The Atari joystick works by connecting the ground pin to one of several pins in the Atari joystick port, thereby dropping the voltage on that pin and creating a signal that can be noticed by a controller in the computer. For this … See more

The CX40 was the only model in widespread use until about 1981, when the introduction of Space Invaders on the 2600 quadrupled that platform's sales. This led to a thriving … See more

• List of Atari-compatible joysticks at the Wayback Machine (archived November 30, 2016) See more

Right-handed users would normally hold the stick in their left hand by gripping the left side of the case with their thumb over the fire button, and fingers wrapped around the left side and bottom, while their right hand operated the stick. Some games allowed the … See more

CX10
The original CX10 version was designed by Steve Bristow for the 2600 and produced only for a single year. Many of these had the word "ATARI" printed in white letters on a thin metal plate at the very top of the stick. See more

The Atari joystick was so popular that adaptors for its standard of connector were available for platforms like the Apple II and IBM PC. There were even factory modified CX40s, notably the … See more