PICTURE NAME	DESCRIPTION
Joystick CX-10	The CX-10 is the original joystick shipped with 1977 and some early 1978 "Heavy Sixer" Atari VCS units. It differs from the more common and later CX40 in it's construction. It has a looser feel, wider throw, uses a different actuator setup for the controller, and the fire button has a longer throw more like a regular arcade joystick button. Physically, they are almost identical to the CX-40, except they have a inset part of the rubber at the top of the stick where a octagonal "SEARS" or "ATARI" logo was put on a little disc that's usually long gone these days. Also, it lacks the "TOP" to indicate the top of the controller, the orange is a little brighter on some examples, and the fire button is closer to orange than red. They tend to have a softer feel and a little more tactile-feel similiar to actual arcade controls, but they also are not as responsive as the later (and far more stiff) CX-40 joystick.
(Indy 500) Driving CX-20	Externally, these look identical to the CX-30 paddle controllers used for Breakout/Super Breakout/Video Olympics/Astroblast/Night Driver/etc., but instead have a picture of a formula one racing car on the controller with "Driving" printed next to it, and only come ONE to a cable instead of in pairs like the Paddles do. They function entirely different than the Paddle COntrollers and only work with one game, Indy 500 - which was a 1977 launch title which came with these controllers as special. The difference is, the controller is really just an up/down joystick that uses a digital encoder, vs. the paddles which use a potentiometer and are analog. The button is the same as a fire button on a joystick in wiring. During the "trash" phase of the Atari 2600's lifecycle, a lot of people it seems threw these out thinking they were broken Paddles. Honestly, I think the indie devs and even Atari should put new sets out, maybe even an Indy 500 Deluxe or something like that for the 2600+.
Paddle CX-30	The Familiar Paddle COntrollers stayed much the same, basically 2 to a cable, with one knob, and one button per controller. The knob is attached to a potentiometer, and they were used with a lot more games than the Driving controllers were. The knob has it's own signals, and the buttons use the left/right joystick inputs to address. The paddle controllers are essential for some major titles such as Kaboom!, Breakout, Super Breakout, Warlords, and Night Driver - just to name a few. Many attempts were made by both Atari, and 3rd parties ove rthe years to combine the paddle controller with the joystick to make controller swaps less important and improve the QoL of using these older devices.
Joystick CX-40	These were the later Joystick release everyone's familiar with, the CX-40. These had a circuit board inside, where the actuators were just metal pressings held onto the circuit board using a large shaped piece of adhesive tape. The throw of the fire button was shortere, and the overall feel is stiffer. Many people complain that these can be a pain to play with for long sessions. The earliest ones looked a lot like the CX-10 except the darker orange fire button and ring around the joystick part with "TOP" where the "UP" direction is. Later, the organe border and top were no longer painted orange starting with the "VADER" consoles in 1983. Personally, I call em' the "Wrist Breaker 4000" because they are incredibly stiff, and some of the more worn out examples need some serious pressure to activate direction. Thing is, they were very responsive when they were new. However, these joysticks are so popular, many clones exist out there at varying qualities today. The originals also have new upgrade boards available.
Keypad CX-50	The Keypad Controllers were released in 3 variations, this is the first version, released in 1979, for a handful of Atari games such as BASIC Programming, and Codebreaker. This original iteration was bought as a pair, and could be slid into each other so both could be used as one controller simultaniously for the BASIC Programming cartridge. They did not get as wide a use as the Joysticks or Paddles, but got used a lot more than the Driving controllers that only have Indy 500 to their name. The more spacey-stylized "Star Raiders Touchpad" variant is the same device just with more space-age styling, and a little slip-in-insert area for controlling Star Raiders for it. Similiar to Indy 500 and the driving controllers, I'm not aware of any other games that use these with the need for a Intellivision-style slip-in-insert. Lastly was the kid's controller which was a giant, blue Keypad, looking like those giant remotes for your blind grandparents! This too I believe had slip in inserts specific to them.
Joystick/Paddle Combo CX-??	This was a controller released in Japan with the Atari 2800, which was sold in America as the Sears TeleGames Video Arcade II, and also had these controllers (Sears version shown). These controllers combined the paddle controller with the joystick, and the game console had 4 ports so no more 2 paddles per connector like the earlier issued paddles. Unfortunatley, these never caught on and they are pretty uncommon, though rumor has it someone has been looking to recreate these and sell them on the modern market. I have never used these and they are quite rare from what I understand.
Wireless Joysticks CX-??	Believe it or not wireless 2600 controllers are not a new thing. Sometime around 1982-1983, Atari released these hilariously huge RF-based CX-40 style joysticks. The reciever was a huge box that borrowed voltage from the 2600's AC Adaptor and passed it through to the console as well. Some people seem to like these but they cite that they are battery munchers in a major way (both joysticks run on 9 volt batteries). They never really took off that big. They're not rare, but they're not common to see in use either. Seems I find quite a few on e-bay at any given time at a decent price. Personally though, the newer modern ATari CX-40 and CX-78 wireless controllers to me look to be the better deal.
Dual Button Gamepad CX-78	This was a dual button gamepad released in 1988 to compete with Nintendo's own gamepad on their NES system, or the 2 button gamepad found on the Sega Master System. Basically, a black, 2 button gamepad with 2 orange buttons. These originally shipped with the Atari 7800 in Europe, and possibly also PAL releases of the 2600 Jr. as well. These controllers are rare to see in America, but were fairly common all over Europe where they were sold more often than not. It's hard to tell if they were intended to be released with the 7800 only, or intended as an accessory for the 2600 as well, as it seems some PAL/SECAM area 2600 Juniors got these. You can tell these apart from the current production CX-78+ units by the fact these only came wired, the haircell plastic pattern is more aggressive, and the thumbstick option (which screws into the D-pad) has a PLASTIC thread instead of a brass insert like the modern units do. Currently There are two updated variants Atari released in 2023 and 2024.
Gamepad CX-78+	A redesign, modern release of the CX-78, now released in all markets, not just Europe, and coincided with the release of the 2600+ in 2003. They also work with the original 2600 and 7800 consoles (and anything else that will make use of them like a Commodore 64 or Atari 400/800 computer) as well. THey made improvements to the design in the new controller to make it more robust and avoid the problems the original CX-78 had with cracked PCBs. The feel is quite a bit different from a regular NES controller, and might be a little stiff to people used to the NES gamepads, but using that thumbstick makes it easier, and tends to help for faster manuevering. However, it won't wear out your wrists like a vintage Wristbreaker 4000 joystick will by a long shot. The twin fire buttons perform the same function across the board on a 2600, unless the game (ie. newer Homebrews that take advantage of this extra button) assigns it to a different purpose. This is the same on the Wireless version below.
Wireless Gamepad CX-78+ Wireless	In 2024, Atari upgraded once again to a new release, the CX-78+ Wireless Gamepads. These are Bluetooth compatible wireless versions of the CX-78 gamepad, intended for use with the 2600+, 7800+, and the original 7800 and 2600 (and other compatible) systems. They also can be used with a regular PC using the wireless USB dongle also provided, making them great for emulation as well. They are pretty much identical to the wired version except that there is a USB-C port for charging the internal batteries (with a crazy long charge life), a sync button, and it comes with two dongles - one for Atari units (2600s and 7800s including the modern Plus variants), and another for USB connection to a computer to play say, Stella with the same controller (!!). There are some "limitations with these though". First, people like me with a "Heavy Sixer" (ie the original 1977-1978 variant of the 2600) will need some kind of "extention" to the controller port(s) because the dongle is too short to get past the trim in the back of the Heavy Sixer. Another "All Sixers" limitation is "music" or noise coming back through the audio of the console while using this. This is because the HEavy/Light Sixer have a CD4050 HexBuffer chip, where part of it's function is to debounce the fire button on both joysticks. This gives Bluetooth noise from the CX78+ Wireless a channel to go down. Other than that, they work great, and fulfill what I want. THe noise level varies from game to game with the worst I had being Barnstorming, and the best being games with more music/sound as it drowns the noise out.
Wireless Joystick CX-40+ Wireless	In 2024, Atari also created a wireless version of the modern CX-40 joystick (CX-40 Plus). THis joystick is the modern rubber-dome based CX-40 with the same wireless dongles and capabilities (and probably limitations too) of the CX-78+ Wireless Controller.

Several third party companies made controllers comaptible with the Atari VCS, these included (but not limited to): Suncom, Gemini, BOSS, Wico, and even Segas own controllers intended for their Master System and Genesis were comaptible. It used to be this was a 9-pin standard, also shared among most late 70's hobbyist computers including the Commodore 64, and Atari 400/800/1200 series.