Atari 7800
Controllers & Input Devices

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The Atari 7800 didn't have the same 3rd party support that the 2600 had.  All of the 2600 controllers would work fine on the 7800, unless you needed the second fire button.  Here is a look at the 7800 controllers offered by Atari.....

Atari 7800 Standard Joystick - This is the standard stick bundled with the 7800 in North America.  It was similar to the shape of the Atari 5200 joystick, but lacked the keypad.  These joysticks were much sturdier than the 5200 joysticks.

Atari 7800 Joypad - This is the controller bundled with the 7800 systems sold in Europe.  It is available now in the US through several sources.  It is a pad style controller, very similar to the joypad on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).  The key difference is the removable stick that attaches to the pad itself.  If you did not like the stick, it could be removed, and the controller pad could be used with your left thumb a conventional pad device.

I have a set of these controllers, and I found that they weren't built very well.  The pad tends to stick in place when moved to diagonal positions.  Also, games that require precise 4-way movement, such as Ms. Pac-Man, don't seem to respond properly with this device.

Atari Standard Joystick - This is the joystick that was packaged in the 2600 systems.  It was also used for the Atari 8-bit and 16-bit computers.  It can be used on the Atari 7800 as well, but it will not work properly on 7800 games requiring two fire buttons.

It was a pretty basic joystick.  It didn't have any fancy bells and whistles, but people loved it anyway.

This same joystick can also be used on the Atari 8-bit & 16-bit computers.

Atari "Space Age" Joystick - A compact stick resembling the handle of a pistol with a small knob-like stick at the top. It was actually a very clever idea, but the joystick mechanism itself was not very durable.

It can be used on the Atari 7800 as well, but it will not work properly on 7800 games requiring two fire buttons.

Atari "Wireless" Joystick - Atari attempted to provide a wireless solution for their joysticks, and it was a miserable failure.

The system itself consisted of a Remote Control box that would plug into the joystick ports, and the two controllers.  Batteries had to be inserted into the base of each joystick.  The sticks themselves were impossible to hold, because they were so big.  (They had to be to accomodate the batteries, and the antenna.)

It can be used on the Atari 7800, but it will not work properly on 7800 games requiring two fire buttons.

Atari Driving Controller - These controllers were bundled with the game "Indy 500."  They allowed full 360 degrees of movement.

No 7800 games were developed to use this controller.   However, it could be used on the 7800 when running 2600 games.

Atari Paddles - The paddles were used for games like Night Driver, and Video Olympics.  They allowed 270 degrees of movement.

No 7800 games were developed to use this controller.  However, it could be used on the 7800 when running 2600 games.

Atari Keyboard Controllers - These controllers were used for cartridges such as the Atari BASIC programming language.

The controller on the left was the basic model that was used originally.

The one on the left was packaged with the Star Raiders cartridge.  They are both essentially the same controllers above.  However, the one on the left could make use of keypad overlays similar to the ones used on the 5200 and Jaguar systems.

No 7800 games were developed to use this controller.  However, it could be used on the 7800 when running 2600 games.

Atari "Kids" Keyboard Controllers - These are essentially the same as the keyboard controller above.  However. the unit itself, and the buttons, are much larger.  This unit was used for kids titles, as well as educational cartridges.

Like the Star Raiders keypad controller above, ths "Kids" controller would also use keypad overlays similar to the ones used on the 5200 and Jaguar systems.

No 7800 games were developed to use this controller.  However, it could be used on the 7800 when running 2600 games.

Atari Trackball Controller - The trackball controller was used for arcade translations such as Missile Command and Centipede.

Atari "Track & Field" Controller - Remember that cool arcade coin-op game called Track & Field?  It was produced by Konami, and Atari quickly snapped up the rights to publish home versions of the game.

The coin-op didn't have a joystick, paddle, or any other conventional controller.  It just used 3 buttons.  Well, needless to say, playing Track & Field on a joystick just wasn't possible.

So, Atari developed the Track & Field controller, and bundled it in a package with the Track & Field game cartridge.  It was a sturdy, well built unit and it completely captured the feel of playing the game in the arcade.   The one true fault of the design was that it was kind of small.  This controller probably would have been better if it were just a bit larger.

No 7800 games were developed to use this controller.  However, it could be used on the 7800 when running 2600 games.