Editing Analog stick (section)

===Analog thumbsticks===
The [[List of Nintendo Entertainment System accessories|NES Max]], released in 1988, is the first instance of a thumb pad-based joystick controller. The Quickshot Chimera 2 is another example of an early thumbstick controller available to the NES.

In 1989, the Japanese company Dempa released an analog thumbstick controller called the XE-1 AP for the [[Sega Mega Drive]] console and several Japanese computers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://segaretro.org/XE-1_AP|title=XE-1 AP|website=Segaretro.org|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171103154145/http://segaretro.org/XE-1_AP|archive-date=November 3, 2017|access-date=November 20, 2019}}</ref> It was intended to replicate the [[HOTAS]] controls found in Sega’s arcade games at the time, such as [[After Burner II]]. This controller included a thumb-operated control stick which allowed for varying levels of movement and near-360-degree control, translating into far more precise movements than what is possible with a D-pad. It was released twice, with a price drop upon its re-release in 1994. A few games on the Mega Drive (as well as the [[Sega CD]] and [[32X]] add-ons) supported the controller’s analog stick functions, including some of Sega’s first-party games for the system.

[[File:N64-Controller-Gray.jpg|thumb|The [[Nintendo 64 controller|Nintendo 64 Controller]] popularized the thumbstick.]]
Initially announced in late 1995,<ref name="Nintendo Power #79">{{cite magazine|date=December 1995|title=Out of control: Nintendo 64 Arrives In Japan|url=https://archive.org/stream/Nintendo_Power_Issue001-Issue127/Nintendo%20Power%20Issue%20079%20December%201995#page/n11/mode/2up|magazine=[[Nintendo Power]]|publisher=Nintendo|issue=79|page=12}}</ref> [[Nintendo]] released their [[Nintendo 64 controller]] on June 23, 1996, in Japan.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ryan |first=Jeff |title= Super Mario: How Nintendo Conquered America |year=2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9_JvDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA182 |publisher=PORTFOLIO/PENGUIN |page=182 |isbn=978-1-59184-405-1}}</ref> The new controller included a thumb-operated '''control stick''' which, while a digital stick<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=3&cId=3143627|title=Controller's History Dynamite|publisher=[[1UP.com]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160105072217/http://www.1up.com/features/controller-history?pager.offset=3|archive-date=2016-01-05|access-date=2019-01-16}}</ref> (the analog stick operated on the same principles as a [[Computer mouse#Mechanical mice|mechanical ball-type computer mouse]]), still allowed for varying levels of movement and near-360-degree control, translating into far more precise movements than were possible with a D-pad. For three generations, Nintendo's control stick was distinguished from analog sticks used in other major consoles by its surrounding [[octagonal]] area of freedom that assisted players in perfectly aligning the stick with any of the eight directions achievable with a D-pad. Nintendo would eventually change this octagonal area to the circle widely used in other console controllers during the [[eighth generation of video game consoles|eighth generation]] starting with the Nintendo 3DS and [[Wii U]].

On July 5, 1996, [[Sega]] released ''[[Nights into Dreams]]'' for their [[Sega Saturn|Saturn]] console in Japan; bundled with it was the Saturn 3D control pad which featured an analog pad intended to give the player more fluid control over that game's [[flight]]-based gameplay. The analog pad used magnet-based [[Hall effect sensor]]s, which was a unique implementation of the technology that was carried forward into the design of the [[Dreamcast]] controller as well.{{Citation needed|date=May 2015}} The Saturn's analog controller was previously mentioned in the June 1996 issue of ''[[Computer and Video Games]]'' magazine.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/Computer_and_Video_Games_Issue_175_1996-06_EMAP_Images_GB#page/n107/mode/2up|title = Computer and Video Games - Issue 175 (1996-06)(EMAP Images)(GB)|date = June 1996}}</ref>

On April 25, 1997, [[Sony]] introduced the world's first dual stick controller for its game console, [[PlayStation (console)|PlayStation]]. Based on the same potentiometer technology that was used in the larger Dual Analog Flightstick, the Sony [[Dual Analog Controller]] featured rumble (removed in overseas versions), three modes of analog (Flightstick, Full Analog and Analog-Off), and dual plastic concave thumbsticks.<ref name="maruchang"/><ref>[[Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition]], pg. 73, Hit Entertainment, 2016.</ref> It also added two new buttons, L3 and R3, under the thumbsticks, which could be used by pressing down on the sticks.

On November 20, 1997,<ref name="maruchang"/> Sony released their third analog controller to the market: the [[DualShock#DualShock|DualShock]]. The controller featured similar twin analog sticks to the Dual Analog, although they featured convex rubber tips rather than concave plastic ones. It also removed the third analog (Flightstick) mode and added two rumble motors.

In 1999, Sony's ''[[Ape Escape (video game)|Ape Escape]]'' became the first video game in history to require the use of two analog sticks.

In the console generations that [[History of video games#Sixth generation consoles (since 1998)|followed]], many [[video game console]] [[game controllers|controllers]] have included two analog sticks, with the exception of the Sega [[Dreamcast]] controller and [[Nintendo]]'s [[Wii Remote]] controller. Other exceptions to this dual-stick rule are Sony's [[PlayStation Portable]] and [[Nintendo]]'s [[Nintendo 3DS|3DS]] [[handheld game consoles]] aside from the [[New Nintendo 3DS|New 3DS]] (although the former may be upgraded to dual-stick functionality through the use of an accessory), which both feature only a single small, flat sliding analog "nub".