Paddle (game controller)

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A paddle controllers for the Atari 2600.

A paddle is a game controller with a round wheel and one or more fire buttons, where the wheel is typically used to control movement of the player object along one axis of the video screen. A paddle controller rotates through a fixed arc (usually about 330 degrees), it has a stop at each end and rotating it further can break it.

1 How it works
2 Where employed
- 2.1 Games
3 Similar controllers
4 See Also

[edit] How it works

The paddle wheel is usually mechanically coupled to a potentiometer, so as to generate an output voltage level varying with the wheel's angle relative to a fixed reference position. A paddle is thus an absolute position controller. That is, without any previous knowledge, the sensor can be read and the result directly indicates the position of the paddle knob. This is in contrast to a quadrature encoder-based device or "spinner".

[edit] Where employed

A paddle controller for the Sony PlayStation.

The first successful video game console, the Atari 2600, used paddles for several of its games, as did early home computers such as the Commodore VIC-20. True (potentiometer-based) paddles are almost never employed anymore because they stop reading accurately when the potentiometer contacts get dirty or worn, because turning them too far can break them and because they require more-expensive analog sensing, whereas quadrature encoder-based controllers can be sensed digitally. Any recent game that has paddle-type control uses a quadrature encoder instead, even if the game uses paddles on screen (like Arkanoid).

[edit] Games

Some famous video games using paddles are Pong, Breakout, and Night Driver. The reason for the name paddles for this type of game controller is that the first game that used it, Pong, was a (somewhat crude, but pioneering) video game simulation of table tennis, whose racquets are commonly called paddles. Even though the simulated paddles appeared on-screen (as small line segments), it was the hand controllers used to move the line segments that actually came to bear the name.

[edit] Similar controllers

On the Atari 2600, the paddle controllers looked very similar to the driving controllers. Paddle controllers came in pairs (as in the picture above) both connecting to a single controller port. Paddle controllers also could rotate just under one full rotation before hitting a hard stop. Finally, they had a picture of a racquet and the word "paddle" on it. Because two controllers connected to each port and the 2600 had two controller ports, 4 players could play simultaneously in games that supported it. The Atari paddles were also compatible with the Atari 800 home computer, with its four game controller ports. This would in theory allow eight paddles in simultaneous play, however it is doubtful there were any games released that would support this many players.

Atari also offered driving controllers for use with games like Indy 500 which needed wheels that could be spun round and round in one direction indefinitely. A driving controller could be spun continuously, had a picture of a car and the word "driving" on it and a single controller attached to each controller port. The driving controller was not compatible with paddle games. Like a mechanical computer mouse, the driving controller was a quadrature encoder-based device and thus only sensed relative position, not absolute position. This controller was functionally identical to the spin-dial controller used in Atari's Tempest arcade game. Since only one controller attached to each port only two people could play these driving games simultaneously. The Atari 2600 Driving Controller is also the basis of a controller hack to make a rotary controller for the Atari Jaguar video game Tempest 2000, however the option to use a rotary controller must be unlocked; this is done by holding Pause on Controller 1 and Controller 2 at the Options menu; the word "Excellent" will be spoken to confirm correct code entry.

Several such relative spinner controllers have emerged as part of the home-built arcade cabinet scene in order to play such games as Tempest, including spinners from Oscar Controls and the SlikStik Tornado spinner. These devices are typically made to plug directly into a computer as a single-axis mouse.