Also, if you're keeping score in country music's ongoing hat-switch game, in the video for this song, Mr. Brice doesn't wear a cowboy hat, or a baseball cap, but rather, a fedora.
|
|
Computer gamepads with both an analogue stick and a D-pad usually assign POV switch scancodes to the latter. The term hat switch is a shortening of the term "Coolie hat switch", named for the similar-looking headgear. In a real aircraft, the hat switch may control things like aileron or elevator trim.
|
|
Hat switch - at top, in green A hat switch is a control on some joysticks. It is also known as a POV (point of view) switch. It allows one to look around in one's virtual world, browse menus, etc. For example, many flight simulators use it to switch the player's views, while other games sometimes use it as a substitute for the D-pad.
|
|
The Precision Pro joystick. The "hat" switch is visible at the top of the stick, and the throttle wheel at the bottom. Microsoft introduced the SideWinder Precision Pro in 1995, correcting the ergonomic issues, fixing some of the electrical issues, and adding new features. The Precision Pro introduced a new stick that was far more ergonomic than the "geometric" design of the 3D Pro.
|
|
The control pad had a total of ten digital fire buttons: six buttons controlled with the right thumb (named ABC XYZ), two shoulder buttons (one left, one right), and two buttons controlled with the left thumb, one named start, the other marked with a shift key symbol (as the SideWinder software allowed to use this button to shift controls for the ABC XYZ buttons - on the driver side, it was just an action button like the others). A sensor button switched the control pad between analogue mode (green LED) and digital mode (red LED). In analogue mode, the x- and y-axis were controlled by the analogue controller movements, and the D-pad was used as a hat switch. In digital mode, the D-pad controlled the x- and y-axis like a traditional digital control pad (therefore, there was no hat switch function in digital mode).
|
|
Using the Precision 2 design once again, Microsoft introduced a value-oriented SideWinder joystick, simply called the SideWinder Joystick. In spite of its value designation, the SideWinder Joystick was functionally similar to the Precision 2. The main features dropped were Z-axis control and the 8-way hat switch. Otherwise the differences were cosmetic, including shrinking the base, moving the throttle to the front of the base, and replacing 2 of the rounded buttons on the stick with more rectangular buttons.
|
|
Instead of using light sensors, a positional gun is essentially an analog joystick mounted in a fixed location that records the position of the gun to determine where the player is aiming on the screen. It is often used for arcade gun games, with early examples including Sega's Sea Devil in 1972; Taito's Attack in 1976; Cross Fire in 1977; and Nintendo's Battle Shark in 1978. Saitek's Cyborg 3D Gold around the 2000s. Note its throttle, its extra buttons, and its hat switch.
|
|
The original TrackIR product was an affordable assistive technology device used for Windows cursor control. An early customer provided feedback to NaturalPoint that the product could be used in some flight simulators. This prompted NaturalPoint to re-brand the original device as SmartNav and launch a new TrackIR with improved gaming features to specifically target the flight simulation market. TrackIR was embraced by PC flight simulation enthusiasts who saw it as a better alternative to a joystick hat switch for view control.
|
|
The Analog Joystick used potentiometer technology previously used on consoles such as the Vectrex; instead of relying on binary eight-way switches, the controller can detect minute angular changes through the entire range of motion. The stick also features a thumb-operated digital hat switch on the right joystick, corresponding to the traditional D-pad, and used for instances when simple digital movements were necessary. A compatibility mode for the Analog Joystick was included in the Dual Analog Controller, Sony's first analog revision of its original gamepad design. PS1 games that support the PS1 Analog Joystick have an "Analog Joystick Compatible" icon on the back cover.
|
|
The stick also features a thumb-operated digital hat switch on the right joystick, corresponding to the traditional D-pad, and used for instances when simple digital movements were necessary. The Analog Joystick sold poorly in Japan, reportedly due to its high cost and cumbersome size. The increasing popularity of 3D games prompted Sony to add analogue sticks in their controller design to give users more freedom over their movements in virtual 3D environments. The first official analogue controller, the Dual Analog Controller, was revealed to the public in a small glass booth at the 1996 PlayStation Expo in Japan, and eventually released in April 1997, coincident with the Japanese releases of analogue-capable titles Tobal 2 and Bushido Blade.
|
|
Microsoft SideWinder 3D Pro Joystick As Microsoft's first SideWinder joystick, the 3D Pro was responsible for setting the overall design as seen in all of Microsoft's future joysticks. Designed as a gaming-neutral joystick, rather than a specialized joystick for use with realistic combat flight simulators, the 3D Pro was built with a functional, but low-key geometric design. Intended to rival the other sticks from the time, the 3D Pro included 8 buttons - 4 on the base, 4 on the stick - an 8-way hat switch, a slider- based throttle, and the stick itself was twistable for Z/rudder/spin control. By going with a geometric design however, it meant the 3D Pro lacked an effective adherence to ergonomic principles, making it unsuitable for long gaming sessions for some users.
|
|