A pointing device incorporates a force feedback mechanism driven by an actuator to convey physical sensations to the user. A position sensing apparatus is provided for monitoring the position of the user manipulable object in the pointing device. The sensing apparatus employs sensors that are directly or essentially directly connected to the user manipulable object to reduce backlash and are mounted in a way to eliminate off-axis loading on the sensors. The reduction of backlash produces more accurate position measurements, while the elimination of off-axis loading protects the sensors from damage to the internal mechanisms thereof. A computer controller processes the data from the sensors, and controls the actuator to produce feedback forces to the user manipulable object via the force feedback mechanism. The force feedback mechanism employs a gimbal mount having a pair of gimbal arms. One of the arms is a double sided or forked gimbal arm which substantially retains fully the joystick handle in all movements including applied torque about the axis of the handle as well as up-down and forward-backward forces. The improved constraint provides improved accuracy with reduced tolerances, resulting in better game play. The force feedback mechanism further includes a gear reduction system that utilizes an annular reduction gear portion for force transmission from the force feedback actuator to the user manipulable object. The annular reduction gear portion has gear teeth along an inner, concave side to produce a greater gear reduction, so that a smaller and cheaper actuator can be used. The gear reduction system is configured to take up less space. The pointing device is compact and accurate, and can be produced economically.