Joysticks

Conventional Digital Joysticks

Stick diagram by JoyMonkey

Conventional joysticks are fairly simple devices without which Pac-Man would be ghost-fodder. When the joystick shaft is moved in any direction, the lower end of the stick is levered in the opposite direction and makes contact with switches, these switches are what tells Pac-Man to move and in which direction.

By using four switches at the base of the joystick, 8 directions can be achieved; Up, Down, Left and Right as well as the four corner positions. Joysticks like this are known as 8-way.

Some joysticks were designed to restrict the player from moving diagonally; for example, joysticks used in Pac-Man and Donkey Kong. Though it is possible to use an 8-way joystick for these games, it's not recommended, as accidentally hitting a diagonal with the joystick will cause Mario to stand still and Pac-Man won't know if he should go up or to the side. Joysticks like this are known as 4-way.

Other games, such as Galaga, used a 2-way joystick since movement was only necessary from left to right or up to down.

Standard 8-way only joysticks:

• Happ Competition, Wico 8-way Leafswitch Joystick (discontinued).

Standard 4-way only joysticks:

• Happ Ms.Pac/Galaga Reunion, Betson Ms.Pac/Galaga Reunion, Wico 4-Way Leafswitch (discontinued).

8-Way to 4-Way Switchable Joysticks

Many 8-way joysticks that are sold can also be set to work in 4-way mode. This is usually done by rotating a restrictor of some kind inside the joystick base. Adjusting these joystick usually involves opening up your control panel so you can access the lower section of the joystick base.

Joysticks that can be set to 4-way or 8-way motion include:

• Happ Super, Suzo 500 (aka Euro-Stik or Omni-Stik), Ultimarc T-Stik, Ultimarc Mag-Stik, Ultimarc J-Stik, Sanwa JLF-TP-8YT, Seimitsu LS-32.

In the last few years, some companies have added to this feature to allow the joystick to be switchable from above the control panel in some way. This makes it simple for anyone to switch the joystick between 4-way to 8-way from game to game, without having to access 'the guts' of the control panel.

Conventional joysticks that can be switched from above the control panel like this include:

• T-Stik Plus, Mag-Stik Plus, Omni-Stik Prodigy.

Non-Conventional Digital Joysticks

Inside a Suzo Inductive Stick

Suzo Inductive Joystick

Instead of using the conventional microswitches, Suzo Inductive sticks use a magnet at the base of its shaft that is read by eight 'pads' on its PCB. It is completely silent and easily switchable between 4-way and 8-way using a pot under the joystick.

49-Way Joysticks

Once used in a small handfull of Williams, Midway and Atari games, these analog style joysticks have become a great all-around stick when used on a home arcade machine. Using the GP-Wiz's various DRS modes, these joysticks can be easily switched between 49-way, 8-way, 4-way, 2-way and diagonal (Q*Bert style) modes without having to physically change the joystick hardware. This makes them well suited to a huge list of games that were originally controlled with different control methods.

Relevant links:
What are 49-Way joysticks? by URebelScum