Just curious what other people think. I would have ranked the GameCube as the best controller until I had an Xbox 360. The GameCube controller’s button layout is unique but really workable, and i love the different sizes and shapes of the buttons. The octagonal joystick thingy annoyed some people, but I love it. It’s a hardy controller, just the right weight and size for my hands at least. It doesn’t have too many buttons (clicking joysticks is the worst god damn thing) and it was the first controller (that I am aware of) that had analogue shoulder buttons.
The one flaw was that Z button. It should have had L2 and R2 buttons instead of one Z button. But oh well.
Oh also the d-pad was garbage. Do any modern controllers have good d-pads? I guess the PS2/3/4 probably.
Anyway the Xbox 360 controller is much more versatile and wireless and generally better but I still have a soft spot for the old GC controller.
I too, hate clicking sticks. Or at least I think there should be more resistance. I wind up crouching/zooming by accident all the time in high-tension situations because I start mashing those analog sticks
the xbox elite controller is so much better than any other comparable controller, probably ever
runner ups include the saturn pad, 360, wii classic pro (haven’t tried wii u pro but looks maybe better?), snes pad
i have a special fondness for the n64 controller. always will. especially wth a rumble pack for that added heft
dual shocks pre ps4 are hideously uncomfortable and have probably contributed to my cubital tunnel syndrome
gamecube has numerous issues; the dpad is basically unusable, the triggers are too tall, only one Z button, 8-way gated stick, c-stick is basically unusable
atari jaguar controller is hilarious; also colecovision
GC controller is definitely the most comfortable for me, but yeah: the actual joystick and buttons kind of sucked. Once again: Nintendo designing a controller to match whatever game Miyamoto was making at the time. One giant button isn’t exactly ideal for most fighting games.
I’m honestly very tempted to completely waste money on the new Xbone Elite controller. It seems like they took the practical innovations of those pro gamer controllers and actually came up with some engineering improvements that are clever and effective. The reviews I saw when it was new were all saying that it actually is better than the stuff it’s ripping off of.
So that’s probably the best 3-D controller out right now. I guess I’d say that the 360 controller is the best all-rounder for 3-D games, so that means the Elite is probably the very best.
The Neo Geo mechanical click stick gets a special mention for being so damn perfect and woefully un-copied. Would be perfect for portable gaming (and was with the NGPC).
I give best all-rounder for 2-D to the Genesis six-button–not the saturn pad. I prefer the looser d-pad on the six-button and it was quite comfortable. Didn’t have the bumpers, but you don’t really need bumpers until you go 3-D and start manipulating cameras.
Those were all pretty easy choices for me.
Best d-pad in history would be pretty hard. If we’re going for true cross-pads, it’s gotta be the very shallow but clicky GBA SP or (for those who need tome depth) maybe the revised DS pad or one of the new 3DS pads? But I probably still prefer the Genesis 6-buttons mushy disc.
I think I must be a filthy casual for enjoying the GC controller so much. But yeah it’s not good for fighting games or FPSes or really anything but 3D platformers/Nintendo games.
I dreamt last night that I was playing a game in a dark room vs. a friend and the dualshock 4 kept feeling off in my hands so I’d turn it over thinking it was upside down and then it would be even more off.
I finally brought it close to my face and discovered he had given me some strange malformed 3rd party controller that had a shallow d-pad on a huge bulging pedestal where L1 and L2 should have been in addition to some other changes and I cursed him and grabbed a standard controller and struggled to get it set to player 2 while he kept canceling out of the assignment screen laughing.
That dream controller might have been my favorite if I hadn’t flown off the handle. Be patient next time. Give yourself a chance to know it. Gosh.
I think the R3/L3 clicky stick problem might have just as much to do with what games do with it rather than how the controller physically works. Anyone who’s played EDF on Steam with me recently knows I’m constantly accidentally singing when I try to dodge, and one of the GTAs had me going into rear view mode all the time, but I’ve never accidentally run in Dark Souls because that takes more than just a momentary click.
I think most of the GC pad’s magic comes from the shape of the handles. The PS4 pads seem to have caught onto this.
Remember when the IC hivemind declared right sticks were the worst thing ever and evidence of poor design?
I passed up an NES Rock n Roller and a PS1 Thrustmaster Freestyler Board yesterday and I feel a bit of regret.
I have two problems with clicky sticks. First, the aforementioned “accidentally hit it while I’m playing” problem, and second, they’re really uncomfortable to hold for any prolonged period of time. The worst offender is Halo in my opinion. Having to hold the right stick in to crouch, but also use the stick to move the camera at the same time? Awful.
Also I just forget they exist sometimes so I am missing out on actual functionality if it’s never brought to my attention in the game, but that’s mostly just me being weird.
Most controllers are too damn complicated. I have a particular gripe with the four interchangeable face button trend that started with the SNES and unfortunately persisted. Even games that I’ve played for 50 hours, if I go back to them later I have to reacclimate to which face button does what. And even Japanese PlayStation and US PlayStation differ on face button conventions.
I admire the GBA for going back to 2 face buttons, seemingly without limiting 2d games at all (with the sole exception of fighting games), and also the GameCube for giving built-in meaning to the face buttons: primary, cancel, auxillary.
If we’re talking Gamecube controllers, I have to go with the Wavebird. Cords don’t necessarily bother me, but it has just the right amount of heft to it.
I had a corded Gamecube controller that, I shit you not, would randomly electrocute you. We could never figure out how. Nothing was exposed! We concluded it was haunted, it eventually grew mold somehow, and that was that.
Nintendo agrees with SB hivemind, judging by how Mario Galaxy and Mario 3d World are both carefully designed from the ground up to avoid needing any right-stick camera control.
Dreamcast had analog shoulders. Made a big deal of 'em.
The GC pad is ingenious for reasons covered here and others I’m tired of talking about. Home position business. The Wii controller is also so smart in many ways. This is all theoretical, though. It’s all great, progressive stuff that I want to see refined so that it actually works as advertised.
In terms of tangibly enjoying the pad, I have to go with the Genesis 6-button. Or, I guess, J-Saturn – but that’s less of my world. Along same lines, I like the S-pad for the original Xbox. Nothing bold; just solid refinement that feels super super cozy.
Also totally respect the original NES pad. Brilliant in ways nobody discusses; very similar to why the GC and Wii pads are so smart, but in this case actually implemented well. Bold yet cozy! Perfect pad for the time – so much so that, much like the game it served to control, we’ve done little but truss it up, poorly, for the last 30 years without looking too deeply at why it worked so well in the first place.
