Joystick Symbol

[DanBoris]

I seems like the Atari 2600 has become the universal symbol for video games. It's not surprising that Slashdot.org uses it as the icon for gaming news, but I was surprised to see it marking the games section of the Turner Classic Movies web site:

http://www.turnerclassicmovies.com/

 

Dan

[mos6507]

It's ironic that the Joystick is used as a symbol for videogames considering that no home console since the 7800 has been shipped with one.

 

It's almost like when you hear the ubiquitous record-player needle scratch effect during punchlines in movie trailers. Who even recognizes that sound effect anymore who is under 30??

[Doc4]

I looked at the Turner Website and I have to say that I don't personally believe it was any decision related to Turner in any way to use the joystick symbol. I have seen the promotions from the designer/deleoper of the site and if I am correct they use lots of old retro symbols to desing with. Not limited to the Atari joystick. If you checkout House Industries they use the shadow of the Atari and the joystick a lot. I don't know how much of this is related to it being an icon to symbolize something, which obviously it is, or just some designers thinking a retro object like the Atari and it's peripherals would be a cool picture. How long until people start utilizing the old NES peripherals and such to appeal to a younger generation? It's just something to think about.

[Mindfield]

It's not that surprising that the VCS joystick is considered the universal symbol for "video games." Consider the following:

 

- Atari invented, and owns the patents to, the joystick as designed, including the 9-pin DIN connector.

- The VCS is considered the grandaddy of all video games, fathering the video game industry as we know it.

- At the height of its popularity, the Atari symbol and name was second in global recognition only to the Coca Cola wave and name.

- From a designer's point of view, the Atari stick is very simple; square base, straight stick, one button in the corner, no sweeps or obvious curves anywhere. Its profile iconifies well. And designers are likely old enough to have themselves owned and played Atari in its day, making it a natural choice.

- Owing to the above fact, it is probably the most recognizable shape of any joystick. Second would probably have to be a Wico, with its distinctive slim, gently flaring stick and top-mounted fire button that is the twin to the one on the base.

- The growing ubiquity of the Atari-style stick as an icon symbolic of video games in general is self-propagating; the more it's used in this manner, the more it becomes widely recognized as such, and therefore the more designers choose it as a symbol so readers and users will more readily identify it as such.

 

It's kind of like how "kleenex," a brand name, has become pretty well the universal word for "tissue," or how "Coke" is often used as a generic term for cola.

[Doc4]

excellent point!

[Stella'sGhost]

I was going to write something, having done some studies on the effects of "Image" on popular culture - but Mindfield pretty much nailed it...

 

I'll add that because Atari was the first, and most popular initially in North America and South America?,as well as Europe, Atari will always be associated with retro gaming in this part of the world, even as the new generations grow up with Nintendo and Sony....

 

[ 03-13-2002: Message edited by: StellasGhost ]

[Mindfield]

It's very similar to why, whenever you see someone playing a game console on television, regardless of what console it is, you always hear VCS Donkey Kong and Pac Man sound effects. Aside from the fact that it's probably the most common set of stock sound effects, it's also retro enough to make it sound like a video game. Consoles up to and beyond the SNES/Genesis usually had digital sound effects, making them sound more realistic and therefore more apt to be confused with a television show or something than a video game, when portrayed on TV. There's no mistaking those beeps and bloops of the VCS, though; that can only come from a video game, so despite it being a long-standing cliche, it's still the most obvious aural representation of someone playing a video game.

 

I still get amused when I see those sounds attached to a PSX or N64, though. :-)

[Adrian M]

Actually, slashdot only recently began using the Atari joystick as their gaming icon.

 

Before that it was the horrible N64 controller that Slashdot used whenever they posted a gaming-related item.

[Doc4]

I was wondering why you always hear the pacman death noise when you see someone playing a video game on television or in the movies. When it is clear they are playing a genesis or intellivision for that matter (check out National Lampoons Vacation) That pacman death noise is always there and ingrained into my skull from playing it so much as a kid. (Shudder)

[Big Player]

quote

It's not that surprising that the VCS joystick is considered the universal symbol for "video games." Consider the following:  

All good points. Also remember the Commodore 64 used the same joystick port and it was the most popular home computer right after the video game crash.

 

I had an 800XL, of course which also used the same joystick port.

[Mindfield]

That 9-pin DIN was pretty well the North American standard for joysticks up through even the 16-bit era (Amiga and ST both used 'em, as did Sega Genesis and, I think, TG16.) It wasn't 'til console manufacturers recognized the profit value of proprietary circuitry both in not having to pay royalties to Atari, and in being able to manufacture their own components and sell them for larger profits to offeset the more competitive pricing of the consoles themselves. (Microsoft is currently losing some $15 US or more per Xbox sold, but make it up partly through the sale of controllers and DVD remotes. I can't really say memory cards 'cos I don't think I've sold a single one since we got 'em in our store; they just aren't needed, and few enough people own Xboxes that not many people know anyone else with one that they'd want to bring their save games over to)

 

These days I don't think anyone uses those 9-pin DIN connections for anything. About the only emerging standard that exists for any input devices is USB, but that's really only PC/Mac. The only console controller I know of that's capable of using USB is the Logitech Driving Force wheel for the PS2.

[Albert]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Monster greifen an:

I was wondering why you always hear the pacman death noise when you see someone playing a video game on television or in the movies.

---

 

It's not just the Pac-Man death sound, but also that hideous "tune" at the beginning of a game. For instance, Circuit City has used it in their commercials, and I know I've heard it in another commercial (for a different company) even more recently. I presume it's just one of the thousands of sounds contained in professional sound effects collections. It's probably called "Video Game Sound 1". It's a very unique, you can't miss it!!

 

..Al

[Albert]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Mindfield:

These days I don't think anyone uses those 9-pin DIN connections for anything. About the only emerging standard that exists for any input devices is USB, but that's really only PC/Mac. The only console controller I know of that's capable of using USB is the Logitech Driving Force wheel for the PS2.

---

 

Just about every motherboard I've bought over the years has two 9-pin DIN connectors for the serial ports, and that continues to be true even today (just recently bought an ASUS A7V-266, and yep, it has 'em also). I almost always disable to serial ports in the BIOS, but they're there if I need them for some reason. I think the last time I used them was for my Cassiopeia E105, which needed a serial port for syncing to the PC. But hey, if I ever want to hook up my external 2400 baud modem, at least I have a way.

 

..Al