

WHOOSH... the noise you just heard was the sound of the joke going over Howard's head...

Who can fault him?  He just can't let an opportunity to ram his opinion down everyone's throat pass by.

I'm in that unique age group that was around, young, and playing games during the transition between the 2600 and the nintendo.

I'd be willing to wager many of the posters here are.  Plus, what does young have to do with anything?

[Naru]

I played the 2600 a lot as a small kid.
I always held the stick with my entire hand,
never with just a thumb.
The Atari brand controllers that came
with it never lasted very long.
I can remember having a box full of worn out
joysticks. Ultimately, a larger black and red
joystick with a white button on top
of the stick, ended up being the only
control that did hold up for me.

Wico Command Control. Best Joystick ever.

That's the one!
Ha, ha, it even has a name,
Wico Command Control.
Way to go horseboy!

[Luigi]

In my 2600 sticks the contact plate often was damaged. Once I complained to Atari that I already have three dead sticks with that fault....and received ten (!!) replacement parts from Atari plus some of those white plastics  

[RandyT]

Yes, Atari's customer service was amazing back then. 

Usually, it was the outer ring of the white plastic part that would break.  It was an interesting design that was stiff enough to actuate those tough little metal discs, but would still flex as to not damage them.  But I think the materials of the day just weren't up to the task.  They would eventually break with use.

I remember calling and asking how much the replacement parts would cost and they sent me 2 new ones for free!  I was tickled

RandyT

[ChadTower]

I am in that same age group mentioned above... I always held the stick like a regular joystick, still do, never had any performance issue with a reasonably functioning stick.

Why did so many people chew on their controllers?

[boykster]

Why did so many people chew on their controllers?

same reason so many kids chewed on pens/pencils in school....

because they could

[ChadTower]

I've parted out some controllers that were literally chewed all the way through, down to having half the freakin inner stick gone.  Really bad stuff, disgusting, and not from dog teeth either (anyone who has had a teething dog knows how dog chewed stuff looks).

NES controllers got chewed a lot too and I don't get it.

[jcroach]

I am in that same age group mentioned above... I always held the stick like a regular joystick, still do, never had any performance issue with a reasonably functioning stick.

Why did so many people chew on their controllers?

Oh, that's funny.  That was so me.  Same reason I chew on my cell phone antenna and recently broke off a piece of tooth chewing on a pen.

I never used that grip.  I'll have to try it tonight.  I remember my joysticks breaking, but I guess my parents weren't savvy enough to call customer service.  We jsut bought new/used joysticks at garage sales!

[AtomSmasher]

About 10 or so years ago, I dug out the old atari and hooked it up, only to find none of the controllers worked.  I realized the plug was shaped exactly the same as the plug on the sega genesis controllers, so I tried plugging one of them in and it actually kind of worked.  I don't remember how well it actually worked, but I do remember playing a few games with it.

[ChadTower]

Works quite well, I use those instead of sticks on many games.

[lanman31337]

I used genesis sticks on my commodore and my atari.  i want to say the b button was the fire button.

[RandyT]

I don't recall exactly what the situation was, but weren't the 6 button pads different electrically from the originals?  4 directionals plus 6 buttons = 2 buttons too many for a DB-9.  I'm guessing it still worked on a 2600 though.

BTW, Commodore made a stick that was very similar for the C64.  Except the stick had a triangular shaped shaft and the fire button was long across the front.

RandyT

[Luigi]

I remember that those old 2600 sticks were very good for playing Decathlon on C64. No heavy pushing but light and fast "vibrations" in tow directions

Oh yes, I also never thought of moving the stick only with my thumb 

[billf]

Oh yes, I also never thought of moving the stick only with my thumb 

I didn't originally either.  But then I saw a friend of mine was playing space invaders that way.  I gave it a try and never went back to the conventional grip.  Never knew, until reading this thread, that the thumb-on-top was the "performance grip".