GAME PADS or JOYSTICKS

These also usually connect to your sound card, although some computers might have them built-in to the mainboard or feature these connectors as a part of an I/O card. The connector is a 'D' shaped female connector with 15 pins arranged in two rows and will usually be labeled 'Game' or 'MIDI'. Both the joystick/gamepad and an external MIDI device use this same connector and, with special adaptors, may use it at the same time as they use different pins in the connector. The use of a joystick or a gamepad for game playing is pretty straightforward, once it is installed. Installation involves making sure the connector is physically installed in your computer, the port drivers (for the connector) are installed in your operating system and then the device drivers must be installed for the specific gamepad or joystick you are planning to use.

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