First generation
Notes
See bottom of device. Microsoft SideWinder 3D Pro Plus were sold as Sidewinder Precision Pro but have no USB support.Gamepad
The original Microsoft SideWinder gamepad had a digital directional pad, six fire buttons, two trigger buttons, and a "Mode" and "Start" button. The original gameport version had a pass-through, so additional joypads or joysticks could be used without unplugging the SideWinder, and also allowed the connection of up to four SideWinder gamepads working simultaneously. Newer USB versions of the SideWinder gamepad have a round digital directional pad instead of the more traditional cross-shaped directional pad, and lack the mode button. The Microsoft SideWinder's button layout is very similar to that of the3D Pro
As Microsoft's first SideWinder joystick, the 3D Pro was responsible for setting the overall design as seen in all of Microsoft's future joysticks. Designed as a gaming-neutral joystick, rather than a specialized joystick for use with realistic combat flight simulators, the 3D Pro was built with a functional, but low-key geometric design. Intended to rival the other sticks from the time, the 3D Pro included 8 buttons - 4 on the base, 4 on the stick - an 8-way hat switch, a slider-based throttle, and the stick itself was twistable for Z/rudder/spin control. By going with a geometric design however, it meant the 3D Pro lacked an effective adherence to ergonomic principles, making it unsuitable for long gaming sessions for some users. Electronically, the 3D Pro used a digital/analog hybrid design that was intended to correct the outstanding flaws in traditional analog joysticks, such as drift and CPU overhead, by using a digital/optical tracking mechanism to keep perfect track of the joystick, and a digital communication method over the analog gameport. However, this digital mode required software support, and could not be used with many DOS games at the time (MechWarrior 2 being the only major exception), as most software and gameports were built completely around an analog design. Additionally, some soundcard gameports, and so-called accelerated game-ports - which attempted to resolve CPU overhead issues presented by polling the gameport directly themselves - such as those produced by Gravis, would not always be able to handle the stick in digital mode. The 3D Pro had a unique feature in that it could fall-back to an 'analog emulation' mode, where it could emulate either a CH Flightstick Pro or a Thrustmaster FCS (Selectable by a switch on the base), in environments where the digital mode would not work. In this mode, manual calibration was required, the four base-buttons no longer function and, the joystick would function essentially like a CH Flightstick Pro or Thrustmaster FCS depending on the mode selector switch. However, on later operating systems the digital mode would be less and less reliable, and on modern PCs most 3D Pro owners can only run in analog mode. The 3D Pro was popular enough to spawn a successor, the Precision Pro, which was a USB device and, while it did not work in DOS at all, was far more reliable under Windows despite quality issues. The joystick was widely praised in its inception and was one of the few joysticks with multiple buttons that did not require a keyboard pass-through. The stick was especially popular with MechWarrior and Descent players as it was one of the few multi-button joysticks supported by the games natively. The joystick's popularity has created a small die-hard following, with many people still holding onto them despite their age. This resulted in the creation of a USB adapter for the 3D Pro. The 3D Pro features as a character (Ã) in the Webdings dingbat font.Standard
The SideWinder Standard joystick was a more basic joystick released around the same time as the 3D Pro. It was a simple two button, three axis joystick. It featured a trigger button, a thumb button and a throttle wheel on left side of the base. In addition it had two additional dials on the base for adjustment of the stick itself, one above stick and the other to the right of the stick. It used a gameport connector to interface with the computer.Precision Pro
Microsoft introduced the SideWinder Precision Pro in 1995, correcting the ergonomic issues, fixing some of the electrical issues, and adding new features. The Precision Pro introduced a new stick that was far more ergonomic than the "geometric" design of the 3D Pro. Microsoft also gave the rest of the Precision Pro a more rounded design, replacing the rectangular base buttons with more rounded versions at the top of the base, the slider-based throttle with a wheel-based throttle, and the base itself was made more rounded. The Precision Pro also added a shift button to the base, doubling the number of possible button combinations. Signatures can be seen inside the joystick, on the base coverplate. Fred Iyc and Edie Adams are among the 17 people who have signed it. For its electronics, the Precision Pro featured a refined hybrid system, resolving some of the hardware compatibility issues with the 3D Pro. However, with the widespread introduction of USB in consumer computers shortly after the Precision Pro was released, Microsoft soon re-released the joystick in a USB-compatible form (joysticks labeled as Part No. X03-57540, Product I.D. 85791-579-2177031-00000). The revised joystick still featured a gameport connector but had additional circuitry for interfacing with USB, and was bundled with a USB converter (a DIY converter project exists). Original Precision Pros remain incompatible with this converter, but a user made converter exists. The creation of the USB converter bypassed the problems with the analog gameport entirely, and as a result became the true solution to the electrical problems. However, due to a flaw in the design of the Precision Pro, in rare cases the stick would build up a static charge in its electronics and require either a complex process to discharge that was not always successful, or simply needed to stay unpowered for a number of hours to slowly discharge on its own. This is also one of the first joysticks to use light sensors instead of potentiometers so it required no calibration, and thus had no electronical moving parts. The only moving parts were mechanical on the throttle and joystick pivots which gave this joystick virtually unlimited lifetime. The Precision Pro 2 had reintroduced potentiometers to save money and thus their lifetime was limited to wear and tear of the potentiometers. Thanks to the timing of the launch of the Precision Pro to coincide with the widespread launch of USB along the ergonomic corrections and rarity of the static charge problem, the Precision Pro saw a much higher sales volume and review scores than the earlier 3D Pro.Force Feedback Pro
From technology acquired from EXOS, Inc, Microsoft then released a force feedback product called the Force Feedback Pro. Built on the design of the Precision Pro, the Force Feedback Pro differed only in the inclusion of motors for the force feedback effects, and the lack of USB compatibility. (Precision 2
The basis of Microsoft's last generation of SideWinder joysticks, the Precision 2 design was a further refinement of the previous Precision Pro. Compared to the Precision Pro, the Precision 2 dropped the Pro's shift button, replaced the throttle wheel with a more traditional lever, and rearranged the face buttons on the stick into a symmetric design. The Precision 2 also dropped all gameport compatibility by only shipping in a USB version, and was slightly smaller and lighter than the Pro. In spite of being Microsoft's 2nd-generation USB controller, the Precision 2 in particular seemed to suffer more from the USB SideWinder's long-standing static buildup problem than the original Precision Pro.Force Feedback 2
Along with replacing the Precision Pro with a new design, the Force Feedback Pro was replaced with a Precision 2 derivative, the Force Feedback 2. Compared to the Force Feedback Pro and the Precision 2, nothing new was added to the Force Feedback 2 that wasn't added to the Precision 2, in fact the shift button was taken away. The overall size and weight difference was not so great with the use of smaller motors. This joystick came in two varieties: one version with a silver trigger, and an updated version with a translucent red trigger. One of the main ideas in the Force Feedback 2 was the removal of the power brick. Since the release of the Force Feedback 2, the stick has garnered a reputation of reliability and resiliency, many Force Feedback 2 sticks are still in use currently. On eBay Sidewinder Force Feedback 2 joysticks regularly sell for more than the original MSRP of $109.Joystick
Using the Precision 2 design once again, Microsoft introduced a value-oriented SideWinder joystick, simply called the SideWinder Joystick. In spite of its value designation, the SideWinder Joystick was functionally similar to the Precision 2. The main features dropped were Z-axis control and the 8-way hat switch. Otherwise the differences were cosmetic, including shrinking the base, moving the throttle to the front of the base, and replacing 2 of the rounded buttons on the stick with more rectangular buttons. Support for this joystick was dropped with the advent of Windows XP.Force Feedback Wheel
The Microsoft SideWinder Force Feedback Wheel is aStrategic Commander
The Strategic Commander is designed to complement a standard mouse/keyboard setup for Real Time Strategy games. It features a total of 6 programmable command buttons, 2 zoom buttons, 3 shift buttons, a macro record button and a 3-point configuration switch. The device also has three movement axes: X, Y and Z (rotation). Through extensive configuration of the shift and command buttons, it is possible to create a total of 24 different commands per configuration. The Strategic Commander is a highly ergonomic device, and resembles a large mouse in shape, contoured for the left hand. It has an upper section attached to a base. On the upper section, the programmable buttons mentioned above are located near the tips of the index, middle and ring fingers for quick access. Three buttons are located near the thumb in an arc. A feature of the device is that the upper section is also a 2-axis motion controller with additional support for rotation. It allows motion in the X, Y & Z axis (corresponding to Forward, Backwards, Strafe left & right, Turn left & right). This made it an ideal companion for FPS and similar games, because you can aim weapons or look up and down with the right hand while simultaneously slewing position with the left hand, and change weapons etc. with the left finger buttons. Software was included for the device to provide hotkeys for a number of (then popular) games. The buttons are also programmable, allowing the device to be used with other games and applications. For example, one application developed at Carnegie Mellon used the device as a peripheral for navigating massive social network maps. Linux treats this device as a joystick (with all 3 axis and 12 plus 3 buttons) and can be used as one or using various applets can be used as a "joystick action to key press" device (e.g. Joy2Key)Game Voice
The Game Voice is an earlyFreestyle Pro
The Freestyle Pro, released in 1998, was a unique gamepad, as the up-down-left-right directions in analogue mode were controlled by the physical movement of the controller, more precisely by the absolute pitch and roll position of the pad. This reaction on movement is quite similar to some of the features of the Sony PlayStation 3 SIXAXIS. Games such as '' Motocross Madness'' (which was bundled with and designed for the controller) profited from this physical interaction. The left side of the controller features an eight-direction d-pad which function varies depending on which mode the controller is on. The control pad had a total of ten digital fire buttons: six buttons controlled with the right thumb (named ABC XYZ), two shoulder buttons (one left, one right), and two buttons controlled with the left thumb, one named ''start'', the other marked with a '' shift key'' symbol (as the SideWinder software allowed to use this button to ''shift'' controls for the ABC XYZ buttons - on the driver side, it was just an action button like the others). A ''sensor'' button switched the control pad between analogue mode (greenDual Strike
The Dual Strike, which debuted in 1999, was Microsoft's second notable venture into strange gamepad designs, following the Freestyle Pro. The Dual Strike attempted to blend both mouse and gamepad functions into a single unit. It was composed of two portions; there is a hinge between the two that allows you to rotate the right side up and down and from side to side. The Dual Strike only supported USB.Sidewinder 92626
This is similar to the Precision Pro and has a USB connection. Circa 2002. Serial numbers begin with 92626.Second generation
In 2007, following a collaboration withSee also
* Microsoft ergonomic keyboards * Xbox controllerReferences
External links