User:TheLukesterJoy/sandbox

The Le Stick is a controller made for the Atari 2600 by Datasoft. This controller is the first motion controller ever made, though this was before Gyroscopes were created, so instead the controller uses mercury based switches, which were first used in pinball machines to detect whether or not people are cheating via tilting the machine. Motion controllers for the SNES use metal ball bearing switches instead. How a mercury switch works is that when you tilt the controller liquid mercury moves around and if you tilt it in a certain direction it connects 2 metal prongs together, therefore completing a circuit. metal ball switches work the same way, except they use metal ball bearings instead of mercury. Unfortunately, this controller has some flaws.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) As mentioned the console uses mercury based switches, and mercury, as mentioned in the quote, is poisonous, meaning that if a player were to lose their temper and break the controller in frustration (which will likely happen as explained in bad quality #2) the controller can break open and leak out the mercury, poisoning the player.
 * 2) While more accurate than metal ball bearing switches, mercury switches tend to mess up and not connect properly resulting in some games not working the way they should be. For example: in Ms Pac Man, sometimes Ms Pac Man will not go down a corridor even though you're tilting the controller that way, In Donkey Kong, Jumpman will have trouble moving left and right or climbing ladders due to the controller's unresponsive nature, and in Asteroids where your spaceship will either turn too far, not turn at all, or not go forward.
 * 3) The controller has a function where if you squeeze it, the controller will keep facing that direction. While this may seem like a good quality, it is unknown what this function would be for, and it might even hinder players unaware of this function.
 * 4) The controller is connected on the bottom, meaning that you can't set it down upright, and that you have to hold it upright yourself.
 * 5) Only a handful of games really work with this controller, and even then, the regular controller still works better.

Good Qualities

 * 1) The button on top is of very good quality compared to buttons on other controllers of the decade (especially the 3rd party ones). In Donkey Kong even though Jumpman can't move that well, you can always count on him jumping whenever you push the button.
 * 2) The controller has an interesting mechanic where if you tilt it a lot it functions normally, but if you were to tilt it a little it taps the movement, allowing for more precision in games like Missile Command.
 * 3) Nice comfortable grip.
 * 4) It was the first motion controller ever, so it didn't have any standards to live up to yet.

Reception
Shane Luis of Rerez said that you shouldn't get it because it's not safe, and that it's one of the strangest controllers Rerez has ever looked at on the show and that even though it is a good collector's item, it is dangerous. Shane couldn't throw it out, because it would be classified as dumping toxic substances, so he instead gave it to a museum because it is an important part of gaming history, and they would most likely take better care of it than he would.

Videos
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