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It's a French word! It's a nickname used to mock someone. Or, when used with "petit" (becoming «petit sobriquet»), it means a cute nickname used intimately like between lovers, or by parents to children: i.e. things like "cutie pie" or "sugar", but in French (like «petit poulet» or «ma puce»).

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I hope it can help speedrunners to keep being as precise without having to use a brittle stick. I did not test it yet on a real N64, but I'm pretty sure that if you could rely instead on accurately extended GCN-style sticks, it has potential to fix the existing reliability issues. #N64 #speedrun

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I launched my website stick-it-up.adamscott.studio last Monday! I go in depth on my theory on it, and I offer a tool where people can know by how much they need to extend their stick in order to emulate another one. (i use Blu Tack for now)

Stick it Up! is an online tool to know how much to extend your controller's analog stick in order to emulate another's feel.

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The GameCube controller is close (and has a larger TTR than most), but it's far from being equivalent. That could explain why installing a GameCube-style controller on an OG N64 controller just doesn't make it for speedrunners. It just doesn't have enough range to be as precise as the N64 stick.

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It's a term I coined. It's the physical distance a thumb makes when pushing the stick as far as possible. The quality of the sensor is not the only factor to consider. The N64 is unique in the sense that it's the controller with the biggest one. And games were made with this in mind.

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@abney317.com I just read about your analog stick problems, and I may have stumbled recently on something relevant for you. I isolated what makes a N64 controller so distinct from other controllers and why it sucks playing N64 games on them: it's all about the "thumb-travel range".

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See how I'm able to tiptoe with Mario here (Super Mario 64). It's all with native JoyCon 2 on my Switch 2. I needed to extend exactly my stick (I used Blu Tack!!!) by 28.09 mm. Human thumbs just cannot be that precise without a thumbstick extension.

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With "thumb-travel range" (a term I coined) and the stick pivot radius, it is possible to calculate by how much exactly it's needed to extend an analog stick in order to emulate the range of another one. Analog stick emulation. 🤯 I detailed everything on my website. stick-it-up.adamscott.studio

Stick it Up! is an online tool to know how much to extend your controller's analog stick in order to emulate another's feel.

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Adam Scott @adamscott.studio · 27/08/2025

@modernvintagegamer.com I'm certain that you'd be interested in what I discovered. It appears that the physical size of an analog stick matters more than we thought. That would explain why playing emulated N64 games (with i.e. JoyCons) feel so weird. It's caused by the "thumb-travel range".

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Google: we lock down Android to prevent bad actors from spreading harm. also Google: *omit to document their definitions of "bad actor" and "harm"* #android #google #lockdown #closedplatform

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Adam Scott @adamscott.studio · 26/08/2025

Are you able to tiptoe like this with a Switch 2 JoyCon? Well, you can't without a 28.09 mm physical extension to your stick. For more info about "thumb-travel range" and its impact on retro-gaming and on our general joystick knowledge, see stick-it-up.adamscott.studio

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Adam Scott @adamscott.studio · 26/08/2025

Today, I found out the perfect analogy for "thumb-travel range": it is the mouse DPI for the human thumb. Software cannot fix this. It's like the difference between using a mouse at 400 dpi and at 3600 dpi. So I added a little more context to the "What is thumb-travel range" section of my page.

Stick it Up! is an online tool to know how much to extend your controller's analog stick in order to emulate another's feel.

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Adam Scott @adamscott.studio · 26/08/2025

@mattmcmuscles.bsky.social @stopskeletons.bsky.social I'm pretty sure this kind of weird news is up your valley. It's silly, but it works so well and in ways… it shouldn't.

A Nintendo Switch 2 with 28.09 mm of putty (in height) bounded on the left JoyCon joystick.

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Next time, I'll know not to upload SVGs. Here's the same image, but with a better background.

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Here's the image, fixed. Sorry for the inconvenience.

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I fell deep into a rabbit hole. I came out from it 5 days later with a breakthrough in analog stick knowledge. I'll finally be able to get back to work. (What a wild ride. Phew!)

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Please share my article to everyone. I think it would benefit everyone to know, from N64 speedrunners to game enthusiasts! Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

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Check how much reach the N64 has compared to other platforms! 🤯 And I go in detail, in my article, on the fact that N64 developers were pretty much aware of it. Games were designed around the fact that you had so much range. With today's controllers, we lost something. It really shows.

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Here's footage with my JoyCon 2 extended (with adhesive putty) set to the size given by my tool to emulate N64. While aiming is still not easy with the JoyCon, everything else speaks for itself. Bond smoothly transitions between the concrete blocks and the N64 controller spins around gracefully.

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Here's how GoldenEye 007 (N64) plays with a Switch 2 JoyCon. Notice the jank when moving the analog stick: it's almost like if it was all or nothing, everytime. It's jarring to see Bond walk between the concrete blocks. See also how stiff the N64 controller moves in the pause menu.

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My article also contains a tool in order to compare the TTR of controllers. It also explains how you can "fix" that discrepancy by "emulating" the targeted thumbstick. #blutack I refute the idea that N64 games controls are quaint and charming, but grating. Maybe it's just your analog stick fault!

Controller with adhesive putty on the stick.

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Thumb-travel range (TTR) is the umami of 3D consoles. It is the essence of what makes N64 games feel like N64 games. There's finally a name to put on the fact that playing them on the NSO with a JoyCon 2 soooooo feels terrible. It explains why. More space your thumb has, more precise it will be.

Image representing the concept of thumb-travel range.

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Do you know about the importance of the thumb-travel range for a controller analog stick? This new concept will change the way we play games with analog sticks. *I'm dead serious.* It also opens the way for thumbstick emulation for more accurate retro gaming. Wanna know more? Read my article.