Gamepad

A gamepad (also called joypad), is a type of game controller held in two hands, where the fingers (especially thumbs) are used to provide input.

Features

Gamepads generally feature a set of buttons handled with the right thumb and a direction controller handled with the left. The direction controller has traditionally been a four-way digital cross (also named a joypad, or alternatively a d-pad), but most modern controllers additionally (or as a substitute) feature one or more analog sticks.

Some common additions to the standard pad include shoulder buttons placed along the edges of the pad, centrally placed start, select, and mode buttons, and an internal motor to provide force feedback.

Gamepads are the primary means of input on all recent video game consoles except for the Wii (though the Wii Remote can also function as a gamepad). Gamepads are also available for personal computers.

There are programmable joysticks that can emulate keyboard input. Generally they have been made to circumvent the lack of joystick support in some computer games, i.e. the Belkin Nostromo SpeedPad n52. There are several programs that emulate keyboard and mouse input with a gamepad such as JoyToKey, Xpadder, Pinnacle Game Profiler, and Enjoy2.

Action Button Entertainment

Action Button Entertainment is a video game development studio consisting of Tim Rogers, Brent Porter, Michael Kerwin, and Nicholas Wasilewski that has produced four games since 2012: Ziggurat, TNNS, 10×8, and the in-development Videoball. The group convened as Rogers worked on Ziggurat based on an idea he had while playing Angry Birds that he could not complete on his own. Porter joined Action Button after responding to a call for artists Rogers made via Twitter, and Kerwin joined based on a connection he had with Rogers from producing a mockup of a game concept Rogers outlined in his Kotaku column. Action Button released Ziggurat in February 2012, TNNS in November, 10×8 in July 2013, and Videoball is expected for release in 2015.

History