The Atari 2600 Joystick is a tiltable stick attached to a base with one action button. It allows for four directions of input – eight when allowing for two directions at once. Modern joysticks allow for analog input, but early joysticks were usually digital and the Atari 2600 joystick was no exception. Tilting the stick in a direction completes a circuit within the controller, sending an electronic signal to the console. Early joystick controllers are similar in capability to D-Pads, though much larger and not easily manipulated with a single finger or thumb. Especially among children, an entire fist might be needed to grip the stick.