Usage in Video Games
In a video game, an analog stick is often used to move some game object, usually the protagonist. It may also be used to rotate the camera, usually around the protagonist. The analog stick can serve a great variety of other functions, depending on the game. Today many analog sticks can also be pushed like other buttons on a controller.
Its use is prevalent in 3D games, where more than 8 directions are needed (which is all that was offered on the d-pad). Using a D-pad in a 3D game greatly limits the ability to move. For example, in a 3D platform game like Super Mario 64, using a D-pad would allow Mario to move forward, left, and forward-left, but nothing in between. Some early 3D games such as Resident Evil overcame this limitation by assigning the Left and Right directions on the D-pad to spin the character instead of making the character move in that direction. This however created its own problems as the character was unable to move while spinning, requiring the player to stand in the same spot while changing direction. With the prevalence of analog sticks, the aforementioned limitations of the D-pad ceased to be an issue.
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Famous quotes containing the words video games, usage, video and/or games:
“It is among the ranks of school-age children, those six- to twelve-year-olds who once avidly filled their free moments with childhood play, that the greatest change is evident. In the place of traditional, sometimes ancient childhood games that were still popular a generation ago, in the place of fantasy and make- believe play . . . today’s children have substituted television viewing and, most recently, video games.”
—Marie Winn (20th century)
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—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)
“It is among the ranks of school-age children, those six- to twelve-year-olds who once avidly filled their free moments with childhood play, that the greatest change is evident. In the place of traditional, sometimes ancient childhood games that were still popular a generation ago, in the place of fantasy and make- believe play . . . today’s children have substituted television viewing and, most recently, video games.”
—Marie Winn (20th century)
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—Gustave Flaubert (1821–1880)