Editing Paddle (game controller) (section)

== Applications ==
[[Image:Puchi carat retro controller.jpg|right|190px|thumb|A paddle controller for the [[Sony]] [[PlayStation (console)|PlayStation]]]]

Paddles first appeared in video arcade games with Atari Inc.'s ''[[Pong]]'' in 1972, while the first console to use paddles was Magnavox's [[Magnavox Odyssey|Odyssey]] that same year.{{citation needed|date=January 2017}} The [[Apple II]] shipped with paddles until 1980. The [[Atari 2600]] used paddles for several of its games, as did early home computers such as the [[VIC-20]].<ref name="ccvag1983spring">{{Citation | first = David H. | last = Ahl | author-link = David H. Ahl | first2 = Randi J. | last2 = Rost | author2-link = Randi J. Rost | title = Blisters And Frustration: Joysticks, Paddles, Buttons and Game Port Extenders for Apple, Atari and VIC | journal = Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games | volume = 1 | issue = 1 | pages = 106ff. | year = 1983 | url = http://www.atarimagazines.com/cva/v1n1/joysticks.php }}</ref> True (potentiometer-based) paddles are almost never employed any more because they stop reading accurately when the potentiometer contacts get dirty or worn, because turning them too far can break them and because they require more-expensive analog sensing, whereas quadrature encoder-based controllers can be sensed digitally. Any recent game that has paddle-type control uses a quadrature encoder instead, even if the game uses paddles on screen (like [[Arkanoid]]).{{citation needed|date=January 2017}}