Introduction

In the long gone days of yore there was but one controller suitable for playing videogames; the joystick. Almost perfect in its simplicity, the original joysticks made interacting with those primitive lights immediately intuitive starting many of us down the dark path of videogame addiction. When Atari brought games into our homes with the 2600, the joystick was still the interface of choice. I guess they also had those paddles for Warlords, but the joystick reigned supreme in arcades before the advent of the home console. As the proliferation of the home consoles continued, the gamepad replaced the joystick as the default controller and the joystick was relegated to the realms of the arcade cabinets and PC simulations. It was there that it stayed, content to fulfill the need of niche users everywhere, and the term "joystick" became synonymous with a PC gaming peripheral that was used to play flight sims. Hardly the same scope of its previous videogame empire, but necessary and useful nonetheless if only to a select few.

Now, however, with the shift in PC gaming development away from a genre that used to be so successful (flight and space sims), the modern joystick is in danger of becoming obsolete. Air combat games on the home consoles opt for a more (ironically enough) "arcade" feel and are not as much simulations as those on the PC. Because of this, the console's default control scheme will suffice. The immersion is lessened somewhat, but with physics, like what you see in a console "flight sim," it isn't the controller that is pulling you out of the game's realism. Fewer and fewer games that make the case for a joystick are being released these days and joystick manufacturers are paying attention.

I remember when I first realized that the joystick may be in trouble. I was the proud owner of a Microsoft SideWinder Force Feedback and I was upgrading my computer to Windows XP. Imagine my surprise and dismay when I found out that Microsoft was not supporting the SideWinder line on XP, and I was unable to get the software to recognize the peripheral let alone support the force feedback functionality. It was a sad day. When you look at Microsoft's site now, the gaming hardware section is broken down into mice, keyboards, and controllers. The only controllers listed are the wired and wireless versions of the Xbox 360 controller for Windows. I was able to find some SideWinder Force Feedback 2s (presumably a newer version of my own beloved) on Amazon, but when I went back to Microsoft's site to look for updated drivers I was treated to software downloads for only Windows 95 and Windows 98. There is a link in the hardware section specifically dealing with SideWinder products promising, "Information regarding Microsoft's support Lifecycle for SideWinder products." This link takes you to a support page, but doesn't list anything about the SideWinder brand. It seems that Microsoft is out of the joystick business, and they aren't the only one.

Gravis was a company that produced gaming hardware for computers in the 90s, and the Gravis Gamepad was the go-to peripheral for that console feel on your PC. It was perfect for sports games and platform ports. Gravis also produced a number of budget joysticks that were for the no-frills crowd who just wanted to play X-Wing with something other than the keyboard. Gravis was eventually acquired by Kensington and then disappeared off the face of the earth. I contacted Kensington inquiring about further joystick development and one of their representatives was kind enough to reply. Here's the statement I was given:

"While Kensington's acquisition of Gravis during the late 90's was very successful, market dynamics changed, leading Kensington to focus on the mobile professional. As more and more PC gamers migrated to console gaming, our attention has remained on creating essential tools for the notebook user community. Our decision to exit the PC gaming business has allowed us to further our core business - creating 'Smart Made Simple' solutions for notebook users wherever they go." So there you have it. Gravis is out, too.

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