Why did the Joystick Die?

[Chaucer345]

Hey all,

I was playing the demo for a dogfighting simulator recently and the controls were just completely terrible. I couldn't help think back to the days when joysticks made awesome dog fighting and flying games something really incredible and made games like MechWarrior just seem that much more real. I know many of you are quite versed in gaming history so I ask you, why do you think the joystick died considering it made so many types of games just work? With all of these interesting interface devices we see nowadays it doesn't seem as though it would be too impossible to make games work with them.

 

[Catchy Slogan]

They didn't die. You can still buy them. Hell, I still have one for my flight sims. And I'm fairly sure you can buy an adaptor for xboxs that allow you to use a keyboard/ mouse, so I don't see why it shouldn't work for joysticks.

 

[viranimus]

Because that genre of game basically died out. You dont see a lot of dogfighting games put out any more.

It makes me sad that weve drifted away from games like Descent, Colony wars, Wing commander, etc when they were a huge staple of gaming in the late 90s


If there is a reason it prolly has a lot to do with button configurations and centering your control mechanisms around one hand. Now sure if you made a dual joystick system that presented buttons on each stick then yes its very possible a system like that could work. Perhaps that new PC based motion cotroller that works from magnets.

:goes off to find find that controller..... brb

Edit: Razer Hydra - Sixence truemotion. (wow what a mouthful)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixense_TrueMotion

But much in the way this has an analog stick on each controller you could set up dual joysticks much in the same fashion, which, honestly I would prolly buy a 100 times over before I would buy the Razer Hydra

Other thought: With a motion controller whos brilliant idea was it to even bother with something that had wires?!?! Seriously... thats just horrible planning.

 

[VladG]

Because the only flight game I know of being made in the last few years is HAWX. The genre is dead, so the interest in dedicated peripherals is low. You can still find and buy them though, there are some big name producers making them, like Saitek, Genius....

 

[skywolfblue]

Because that genre of game basically died out. You dont see a lot of dogfighting games put out any more.

It makes me sad that weve drifted away from games like Descent, Colony wars, Wing commander, etc when they were a huge staple of gaming in the late 90s

This. Flight sims went away and First Person Shooters took over the market, away went the joystick.

I miss those games a lot, especially the Descent and Wind Commander series and Falcon 4.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

It died because Lucas Arts REFUSES to release another X-wing (or Tie Fighter if you prefer) game for the P.C. Seriously, I want to fly around in space and shoot down Tie Fighters. I still remember pulling back on the stick, trying to track that Tie Interceptor while I was piloting a Y-Wing. Good times man, good times. Rogue Squadron came close, but I want epic battles again, ones that could last for hours. Anyone remember that final battle in X-Wing? Four or five capital ships duking it out, your own squadron of B-wings, A-wings, X-wings, and Y-wings flying everywhere and blowing up--and being blown up by--countless Ties. It truly felt like I was in the movie in some of those missions.
Why Lucas Arts? Why do you hate me?

 

[infohippie]

trying to track that Tie Interceptor while I was piloting a Y-Wing.

Yeah... good luck with that. The TIE will fly rings around you before your lumbering Y-Wing has turned more than a few degrees.

However, yes, I agree with you that LucasArts should be forced to release more of those games, at gunpoint if necessary.

I still have a joystick at home that I use for games like X3, but I'd really like to see the return of scifi flight sims where I can use a joystick properly. It's always been my favourite genre.

 

[FalloutJack]

The joystick is simply the first line of evolution in game control leading up to our current controllers. They make new and different ones and custom jobs are still out there, all competing with the current standard of controllers for video games.