Joystick

From Styleguide

joystick

An input device on a controller that is tilted by the player to indicate direction. Most upright arcade cabinets, as well as the Atari 2600, use digital joysticks. Most modern video game systems, however, use analog joysticks. See analog and digital for more on the difference.

Interchangeable with stick in familiar contexts. Do not use joystick as a general term for the controller itself.

Example: To perform Guile’s flash kick, first hold down on the joystick for two seconds.

Wrong: Billy picked up the Nintendo joystick and played the game.

Also see: analog, analog stick, controller, digital.