GoldenEye 007 Nintendo 64 Community, GoldenEye X, Nintendo 64 Games Discussion

[zoinkity]

Crazy question, but was GoldenEye the first dual-analog game?
There were dual digital games before (especially Atari arcade games) but analogs... Other consoles didn't catch up until later, so it would have to be either arcade or PC.

I mean, not that it's really super-playable that way ;*) Still, it was an available option and several of the intro demos used that mode believe it or not.
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[Sogun]

I don't know for sure but I think it is.
The analog stick was introduced by the Atari 5200 and it wasn't until de N64 that it returned reincarnated as a thumbstick.
So to answer that question we should check the Atari 5200 games. There are only 69 games. However, I'm pretty confident we won't find any.
A pic of the controller, it's hard to imagine holding two of those.

[Kerr Avon]

It's an interesting question, and I don't have an answer, sorry. But are GE and PD fun to play this way, when you get used to holding two controllers? I don't think I ever tried it, as I was always happy with the C buttons for movement and the analogue stick for aiming.

Then again, I never liked the official N64 joypad much. I much prefer the Makopad 64 (http://www.retrogames.co.uk/more/on/details/015814) which not only is better laid out (I think), since it allows you to use all of the controls without shifting your grip, but it's much longer lasting than the official pad since the analogue stick's shaft is metal (I've hammered my Makopad with Goldeneye/PD/Super Smash Bros/etc for well over a decade, and it's still as good as new, performance-wise).

[HackBond]

I know of an Indiana Jones game for the Atari 2600 that required two controllers just to play, which means it was dual analog.

[Sogun]

I think the Atari 2600 has digital sticks and not analog. Whenever a "Nintendo invented the joystick and Sony copied it!" discussion starts, the name of the Atari 5200 pops up against the N64 controller.

The Atari 2600's should be like any old arcade cabinet joystick. They act like a digital pad, the speed of the characters doesn't rely on how much you push the stick unlike in Mario 64.

Even if the N64 didn't have the first analog stick I think its shape it's what really matters. The 'thumbstick' as they named it, allows you to press other buttons with the free fingers of that hand, and makes it easier to hold the controller and reach the action buttons with the other hand.
I've never played an Atari, but it seems that you need to use a full hand to move the joystick (even if you only need two fingers to do so, you can't use the other free fingers to press any buttons) and the other hand you need it to actually hold the controller and hardly press any buttons, or you could lay the controller on your legs or a table to play more confortable.

[zoinkity]

I (still) have 2600 controllers and they are most certainly digital. Over time, the little levers they push internally have lost some of their spring, so now you really have to press them hard in a direction to move.

It was a selling point of the 5200 that they were analog. They're also notorious for working like crap.

Plus, you're right: moving those blasted sticks required either one super-firm hand or more often than not two. Plus, the buttons on all the ones I've used stick like crazy. Paddle controllers were easy though, and I still love the trackball.

Come to think of it, when I first saw a NES (wow, dating myself) one of the big things I remember is that the buttons worked. You press them, easily, and stuff happens. It had the best controller anyone had ever seen, just because it worked right.
That, and the games didn't run like crap. No joke, Atari games on actual hardware work so bad it isn't funny. Heard a rumour that the specs given to devs were different from the actual machine specs. Still, it was a lot of fun in the day. Have to say though, with the exception of maybe Yars Revenge there isn't much I'd ever play on one now.
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