What is the Best Console Controller of All Time? 373
Mateo Slovinsky asks: "Is the XBox 360's controller the best controller of all time? CNet seems to think so in its line up of the top five gamepads of all time. If you expected the Wii's controller, you will be dissapointed. It's a brilliant piece of innovation, but there simply aren't enough games to judge it against the best controllers ever." Which controller would you pick? What controllers have not left your hands cramped after a marathon session of gaming?
I agree (Score:5, Interesting)
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Re:I agree (Score:4, Informative)
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Playing SFII in the XBLA I end up using the analog stick because the d-pad is just flat out useless.
Thankfully, with the exception of the occasional XBLA game I don't have much need for the d-pad.
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That said, the layout of the 360 is probobly the apex of the "standard" dual-stick type controller. It's the culmination of all that's been learned about controller design from the PS Dual Sh
Original NES (Score:4, Insightful)
Two is "many". (Score:3, Funny)
Just compare the simplicity of that with current joysticks (Like this
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Everything else has too many buttons......
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Genesis/Megadrive had 6 buttons (Score:3, Informative)
The controller actually had a 7th button, called "Mode", which was used to force the controller to function as a 3-button controller (A=X, B=Y, C=Z) for a few old games that freaked when booted with a 6-button controller plugged in (Ms. PacMan, for example).
The 6-button controller was the new d
SNES controller (Score:5, Insightful)
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NES Advantage (Score:5, Informative)
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Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
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And because of that, there is no constitancy. One game's jump is another one fire, one's map is another one's menu... For people like me who like to switch between many games on a regular basis (just this week, on the PS2 alone, I did some DQ9, FFXII, DMC3 & Lego SW + several games on PC & DS), it's a real PITA to have to relearn to use the controler every day.
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The thing I didn't like about the dreamcast controller was how the cord came out towards the player, not towards the TV. You lost a good 4 or 5 inches of cord length there.
Speaking of cords, it always seemed that my playstation/PS2 controller cords were just a little bit too short for wherever I lived. To me, stock wireless controllers have been one of the best things w
Batteries! (Score:2)
Micro$oft screwed it up by only including three USB ports on the 360 (forcing you to go wireless to play Halo with 3 friends).
Sony screwed it up by not having swappable batteries and putting in an absolutely crappy battery in the sealed controller; my PS3 routinely has battery life issues (starts losing signal even while reporting 2 "bars"... WTF is with only having 3 bars to indicate battery capacity left anyways?) if I try to go wireless for
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Fat lot of good that does (Score:2)
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It wasn't the default controller that shipped in the box, but I can't remember the last time a corded controller was connected to my gamecube.
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The list is pretty solid and even though I dislike the Xbox and 360, I think the 360 controller is pretty nice. Honestly, my only beef with the list is the N64 controller. As other posters have pointed out, you can't use a third of your controller at a given time. I wish keyboard
Wavebird (Score:2, Informative)
Idiots (Score:5, Insightful)
It does not take a lot of games to notice that:
1. I no longer have to play games with my hands together as though I'd been cuffed.
2. Easy to distinguish buttons, not too many of them, with convenient support for things like "thumb+forefinger = grab", making controls easier to remember.
3. Broad selection of simultaneous actions. I can move and turn at the same time without trying to remember button combos.
The wiimote is, hands down, the best console controller ever. It's not even close. Can I invent a game that works better on something else? Sure. I can make games that are better on keyboard than mouse, too. Still, the dominant case is pretty clear.
Re:Idiots (Score:4, Interesting)
When holding it sidewides, it fits my hand so poorly that it's not even funny.
When holding it like a remote control, the pointing interface is so horrible that I can't believe they bothered. It's fine for menus, but any time that it's used interactively, it's horrid. Red Steel is a great example of horrid pointing.
My 'best' controller would be the Phoenix Revolution for the PS2. the controls are all placed just where they are comfortable, the analog sticks have adjustable tension, and you can move the sticks/buttons/dpad to any of the 4 positions. Now that I've adjusted it as I like, I rarely change it... But I've always got the option.
The Wiimote has its uses, and it's GREAT for Tennis and the other sports games... It's just not in the running for 'best controller'.
Re:Idiots (Score:5, Interesting)
I can't help wondering if this is something software-specific. Case-in-point: Zelda's pointer interface is smoother and more responsive than the actual Wii menus. When it comes to firing the bow in Zelda, it's easy to snipe even tiny targets from a tremendous distance using the pointer interface.
I haven't played Red Steel so I'll take your word that the pointing interface sucks in that game, but I don't think it's a problem with the controller.
Definitely software-specific (Score:5, Insightful)
I have a 50" screen. I was getting really annoyed at how twitchy Zelda was, how twitchy the general Wii response for visuals were. If I pointed to the edge of my screen, the mouse zoomed WAY off to the side.
Then, inside Zelda, I found this awesome feature. It let you select your screen type (4:3 or 16:9), then it displayed a yellow bar. You lined up your IR bar ("sensor bar" my ass, it's a bar of plastic with a set of IR LEDs in it) with the center of it, sized up the yellow bar so it matched the IR bar, and the Zelda interface adjusted itself. Now, in my Zelda games, if I point to a spot, the little cursor goes right where I'm pointing.
NO other Wii game has implemented this yet. Red Steel, had they had this in, would have actually been playable. Trauma Center: Second Opinion would be playable. Wii Play would make a lot more sense in Duck Hunt mode.
Nor have they done us the simple courtesy of pushing a simple recalibration routine out over the system software, which would stop any other software company from having to do so.
Bad Nintendorks. No Cookie.
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The size of your TV does not really matter. All movements are read relative to the "sensor bar". So it doesn't matter where you are pointing on your screen. I'm sure there are others who know a lot more than I do that could explain it better.
And they do have a built-in sensitivity tool. I have it and I have not been online with my Wii yet.
Go to your Wii menu -> Wii Settings -> Wii Systems Settings 2
Re:Idiots (Score:4, Informative)
I agree with you on this. The box design is no Cadillac when holding it sideways for VC games or games like Paper Mario. But I give them props for designing a multi-functioning controller that CAN be used in two different positions. In this game, the functionality is more important than the perfect comfort.
Red Steel is the the prefect example of how to screw up the pointer detection at the game level. I picked up this game at release and traded it back in a week later. Never bothered to play it very long. This wasn't due to how crappy the pointer is, but how the game interacted with the pointer. Often, it would jump around the room 'locking on' to things.
Also, as I've been finding out, a 'bright' room causes havoc with pointer detection. Trying to play Paper Mario when it's sunny out and the curtains are open is just painful. You need a good game interface and a darker room and the point works like magic. Just play Wii Play to see how well it can work. Not perfect, sure, but far from being obtuse.
I might rent Red Steel again (being a Blockbuster online member, I get a free game rental a month) to see how much was the remote sensitivity on a bright day and how much was the game interface. Since that time, I've learned to adjust the pointer sensitivity and room brightness.
Cheers,
Fozzy
Re:Idiots (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't know about the number of buttons, though. Twilight Princess uses each and every button on that controller, including the four D-Pad directions, and it comes out to 12. On the plus side, the buttons ARE all very distinct. I do see people confusing B and Z at times, however.
My only real problem with the controller is that with my setup, I pretty much have to sit quite close to the TV -- too close for the pointer to function if I'm holding my hands out. Unfortunately there's just not that much I can do about it.
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Definitely a plus, I liked that already back then on the N64 where you could play certain games (Perfect Dark) with two controllers, one for each hand, to get two analogsticks.
### 2. Easy to distinguish buttons, not too many of them, with convenient support for things like "thumb+forefinger = grab", making controls easier to remember.
I would rephrase "Not to many of them" to "not enough of them". That you need an addition
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To add more buttons and analog sticks would defeat the purpose of simplifying gaming for the uninitiated. The Classic Controller is an easy way to support more traditional games without making a "Wall of Buttons and Dongles" the standard.
While not as comfortable as the normal position, I don't find the horizontal orientation to be uncomfortable. At this time I can't think
Wii's Importance is way beyond ergonomic (Score:2)
Every female member of my extended family played the atari 2600 for a couple hours in the 80s and that was pretty much the last gaming they did. Every one of them is now addicted to the family wii -- and all we have is the Sports disc.
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Sega Saturn SNES (Score:3, Interesting)
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Favourite tends to be what you grew up with (Score:3, Insightful)
This is not an objective opinion, I don't think that there can be one where the word 'favourite' is involved, but I spent so many hours with it in my hands that it's the one that feels right for me and all others are, in my mind, compared with it. I'm sure that, had my peer group been Nintendo, rather than Sega, orientated, then I would feel differently, but they weren't, so I don't.
Atari 2600 (Score:4, Funny)
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- Atari, circa 1983
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NES Advantage (Score:2)
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Otherwise I agree, the NES Advantage was an awesome stick.
Game & Watch - pre-NES awesomeness (Score:2)
However in my mind, I reckon that WASD and a mouse is the best contr
N64? Seriously? (Score:5, Insightful)
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I hate the N64 as well. Most of the games disabled a third of the controller (since their market was not three-handed gamers) so you just have a large chunk of controller as weig
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For some reason, everyone got some dumb-assed idea that running should be an analog function and that looking around should tie up your only other thumb. This is simply not the case.
Using the N64's controller, I would typically run with the c-buttons (using my index finger to hit either the top one or the R button, and my "shooting thumb" for the other C buttons and the A/B bu
I love the Power Glove. (Score:5, Funny)
P-P-P-Powerglove (Score:3, Funny)
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-Lucas
Dreamcast.....but then 360 (Score:5, Insightful)
For a while, I thought it was the Dreamcast controller...it fits perfectly in my hands, has a good weight to it, and the D-pad felt solid.
Overall, I would have to agree with C-Net...the 360 controller is AWESOME. The buttons and triggers have a nice solid feel, the thing just cradles in your hands, and it has a decent weight to it. My only gripe would be with the D-Pad...other then that though, the 360 controller is at the top of the list.
Nothing beats a good keyboard/mouse combo though;-)
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No idea why they would do that, but what do you want it's Cnet
Would not this be subject to the type of game? (Score:2)
On the PC my favorite for FPS games was the spaceorb. If only it was brought forward to XP I would never had gotten rid of the ones I had.
As for consoles, again, doesn't it depend on which game your playing?
Showing my age but... (Score:2)
WTF?! (Score:3, Funny)
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This top 5 list should include atleast the Nintendo Wii, Nintendo GC, Nintendo SNES and Nintendo N64 controllers.
What a bunch of fanboys they are!
Thank god you are more objective.
The good, the bad and the wtf (Score:4, Informative)
The Dualshock 2 was also an excellent controller in its own way, despite being a little too small for comfort. It did a good job of doing absolutely everything a modern controller needs to with a minimum of fuss and bother. However, the pressure-sensitive function of the buttons could be extremely finnicky and was hard to use properly in games that demanded it (such as the Gran Turismo series). The Sixaxis is a big improvement in this respect, but... well... I'll come to the Sixaxis later.
Leaving the consoles aside for one moment, I'm going to get a bit retro for my final pick of "great" controllers and go back to the PC's Thrustmaster F-16. I had one of these eating up half my desk-space for many years and never found anything more fun to play flight-sims with. Sure, the customisation software was all DOS based and didn't work properly under Win 95 or later, but I still have very fond memories of this stick.
Now... the bad.
Top pick here... the Gamecube controller. Not in terms of sheer, outright awfulness - you can certainly find worse examples of that. But rather because this controller managed to be the only controller to "get it wrong" so badly in a generation where everybody else (including PC accessory manufacturers) seemed more or less able to agree on roughly how many buttons a controller should have and where they should be. One huge, stand-out flaw was the pathetic cable length, particularly unforgivable on a system so heavily geared towards party games. Shelling out extra for wireless controllers became effectively essential for anybody with a living room larger than a small cupboard. The right analogue stick wasn't even a proper stick - it was a stumped and malformed nub, which was no use whatsoever for gaming and made fpses on the cube a truly nasty proposition. The mis-shaped buttons, with the huge green blob and the tiny little kidney-beans around the edge meant that you were forever hitting A when you didn't mean to. All in all, the official Cube controller felt like a nasty, $5 third party accessory.
Also high on the list... the PSP's analogue stick. Gums up with dust far too easily and is not pleasant to use even after cleaning. The rest of the PSP interface is fine and many games avoid using the little stick, but this is definitely something for Sony to tackle in the next revision.
And now the "why weren't they includeds"
Basically, because while allegedly revolutionary (although the results of this "revolution" remain to be seen), the Wii-mote at best represents a very early and unpolished attempt at a new type of controller. Accuracy is questionable at best, especially during rapid movements. Less understandable, and harder to forgive, is the positioning of the buttons. If you want to use more than 2 buttons, then you are going to get sore fingers. Using the Wii-Mote for anything other than a "wave the wand around manically" game for any protracted period is deeply uncomfortable and cramps up my hand like nothing else I've ever tried. The 360 controller is a massively polished traditional product - as good as it's going to get for regular controllers for the forseeable future. That the Wii-mote fails to measure up is perhaps inevitable given how novel it is, but it still doesn't mean that it's as good as the 360 controller.
And the Sixaxis? Well..
There is no one "Best Controller", people. (Score:2)
If you have the hands of a 6 year old kid, a controller like the NES or like the small/close buttons on a Game Boy / DS model will probably be perfect for you. If you have larger hands, something like the SNES controller might feel better.
There's also the issue of how you hold the controller. Some people like something that fits firmly into the palm of their hands. Others try to rest it by curling the 4th and 5th fingers around to give it support.
It's
Huh? (Score:2)
Then why exactly did they pick the DualShock 2 over the DualShock? The only feature the newer controller has over the latter is pressure-sensitive buttons, and I'd say there are fewer games that take advantage of that than there are in the Wii's library.
And the 2600 controller? They're not handing out these awards based o
How can anyone find the GC controller comfortable? (Score:2)
Gravis Gamepad and the Pro (Score:2)
I just hate it that MS forced me to buy a new gamepad because they broke support for the Gamepad Pro in XP SP2.
My gravis gamepad, even though over 10 years old, are still in perfect condition.
This reminds me... (Score:2)
Oh, and I'd really like to be able to use buttons Y and B on NES an
Didn't RTFA but whatever, I've played them all (Score:2)
First, I'll have to choose the NES and SNES controllers. The NES controller isn't very comfortable nowadays, but it did what it needed to do back then. And the SNES controller is just great, maybe my favorite, definitely my favorite no-joystick controller. It's small but it's comfortable, it has plenty of buttons, but nothing confusing. The Genesis controller just felt plasticky and I never really liked the three button setup.
For
Am I alone hating the vast array of buttons? (Score:3, Informative)
I also don't like the 4-button diamond layout that started with the SNES controller and has persisted. The thumb has one comfortable axis to play with and keep uniform button-pressing movement - side to side. Thus the three-buttons-in-a-row structure is far better.
Certainly large amounts of buttons are more easily accessible on arcade games (I've never had a problem with Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, etc), but as you're using your fingers, palm-down to access them, that's far better than trying to hit 4 - or even 6! As per the Saturn for instance - with one thumb.
I play PC games more than console games, so I'm familiar with using a good 15-20 buttons to play Counter strike, World of Warcraft, what have you - but the layout of a keyboard is so much better for that than a cramp-inducing controller. It's not the complexity of what's involved, but the fact that your most useful digits are tucked away gripping the controller, and you're expected to hit 12 buttons and 3 directional pads/sticks with your two thumbs that is dumb.
Having said that, I love the Wiimote. Aside from the jumping-about-waving aspect, its design limits you by necessity to not using more than 2-3 buttons, which is great. The Nunchuk could use one mess "shoulder button", but it's forgivable.
There is a cute "family tree" of controllers available here: http://www.axess.com/twilight/console/ [axess.com]
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All Time? (Score:2)
Best joystick. (Score:2)
MegaDrive/Genesis 6button joystick.
Its simple,and very easy to operate(especially when you use millisecond twitch skills).
except the mode button:its really badly designed and breaks often.
And for PC:
A properly mapped keys on keyboard(with extra short retype delay) would provide the same or better gaming expirience.
N64 controller in 3rd? (Score:2)
SNES controller over the Mega Drives? The SNES controller was ok, but the Mega Drives was built in your hand shape and when your ten you can hit all the buttons without having to re-adjust your grip. But I'm guessing it comes down to nostalga in the SNES's controller.
Personnally I'd have the PS
Anyone remember the NES "MAX"? (Score:3, Informative)
Remember the "advanced" controllers for the original Nintendo, the NES Max and NES Advantage? The Advantage was the huge, arcade-style controller. I never had one, but friends did. I didn't like it. What I did like, and own, was the NEX Max [wikipedia.org].
Now, the thing I hated about it was that "sliding" left thumb control wasn't very precise. But I fixed that by taking it apart and actually inserting the D-pad from a regular NES controller. A real simple hack that gave me the customary precision of the standard NES controller, the more "natural" and comfortable shape of the Max, as well as the all-too-important turbo buttons.
Nowdays, I like the standards Playstation2 controller to be the best. It just feels natural in my hands.
Incomplete list (Score:2)
The SNES controller I agree was quite good. But I tend to think the 6-button Genesis controller was superior. That controller fit the hands better and I've always had a tendency to prefer buttons on the face of the controller.
The simplicity of the original
None. (Score:2)
These days, I just don't play consoles and stick with computers (2-3 buttons mice + non-Natural keyboards).
PS2 (Score:2)
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FWIW, I think the Dual Shock is the most comfortable pad I've used. It's probably mostly due to the angle of your hands as you hold it - I usually hold the pad pretty close to my body so the wider angle of the Dual Shock feels better.
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Agreed. I think the Dual shock is a really bad design for 3D games and there is a reason Nintendo, MS, and Sega all moved the Analog stick to a better position for you
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I've found that the Dual Shock starts out comfortable for a while, but develops into causing some noticeable hand pain if I don't take breaks, even playing a relatively slow-paced RPG like Dragon Quest VIII.
Meanwhile I can play SSBM on the Gamecube for hours upon hours, moving fingers at a comparatively frenzied pace, and not feel anything unexpectedly painful.
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The original PSX DS (Score:2)
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That and the L3 and R3 buttons are too easy to hit.
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I also would have added the intellivision controller to the list, just for coolness
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