page_title: Paddle (game controller)
section_title: Where employed
hierarchical_section_title: Paddle (game controller) / Where employed
caption_attribution_description: A photograph of the Puchi Carat retro controller, for the Sony PlayStation
context_page_description: A paddle is a game controller with a round wheel and one or more fire buttons, where the wheel is typically used to control movement of the player object along one axis of the video screen. A paddle controller rotates through a fixed arc; it has a stop at each end.
context_section_description: Paddles first appeared in video arcade games with Atari Inc.'s Pong in 1972, while the first console to use paddles was Magnavox's Odyssey that same year. 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 Commodore VIC-20. 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).
caption: A paddle controller for the Sony PlayStation.
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