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To help with this transition, I found a simplified controller board specifically made for use with Scratch called a Picoboard [http://www.picocricket.com/picoboard.html] which has sensors and functions much like an Arduino. In order to use the Arduino with Scratch I reappropriated code from a Scratch-board simulation site [http://www.yengawa.com/scratch_arduino] which allows the Arduino to be used in the same way as a Picoboard.
On the Arduino, I substituted a potentiometer and a push-button switch to respectively replace the slider and button functions on the Picoboard. To complete the controller I wired and soldered all the parts into a plastic housing. I chose to remake the classic topdown shooting videogame Centipede to accommodate the controller. The game is also perfect for using the potentiometer as its dial doesnt rotate a full 360 degrees and the player's controlled vessel in Centipede only moves left and right in a limited enclosed play area (as opposed to a game where the player's controlled vessel has a free full range of motion where at least a four-point setup is needed).
I found a Scratch project example of Centipede and reconfigured the language to be used by the Arduino Controller. A roadbump that I found from translating the Arduino's controller to the Scratch game was that the potentiometer read as 0-100, but this was solved creating variables that would set its orientation based on the sensor value.
