Editing Paddle (game controller) (section)

== Similar controllers ==
[[Image:Atari driving controller.JPG|thumb|A driving controller for the [[Atari 2600]], similar in appearance to the Atari 2600 paddles]]

On the Atari 2600, the paddle controllers look very similar to the driving controllers. The driving controllers emulated the steering wheel controls found in contemporary games, where one spun the wheel to cause the car to turn one direction or the other, and stopped the spinning to drive straight. The driving controllers for Atari consoles operated in the same way, although they did not have a wheel, the controller was reduced to a single large knob identical to the one on the paddles.

In comparison to the driving controllers, paddle controllers rotate just under one full rotation before hitting a hard stop. They also come in pairs that plug into a single port, whereas the driving controllers were one to a port. Finally, they have a picture of a tennis racquet and the word "paddle" on it, as opposed to a racing car and the word "driving". Because two controllers connect to each port and the 2600 has two controller ports, four players simultaneously can play in games that support it. The Atari paddles are also compatible with the [[Atari 8-bit computers]], which initially had four controller ports allowing eight paddles. Super Breakout is one example that supported up to 8 players.

Atari also offered driving controllers for use with games like ''[[Indy 500 (1977 video game)|Indy 500]]'', which requires wheels that can spin around continuously in one direction. Driving controllers have a picture of a car and the word "driving" on it and a single controller attaches to each controller port. The driving controller is not compatible with paddle games. Like a mechanical [[computer mouse]], the driving controller is a quadrature encoder-based device and thus only sensed relative position, not absolute position. This controller is functionally identical to the spin-dial controller used in Atari's ''[[Tempest (video game)|Tempest]]'' arcade game. Since only one controller attaches to each port, only two people can play driving games simultaneously.

Several similar relative spinner controllers have emerged as part of the home-built [[arcade cabinet]] scene to facilitate play of such games as ''Tempest'', including spinners from Oscar Controls and the SlikStik Tornado spinner. These devices are typically made to plug directly into a computer as a single-axis mouse.