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- Aug 15, 2000
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Sony didn't add the dual analog sticks until after the N64 was released. They learned from Nintendo that analog sticks were the future of 3D gaming. I can't imagine playing Mario 64 on the original PSX D-pad.
Actually The Vectrex (1982) already had an Analog joystick before the N64.
Also aside from the existence of the Vectrex, companies such as Atari had pushed analog paddle and trackball controllers many years before the Nintendo 64 release.
Sony and Namco had released the neGcon in the PS1's debut in Japan, with the racing launch titles already supporting it. The official PlayStation Analog Joystick was announced to the public in August 1995 and released in Japan in April of 1996.
During the 3rd gen of consoles, Sega had already released The Sega Paddle Control for the Sega Mark III in 1987 and the Sega Sports Pad for the Master System; both being analog controllers.
Sega had offered software support for the 3rd party XE-1AP Analogue Controller through some Mega Drive games since 1991 and the 32X versions of After Burner and Space Harrier had the XE-1AP support implemented by Sega of Japan.
The Sega Saturn had analog controllers such as the Arcade Racer and the Mission Stick early in its lifespan and well before the Nintendo 64's debut in Japan. The developers of Nights into Dreams declared for the Official Sega Saturn Magazine (Nov/1996 issue) that the 3D Control Pad's design began due to the necessity of using analog controls for a proper gameplay experience of the game they were designing, which indicates that the 3D Control Pad conception wasn't directly related to the Nintendo 64's controller.
The placement of the analog stick and the ergonomics of the controller are closer to the XE-1AP Analogue Controller than to the N64's controller.
The analog protocols used by Playstation and Saturn games already allowed 4-axis analog controls, while the Nintendo 64's only allows 2-axis analog controls.
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