A gamepad, also called joypad or control pad, is a type of game controller held in the hand, where the digits (especially thumbs) are used to provide input. Gamepads generally feature a set of action buttons handled with the right thumb and a direction controller handled with the left. The direction controller has traditionally been a four-way digital cross (D-pad), but most modern controllers additionally (or as a substitute) feature an analog stick.

Some common additions to the standard pad include shoulder buttons placed along the edges of the pad, centrally placed start, select, and mode buttons, and an internal motor to provide force feedback.

Gamepads are the primary means of input on all modern video game consoles except for the Wii (though the Wii Remote can function alternately as a gamepad). Gamepads are also available for personal computers, although a keyboard and mouse combination tends to be utilized more often for certain genres.

Some programmable joysticks that can be programmed to act as a key on a keyboard have been made to circumvent the problem of lacking joystick support in some computer games, notably the Belkin Nostromo SpeedPad n52. There is also a program called JoyToKey for Microsoft Windows that emulates keyboard input for gamepads.

Some manufacturers and retailers may also use the term "gamepad" to refer to a gaming keypad.

Third Generation: 1983-1992

The third Generation of video games saw many major changes, and the eminence of Gamepads in the video Game market. Nintendo Launched the first gamepad, its NES controller, and was followed soon later by Sega's Master system Controller in 1986. Gamepads offered gamers a new and more universal way to play games, and their dominance continued throughout later generations as they eventually became the only significant kind of game controller.

Nintendo Entertainment System

The original Famicom controllers were different from the NES ones in the sense that, besides their design (and being hardwired into the console), the second controller lacked Select and Start buttons- in their place was a microphone, although very few games supported it.

The Famicom was also the first home system to put the directional control on the left. While many arcade systems had the directional control joystick on the left of the buttons, most home systems of the era used joysticks designed for right-handed operation. The division has continued to this day, with computer joysticks typically being designed for use in the right hand with gamepads and arcade joysticks favouring the left hand.

Master System