Winn L. Rosch Hardware Bible, Sixth Edition

Game Controllers

When you drive your car, you don't use a keyboard and mouse—at least not yet. When you're racing along Santa Monica Boulevard in a round of Grand Theft Auto 3, you probably don't want to type in commands to mash the accelerator through the floor and hang a flying Louie. You want the experience and the control system to be as real as possible without live ammunition. You want a real steering wheel, real pedals, and the real aroma of searing rubber and SAE30 motor oil flaming out your exhaust pipe.

So far electronic devices aren't very adept at generating odors (although bad software really does stink), but some special hardware can help make you more adept in playing games—mechanisms that give you better control. Computer people ...