May 27
“First up, it’s the classic Atari 2600 joystick, featuring a simple stick mechanism for moving around and a red button for firing. It’s not technically a gamepad, but it’s so crucial to gaming history there’s no way we couldn’t mention it.
The original joystick on the Atari 5200 was a bit of a disaster, but this streamlined version was much easier to hold and use. Atari’s stick brought the joys of the arcade into the home and would inspire many gamepads in the future.”
All five are broken down for your minds to digest here.
The Xbox 360 controller is NOT beige.
Beige? Isn’t that like, tan-ny?
It’s a good Top 4 list with a joke stuck on the end, IMO…
Uhm, yeah, WHITE. That’s a color, ya know?
Otherwise… why does everyone complain about the original x-box controller? I admit it was… large (the small one is still large) and yet, it was one of the most comfortable controlers I’ve ever used. Even my 5 yo brother could use it.
Scott, you confound me ;p
Why does everyone rip on the xbox 360 controllers? I find them really easy to use and the button layout is comfortable. I’ve got pretty huge hands so I find the dual shock ones just too darn small. They needed to extend the grab handles and it would of been better.
I think that the better controller is the GCN controller. It fits my hands perfectly.
I must say that I agree on this.
The original Xbox controller was horrible and couldn’t fit in my hands (It is one of the reason I didn’t buy the original Xbox). The PS2 dualshockcontroller fits perfectly. But the X360 controller is perfect. It fits as perfect in my hands, and the button and joysticks are placed a bit better then on the Dualshock.
I agree with Eugenio Martínez Sierra. In my opinion the Gamecube Controller is the most comfortable controller there is. Exept for its “Z” button maybe…
Surprisingly I agreed with their order. The gamecube, dreamcast, xbox (original controller, the 50 lb one) and the old brick style nes controller all lacked long term playability. The PS2 controller is famous for comfort and at the rate the 360 one is going, it will be too.
Wiimote got pwned! *kills self for using the word ‘pwned’
Actually, I would like to try the Wii, but I haven’t had the opportunity yet..
My XBox as pretty late in the day, I guess, so I never experianced the legend that is the original controller, but I like the one I have a lot. I guess I fit into the big hands category, because the Game Cube controller is almost too small. I haven’t used a 360 controller either, but I will eventually. I have to get a 360, if only to play Fable 2.
Beige? White!
The Xbox 360 controller is the best-looking one IMO, in a tie with the Wiimote… I wonder what kinda Xbox 360 controller they were using to say it looked ugly. At any rate, it’s definitely the best one I’ve used personally… perfect ergonomically, and has everything you’d expect and want a controller to have.
@Chris: yea i agree about the dualshock being to freakin small, and i’ve got quite small girly hands
The Gamecube is the most comfy one imo, with the 360 one folowing closely behind.
Where’s the NES Max?!? Bastards!
Keyboard ftw.
I have never liked the PS2 controllers. They’re fragile, unresponsive, uncomfortable pieces of crap to me.
POOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWEEEEEEEERRR GLOOOOOOOOOOVEEEEEEEE!!!!
lol jk
I agree with DoggySpew.
I was using the Xbox S controller when it wasn’t fashionable. Naysayers said I couldn’t handle the manly girth!
But now everyone I know prefers the smaller controller. Those hypocrites!
“The Five Best Game Console Controllers”, eh?
First, the Atari controller is presented. Why? Because it’s a great controller, right? Wrong: instead, the writer just thought the *system* did a lot for gaming, so the controller therefore must be great. Please. The controller, as stated in the article, was a disaster. A streamlined version of a disaster is a streamlined disaster.
Another mistake was the N64. Sure, it was the first to provide a joystick on the controller. While I would argue that adding a joystick wasn’t entirely an innovative idea (considering the Atari controller, which was a joystick, was around years before), the biggest flaw with the N64 controller was that it was a possibly innovative idea wrapped around a horrible controller. Sure, you’ve got that super innovative joystick. Too bad the regular D-Pad controller was no longer accessible!
By far, the PlayStation Dual Shock 2 controllers were the superior layout to the N64 controller, based solely on the positioning of the pads on the controller. Not only that, but by adding a second joystick which was just as accessible as the first, users were given even more control over the game. Granted, arguments could be made about the comfort level of the Dual Shock controllers, considering the size (I would have liked the hand grips to be a bit larger, perhaps more like the PlayStation 3 controller), I also remember often getting near blisters on my thumb due to the terrible quality of the N64 joystick. No controller in that era was absolutely perfect: the Dual Shock controller was just closer to perfection than the N64.
Personally, I don’t think there were enough good controllers from all the available systems that warranted a list, which I think is what made this list so flawed.
@David H
The N64 and the PS2 were in two different eras. And the PS one controller was hardly supirior to the N64s.
For the most part I truely disagree with this list. However I guess that’s for you to decide. Playstation 2 duel shock for the win.
What I really don’t get is people’s fixation with TOP-lists for things that can’t be ordered by (at least partially) objective criteria.
I mean for the editors of paper or online media, it’s easy: Just ask any unpaid help to come up with a list, if none available ask the janitor (or his wife). And Voilá, no time or money wasted and another couple of columns filled.
But what’s in for the reader?
Informative value often approaches zero, the apologetic “reasoning” why Thing A landed on TOP X, if presented at all, is always quite pathetic and in the end, the reader is none the wiser.
That leaves the gentle pat on the shoulder of the fans of the Item on top of the list. *Lame Cheer*
The author was simply wrong about the N64 controller being the first with an analog stick. NiGHTS into Dreams came out for the Sega Saturn thirty days before the N64 (in North America), along with its UFO-shaped analog controller.
Also, I’m voting for the Power Glove. “It’s so -bad-.”
(geek-cred to whoever knows where that quote comes from)
The Wizard?
Qamar,
You’re right. The PlayStation 2 Dual Shock 2 controller did come out some time after the Nintendo 64. In my attempt to use only the controllers listed in the article, I seemed to have obscured the point of my comment.
The original PlayStation Dual Shock and the PlayStation 2 Dual Shock 2 controllers don’t have much in the way of layout differences. The article seemed to focus on the ergonomics of the controllers the most, and since my comments about the N64 were referencing the same, I figured using a controller that was a revision of its original version (which shared the same layout) wasn’t improper. If it makes my point clearer, please substitute the Dual Shock 2 references with the original Dual Shock controller. I don’t think it changes my point that the layout of the Dual Shock controller was much more sensible than the N64 controller.
I can’t say I agree with the N64 one, but I will say the 360 is the most comfortable. The GC (which was rightfully not mentioned) was too small, the Z button was hard to use without cramps, and the D pad was too small.