Las Vegas, 1985. Nintendo showcased the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) at CES.
At that time, the North American game market was still immersed in the shadow of the Atari collapse, but Nintendo was the warm wind that blew away the haze, which saved the North American video game industry in one fell swoop and established its position in the game field.
▲ Nintendo booth at CES in 1985
Well-made games such as Super Mario Bros., "Duck Fight", and "Mitterrod" have made countless people familiar with Nintendo while also familiarizing themselves with the cross key (D-Pad) that first appeared on Game & Watch.
From stick to stick, just to play the game
What should a gamepad look like?
When I thought about it, I drew a gamepad on the Pad that looked something like this:
The joysticks on both sides are responsible for the movement and perspective of the characters, the cross keys, function keys and shoulder keys correspond to the game to adapt to various game operations, and the trackpad is used to achieve innovative gameplay.
If you own any of the consoles, you'll find the shadow of your handle on this graph. But when we take the time back to before Nintendo released the NES, the "gamepad" at that time didn't even fit into the hand.
Industrial toys? Family games?
In the early days of video games, consoles were just hardware tailored to a certain game, this one could play PONG, and the other could play Space Invaders. It was not until the 1970s, the development of personal computer technology, that game consoles were able to get rid of the fragile storage media such as tape and floppy disk, and could run different game software through cassettes. The most famous of these is Atari 2600 (1977).
The atari 2600's grip is more like an arcade controller, with a joystick and a button, which can be very convenient to operate like "Bricks" and "Space Invaders", which were very popular games on arcades at that time.
You know, early video games weren't made for entertainment, they were more of a leisure method in the lab. Therefore, the raw materials for the handle are mostly provided by industrial equipment, such as levers and knobs. At least two knobs are needed to move the character, as was the case with the Magnavox Odyssey, the first home console in history.
▲ Playing games is like experimenting
By the time of the Atari 2600, the handles, though they looked like arcade machines borrowing joysticks from industrial equipment, were structurally more like the later cross keys. Yes, it just wants to use the shape of the joystick to attract more players who want to "move the arcade home".
After the Atari crash, the joystick controller and the North American gaming industry were buried in the desert of New Mexico. Immediately after, Nintendo reinvented the entire gaming industry, including gamepads, with its legendary FC console (NES, 1983).
The cross key was born for the handheld Game & Watch, such a design, so that the handheld can not only be blind like an arcade, but also easy to carry. However, the use of cross keys on the FC, which is called the "red and white machine" by the majority of domestic players, is not too concerned about portability, but because the handle will not be broken or broken - at that time, most of the rooms in Japan did not have chairs and tables, and people sat on the floor.
Therefore, one of the most important hardware designs in the history of games is not that Nintendo designers see the future of the game industry, but a coincidence of market factors, process costs, and external environment.
▲ To this day, most of the handles also have cross keys
From the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, almost no manufacturer had the ability to shake Nintendo's monopoly position in the field of games, although various console manufacturers launched many special controllers for different games, but still did not escape the tinkering of Nintendo's left cross key and right function key handle.
▲ Sega MD controller, more suitable for fighting games
The joystick is back, yes, still Nintendo
The joystick never left the stage of history completely because of Atari's loneliness, but what makes the joystick indispensable is Nintendo that gives up it on the controller: the 3D era is coming, and someone has to teach everyone how to make 3D games, look, this is the Nintendo 64 (N64, 1996).
The N64 was developed under the code name P roject Reality, and the goal was to bring real 3D worlds into the game. To manipulate Mario and Link in 3D, Nintendo designed 3D game shots, battle locks, and analog sticks to adapt to 3D games.
▲ How do I get the handle of the N64?
This trident-like handle not only uses the joystick to input directional commands, but also gives correct feedback on the magnitude of the force. It can be said that it has created a new situation in the gamepad.
Sony's PS2 controller DualShock continues the PS1's symmetrical joystick design, which has been known to countless players along with first-person shooters; Xbox, released after the millennium, has a variety of customized handles that make people hungry and cold.
As for Nintendo, it... Playing with yourself.
▲ We never know what the next any-system handle will look like
Cross keys, joysticks, function keys, at this point, the appearance of the handle has hardly changed much, and various manufacturers have begun to pursue "inside". With a screen (Wii U), optimized vibration (DualSense), and a touch of motion (Joy-Con), plus special customization for different games, the gamepad, or game controller, is still looking ahead.
▲ PlayStation2's "Rush Answer! Special handle
The gamepad that twists and turns forward depends on the game in the future
At the end of March, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards (BAFTA) launched a poll for players to choose the best gamepad in their minds, and the PS5 console's Dual Sense stood out from 16 candidates to take first place.
In the finalist handles, we can see many of the handles mentioned above, such as the Joystick of the Atari 2600, the Nintendo N64 Controller, etc. Of course, the selection of Qin Qiong, which is related to the public battle, is naturally not rigorous, but the excellence of the DualSense is beyond doubt.
All players who have experienced DualSense may silently shout inwardly: "Wow, it's cool." This comfort comes from the excellent grip of the handle, but also from the excellent vibration performance.
DualSense's haptic feedback technology comes from Immersion, which also provides technology for the Joy-Con handle of the Nintendo Switch, but the former's larger volume and larger contact area with the palm of the hand make the shock feel more fulfilling than the Joy-Con.
Another great charm is the adaptive plate machine button, which allows us to have a more realistic and progressive experience when shooting and stepping on the accelerator.
Microsoft, on the other hand, is to further optimize the cross key, add textures to the board key, and investigate the size of the mainstream player's hand, so that more people can use the controller better on more platforms.
Remember the handle I drew at the beginning of the article? The keys and features are not much different from today's DualSense and Xbox gamepads. In this way, in addition to Nintendo, which has been exploring game controllers, whether it is a game console or peripheral manufacturer, or even gamers, the exploration of the form of the controller seems to have come to an end.
What will the gamepads of the future look like?
To find out what the handle will look like in the future, first know how the handle became what it is today. The first is cost. A small question for everyone: Why do you have a select (SELECT) and start (START) keys on the handle of the red and white machine? Wouldn't it be okay to press the key and then press "A" to confirm?
Of course, you can, but in this way, the problems that the hardware can solve are imposed on the software, and the cartridge capacity of the land is not enough to withstand such a toss - you know, the original Mario game, only 40KB.
As costs decreased, it became a game that affected the development of the gamepad. The cross key was introduced to allow Donkey Kong on Game & Watch to move up and down; the return of the joystick was to cope with the increasingly complex 3D game screen. Shoulder keys, board keys, vibration, and somatosensory are all designed to cooperate with the game, so that the first-party game can get better results, so that the third-party game can have more innovative possibilities.
Before asking about future gamepads, let's take a look at what the games of the future will look like.
In recent years, most manufacturers have focused on the audiovisual atmosphere of the game, which has led to the gradual weakening of the "interactive" nature of the game. Recently, foreign media eurogamer reported that the adventure game "Quarry Horror" will launch a "movie mode", you can choose the full survivor, all the death and director mode, and then put down the controller and "play" the game in the way you watch.
▲ Complaining to friends about this news
But I believe this won't be the future of game development, because interaction will always be at the heart of the game. When it comes to interaction, it's important to mention two recently hot game genres: somatosensory and VR.
More common is somatosensory, with the detachable Joy-Con handle, the Switch plays the somatosensory flower. However, most of the games of third-party manufacturers are compatible with multiple platforms, and the switch's body feel is mostly first-party game adaptation. For example, "Super Mario Party" and "1-2 Switch". But the split-style Joy-Con can still play all kinds of traditional games.
The other direction is VR, with the popularity of the metaverse concept last year, the lower entry price of Meta Quest 2, and the popularity of VR games including Rhythm Lightsaber and Half-Life: Alex, VR has once again come to us, along with VR games, and their unique controllers.
▲ Meta Quest 2
At the beginning of March this year (2022), Sony also launched the official website of The PlayStation VR2, the split controller design, coupled with the technical accumulation of DualSense, although it has not been started, we can also imagine the excellent performance of Sony's new generation of VR controllers.
▲ PlayStation VR2 Credit
Has the VR controller tried anything else? Of course. In 1995, Nintendo released a device called the Virtual Boy, which sold less than 800,000 copies and was only available in North America and Japan, and was recognized as a failed machine. But it's still an attempt at naked-eye 3D. The Virtual Boy's handle features a dual cross key design, which is not the same as today's mainstream.
▲ Virtual Boy
Recently, foreign media Patently Apple exposed Apple's patent for a new style of gamepad applied for in Europe, which is used to connect iPhone and iPad. From the patent design drawings we can see an important feature of the handle: the split type.
▲ Is it a bit like Joy-Con?
Just as 3D games have brought the controller joystick back to the mainstream, the popularity of somatosensory and VR games may make split design, excellent vibration, and precise somatosensory become the mainstream of future gamepads.
Video games are physical
In the introduction to the book "Video Game Microhistory", the authors James Newman and Ian Simmons say this: Video games have a substance.
From the pixel style and beeping chip music of the 8-bit era, to the current game trend led by somatosensory and the metaverse written in VR, the digital age is the data and code built by 1s and 0s, unreal and future. But at the same time, there are also gray and black or colorful, rustic or futuristic handles, in their own unique ways, so that these illusions and futures bloom under your fingers.
Every knob, every button, every joystick, is using the market performance of success or failure, telling the story of how they are liked and used. The history of the development of video games is very short, and the development of a hundred years is only a moment in comparison with the long history; the history of the development of video games is very long, and the objects that accompany us are accidentally discarded aside.
We look back at gamers 50 years ago, they manipulated joysticks and cross keys, ping-pong and bricks; what kind of gamepads will players hold and play 50 years later?
In any case, I believe that video games at that time will still be full of fingerprints.