Top 10 Worst Game Controllers 263
Ant writes "IGN has a top ten list that focuses on some of the brilliantly terrible game controllers that shipped for game systems. Many of these were first-party, out-of-the-box concepts, while others were cash-in ideas from engineers that clearly either didn't have a sense in their noggin, or they simply listened too much to their marketing department. Either way, these controllers are a bad bunch."
Roklan's 2600 'trackball' (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Top ten worst controllers? (Score:4, Interesting)
Try playing a good flight sim (or space sim) without one. I'm looking in particular at IWar2:EoC and Freespace2.
But gamePADS? nearly worthless. Only thing better than a mouse/keyboard for gaming (except above exception
Re:Top ten worst controllers? (Score:4, Interesting)
You may not consider it good but I did play Freelancer with KB/M. I liked it just fine.
If I were to do a real flight sim I'd really be willing to shell out the cash for a proper flight setup. I'm really impressed with how good sims are at this point and I think it would be worth buying the right gear.
PowerGlove only #7?? (Score:5, Interesting)
I actually bought that flaming piece of garbage power glove back in the day, and it simply DID NOT WORK. The intellivision disk worked, as did the XBox fat controller (although it stank on ice).
How about the 2nd generation Thrustmaster joysticks? Remember the ones that needed a driver that soaked up so much high memory that even with memory managers you couldn't possibly run any good games in DOS? That definitely should have made the list.
I was also hoping that the mouse would make the list. I've always hated using a mouse for game controls.
So if those are the 10 worst, what are the ten best? The Logitech wireless PS/2 controller? The Microsoft rotating flight stick? Funny enough, I'd say the Intellivision disk...
Re:Worst two (Score:3, Interesting)
The 2600 controller was a classic though
The Jaguar controller? (Score:3, Interesting)
First off, the Jaguar controller was the first controller I ever used that was comfortable for me (who has larger hands) to hold. I could grab the controller firmly, and actually play Tempest 2000 for a few hours without having hand cramps.
And, what the hell is wrong with them just automatically saying "it has a phone keypad, therefore it sucks?" I thought the phone keypad with overlays thing was at least a good idea on paper, and the Jaguar controller was a good effort. Bad Atari for not giving you a place to store the overlays..
Anyway, they dis this controller, and there's no "hate" for the original Commodore VIC joystick?
Did he ever use a Jaguar controller? (Score:5, Interesting)
In particular:
- Nothing wrong with a numeric keypad or overlays. They were actually helpful, for crying out loud, and allowed for truly complex games like Iron Soldier
- As a proud Jaguar owner, I never got the impression that Atari was fishing for the Mortal Kombat krowd. They only had *two* fighting games, for crying out loud, and three if you include the Jaguar CD (which came much later).
- The connectors were not loose. I own one that I stepped on, and even with some of the plastic cuff missing, it still stays in the controller port just fine. I've *never* had one fall out.
It's just idiotic bashing, and it displays the kind of ignorance that passes muster at places like IGN.
Re:Original XBox Controller? (Score:5, Interesting)
The Xbox launching with that thing was pretty controversial. It was like someone had taken a regular controller and stung it repeatedly by bees, and was taken as a sign that Microsoft didn't know what it was doing. It was also symbolic of how generally huge the Xbox was.
The bead buttons were also quite uncomfortable for unaccustomed hands. I tested with that thing for a few weeks, and the divot in my right hand was pronounced and painful. They didn't have the tactile feedback, they were too "slick," and they dug into your fingers in odd ways. Thankfully the Type-S controller fixed these problems.
It also had too much of an inward curve, leading to a slightly ackward arm position, though that could just be from years of practicing on other controllers. Still, it always felt like it was going to slip in towards you.
The thing about a small controller is that anyone can hold it, and more importantly there are a myriad of subtly different ways that you can hold your hand and still have it be comfortable. You can hold it elbows out, elbows at your side. You can ride your hands up so that you're closer to the top buttons, or you can slide down towards the lower sticks. You can rest so low on a PS2 controller that you can hardly reach the top buttons. You can engulf the thing with your entire hand, wrapping your pointer fingers around it like claws.
With a large controller, there is only one way to hold it and still have your hands reach the buttons in a usable fashion. Like the Jaguar, if that happens to be the way you hold the controller, then it will work great for you. And if it isn't, you're not going to be able to come to a compromise with the controller. That's why most successful controllers don't have finger grooves... exactly where the player puts their fingers varies by person. It may feel wonderful to the developer, but put it in the hands of someone with a slightly different bone structure and it is downright torture.
Strangely enough I always found the Jaguar controller just right for my hands, though the buttons needed to be raised from the surface about 2 millimeters and given a smoother activation pressure. But everyone else I've given that thing to was deeply uncomfortable, and could never figure out a way to hold it that was right for them.
Re:Gamecube? (Score:3, Interesting)
The problem is that your hands naturally settle into the convenient grooves for the L and R buttons when gripping the controller. These buttons almost almost grip your fingers themselves, so they are comfortably settled and you do not want to have to move them while playing the games. There's actually a ridge on the R button that "impedes" your finger's progress towards the Z button if you want to press it. Not that it's difficult to reach the button if you're really want to, but it's not comfortable.
A better design might have been if they had done something similar to the N64 controller, putting it on the under side of the controller, perhaps between the C-stick and the B/A/Y/X button cluster, or perhaps to the left of the C-stick, though that have proven difficult to reach for kids with tiny hands.
It's not one of the worst controllers, but it's not one of my favorites either.
Spot on (Score:2, Interesting)
I was young and inexperienced, I thought "Hey, they're just controllers that are a little different, how bad can they be?" How wrong I was.
For the record I also had the NeGCon, an NES controller that looked like motorcycle handle bars (that one was actually pretty comfy), a PSX one that looked like a Battarang (best controller ever), the Super Scope (which kind of rocked). Hell, I even had the Odyssey (but not until like 1986 because my uncle was one of the designers and they found a bunch in a closet somewhere). Its controllers were barely classifiable as controllers. I felt like I was sharpening pencils.
Ahh the memories. I definately learned to stay clear of those oddball controllers. So, anybody heard any news on the Revolution or PS3 o.O?
Re:Gamecube? (Score:2, Interesting)
But, the other eighty replies already said that. So I'll go a different route; Z was kinda crowbarred onto the controller because, if I'm not mistaken, developers complained that it'd be harder to port PSX/PS2 games if the controller only had two shoulder buttons (L/R, as opposed to L1/L2/R1/R2). Thing is, I'm not sure how PSX/PS2 gamers handle four shoulder buttons. I've played a decent number games on the 'Cube, and I don't think I've ever once said to myself, "You know what would make this game a lot better? More shoulder buttons." Not counting games on older systems.
Maybe it's just the games I play.
Re:TI Controller? (Score:3, Interesting)
I held it in my left hand, my left thumb resting on the left button, my left index finger resting on the right. My right hand used the stick, which I held by wrapping my right thumb and index finger around the circumference of the top. The only part that was a little dodgy was the numeric keypad, because you had to take your hand off the stick for a moment to hit those buttons, or stretch your thumb down awkwardly to hit them. The only problem that I remember was going through quite a few of them because the side buttons would wear out over time.
I used to play that thing for hours on end when I was a kid (in fact, I still have it and it still works), and my hands never got sore in the least. No, I didn't know gaming-induced pain unil I got Nintendo Thumb in 1988 or so.
~Philly
Re:PowerGlove only #7?? (Score:3, Interesting)