Best gaming controllers?
 

Today, while playing Marvel vs. Capcom with a few of my students over XBL, we got into a heated argument over console controllers (one of them insisted that the dinner plate-sized original Xbox controller was the best controller ever made; a declaration which made him the target of immediate ridicule). What was your favorite controller that's ever been made for, well... anything, really? PC or console? Doesn't matter. What about a controller you consider be god-awful?

In before everyone claims the original NES controller was the best controller ever.

http://islangknowledge.me/misc/Video...elt_Buckle.jpg

I still like the original launch ps1 controller. The weight of it is what most important to me besides the comfortable ergonomic design. I have such feminine hands, wrists and arms that its not funny, I'd want an easy controller to be spending hours with.

Call me mad; I liked the SEGA Genesis Controller. Just something about it; it molded to my hands.

The best controller ever was the Dualshock 2. Everything about it just felt right, like my hands had finally found their home after a long and arduous journey.

The SNES controller is the greatest controller ever made, sorry.

http://www.gilimag.com/images/storie...controller.jpg

So comfortable to hold, pleasing on the eyes, wonderful button placement, wonderful dpad.

Second favourite is the Saturn controller, of which I use a USB version on my computer.

http://eyeoftheerik.files.wordpress....ontrol-pad.jpg


For analogue controllers, I like the 360 pad, but the dpad is kinda poor.

http://playstation3.files.wordpress....controller.jpg

I never really adapted too well to the Genesis controller but it wasn't uncomfortable by any stretch of the mind so I don't think anyone would think you "mad" for liking it. Then again, Sega did have a track record of abysmal controller executions that I'm sure sounded great in concept.

Like this, for example...

http://gamerlimit.com/files/2009/11/...tor-banner.jpg

FUCK YO KINECT, NIGGA!

The actual face of the pad was flawless, yes. The shoulder buttons were another matter entirely. We spent a lot of time playing games like F-Zero and I relied a fuckton on the shoulder buttons, which cramped my index fingers after a couple of hours at the helm.

For the record, I think that the new Xbox controller has the triggers down perfectly, I just hate the D-pad. Anyone who has attempted to play Tetris or Chime with that shit knows exactly what I'm talking about.

I still love the Dreamcast controller to DEATH. But The 360 one is GOAT. easily.

Pretty sure I’m going to get a lot of slack for this vote, as well as disses, but I liked the N64 Controller

http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/n64-controller.jpg

Sure, you almost never used the left half of the controller, but while playing games like Super Mario 64 or Ocarina of Time I really felt this controller sat well in my hand. It was also a good controller for the original Super Smash Bros.

I will admit, this controller has its flaws, but I just loved using that Z trigger for Goldeneye and my grip on the controller always seemed to fit well.

Laugh all you want, but I enjoyed this controller!

I like the N64 controller too. The analogue stick is still good for me, but then I never wore mine out by bashing away at Mario Party.

Considering how little I hear complaints about how bad the Dual Shock sticks (still) are, the N64 controller gets way too much unfair bashing.

I got to go with Qwarky on this topic. I absolutely enjoyed the snes controller as my favorite controller of all time.

I guess it was the controller that I spent the most time with. I will agree i did not find the L and R buttons very sturdy. I remember having two sets of snes controllers and the L and R buttons were the first buttons to go, but something about the placement of the controller on my hands felt right.

I love the snes controller so much, when it comes to playing my wii games, I always prefer to use the classic controller from my Nintendo Wii, even though it is a little more compacted than the original snes controller it uses a lot of the same designs. I'm actually pretty comfortable using the controller when playing some of my wii games.

The shoulder buttons have always worked well for me. The placement is good, and they are just the right depth. Compare them to, say, the PSP shoulder buttons, which are quite awful, rickety, clicky things.

I've destroyed one SNES controller in my life time, and I've owned a SNES for about 19 years now. My first (extra) controller had its Y button worn out, mostly because practically every SNES game I played used the Y for running or shooting, so I was always using it.

It got to the point where it no longer moved down and was just kinda there, as if the plastic of the button was there, but there was no connector under it left to register a button press, much less spring the button back up a bit. I kept using it (by pressing the Y a little bit harder) until the B button no longer worked, making it impossible for me to play Stunt Race FX. It was a sad day.

Mind you, it wasn't an official controller, it was shaped just like it, but it had turbo and autofire switches as well. Auto-switched X in Super Probotector/Contra III for dual speed machinegun barrage erryday.

Gentlemen:

http://www.digitalbattle.com/wp-cont...01lzzzzzzz.jpg

Not the best system by a long shot, but the controller was another matter all together. I'd go so far as to call it one of the best. It fit perfectly in your hand, the buttons were all given unique shapes to make your fingers instantly recognize which ones were which, the analog sticks and D-pads were above reproach as usual, and the triggers were awesome. IMO there have yet to be triggers as comfortable and fun to use as the ones on the GC controllers (though the 360 has some pretty excellent ones). Super deep impression with a nice hard click at the bottom. I loved this controller. If only there were better games to take advantage of it.

SNES controller was too flat for me. The design in general was good, but didn't sit well due to the natural curve of hands. The playstation controllers have always been a favorite of mine until the ps3, in which the shoulder buttons are a pain. I like the shoulder buttons on the 360.

Am I the only person that doesn't like the movement to two different shoulder buttons? My favorite is easily the SNES since it has the best d-pad, great button feel, and only two shoulder buttons.

I think my last favorite has to be the Genesis. Especially when games would tell you to hit the A and C buttons at the same time.

I can't stand two different shoulder buttons. Half the time I can't even remember to use the second one. I feel like one is sufficient. Less is more...








Says the guy who said he loved the N64 Controller…

I don't like moving back and forth between two rows of shoulder buttons, and it's impossible for me to hold the controller with both index and middle fingers resting on the shoulder buttons. I mean, I can do it, but it's uncomfortable as fuck, and you need those middle fingers to better hold the controller.

I personally enjoy the wired GC controller over the wavebird. It's a lighter and less bulky. dpad was too tiny for anything other than visor selection in Metroid Prime.

And Gamecube has a LOT of excellent games, getdafuckouttahere. Unless you were a fag who bought all multiplatforms for the PS2 and its noodle sticks. And didn't play any Sega made exclusives.

Don't get me wrong, the GC has some of the best games I've ever played in my life (Metroid Prime is a flawless game, Wind Waker is criminally underrated, Smash Bros Melee/Mario Kart/Mario Party 5 gave me years of fun), but... Hmm, the more I think about it, the GC did have more great games than I gave it credit for. Carry on!

THANK YOU. Finally someone else said it. This here was my favorite controller design of all time except that the D-pad was too tiny for adult fingers but none of us ever used the D-pad for anything other than camera angle changes. But the controller itself felt like it was perfectly molded to the very contours of your palm and both analogue sticks were pretty much perfectly placed considering how much you used your right hand. Anyone who's ever played Viewtiful Joe on the Cube and on the PS2 knows that the Cube version is vastly superior simply because the controller buttons just lent themselves that much better to the entire feel of the game and many games share this same experience. I barely got to playing Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door and picking up my controller just to play a simple RPG is still amazing.

The rest of my wired Cube controllers I keep at the school on the off chance that I'll get a group of students in the lounge that wanna throw down in Melee (Yes, I still have that too) and then
IT'S ON, MOTHERFUCKERS!!!


Additional Spam:
Don't forget F-Zero GX, Super Mario Sunshine, Baten Kaitos and DK Jungle Beat (which I still have but no longer have the Bongo Controller it shipped with :(). Shit... Even the Metal Gear Solid remake was fucking awesome simply because the controller just FELT more comfortable to move about with.

http://i53.tinypic.com/347jzoo.jpg

Seconding the original PS1 controller. It's very... orthogonal. I like the feeling of precision from the split D-pad and the flat buttons. I can easily think of the face buttons as arranged in a cross shape, unlike the SNES, where I always think of them as two rows of two. The shoulder buttons are easy to reach and are all identical (no triggers vs. bumpers here). What I like most about it, though, is that it was before all the pressure-sensitive and analogue stuff got popular. I like the simple clicky-clacky on/off feel--the GameCube shoulder buttons are way too squishy for me, in contrast. Maybe it has something to do with my methodical approach to most games, but I prefer to make a thousand micro-tap adjustments.

I also have to say that I loved the N64 controls in Turok and Goldeneye (if you used the 1.2 Solitaire control style). C-button movement + stick aiming = WASD + mouse.

The 360 is probably the most comfortable for the modern dual-analogue stuff, though.

Talking about N64 controllers...

http://www.celprog.com/Images/superpad64.jpg

I think that's the one I bought him for Christmas one year. It was actually a fantastic controller. You were able to hit both the Z and L buttons at the same time, as well as reach the d-pad and analog stick with your thumb without changing positions. The only real problem was the Z-button wore after a lot of use and tended to get jammed so it took a lot of extra pressure to get it to active occasionally (or it could have just been caused by my bro throwing the controller).

My only problem with the Gamecube controller was always forgetting the Z button existed. I did like the feel of its triggers, though.

I didn't have a chance to forget about the z button on the gamecube controller thanks to Metroid Prime and the bosses of OH GOD WHY DOES MY POINTER FINGER HURT FROM TARGETING SO MUCH.

what

The Z button was used to bring out the map.

Maybe the way YOU had it set. On MY game it was a macro that typed "IDFA", the number "9" and fired the BFG9000.

what is this "doom" you speak of? >__>