Least Fav Gamepads/Joy sticks

[mnbren05]

Well I just saw the best now lets have your worst. Please elaborate on your noms if possible! Now lets make this the "bomb-diggity"

(warning sarcasm ahead for potential fan boys)

Atari Jaguar- Seriously wtf am I looking at (is what I think when I first saw the controller). An ugly, uncomfortable, bulky controller with way too many buttons. But wait you can add on overlays to enhance your experience! Even if you wrap a dead bird with pop corn, its still a dead bird.

PS1- Got by with it at the time but the future Playstation gamepads make this one look archaic. Always hated the D-pad on this one myself, for this reason I enjoyed the N64 controller which had stick option.

Sega Genesis 3 button- I always hated how cheap this controller felt. Light weight, mine always had something rumbling around inside, short cord, and the connector never fit snugly in the controller port.

[Matt-El]

Sounds like a defective Genesis controller. I on the other hand have had great experiences with the official 3 button controller. Big grip, firm buttons, and great control pad.

Now my personal least favorite controller may irk some, but I gotta say the Atari 2600 joystick. It always felt weird and just never got used to it. Maybe i'm a bit spoiled on NES and SNES controllers, but I felt like i was always holding it wrong, never felt right.

[CelticJobber]

I agree on the Atari 2600 joystick, it gave me alot of hand cramps and I could never really get used to it, even in the days before I ever played NES games.

I also didn't like the Dreamcast controller.

[Clownzilla]

I have to say the Atari Jaguar controller. So many useless buttons! If those buttons were actually utilized in games then it might of been fine.

[otoko]

1 - Atari 7800 standard controller

I don't know if mine are just bad or what. It seems to fit in your hand wrong no matter how I hold it. the buttons often get stuck and because of that they don't register.. the stick is stiff and does not move around well and makes the games with the best controls hard to manage sometimes.

2 - Atari 2600 standard controller

I like playing with the controller.. don't get me wrong there... but it does feel strange in my hands.

3 - Intellivision/colecovision controller

Just WTF man...

4. Original xbox controller

I know people with big hands appreciate this but although mine are big I still have trouble wrapping around this monstrosity.

5. NES controller

I Love NES I love the controller... but it's boxy design often makes my hand ache.

6. Gamecube controller

Like the feel of it.. don't like the button layout

7. DS

Once again I love my DS but I keep mixing up where the A button and the B button is.

[sebastiankirchoff]

My least favorites are:

Atari 2600: For its time it may have been good, but I always thought the stick was too stiff and it just feels weird.

Intellivision 2: God, these are awful. The pad feels cheap and I never grasp the controller too hard in fear it will break.

Xbox Original: Even though my hands are big, these are really bulky and I always found it hard to push the white and black buttons.

NES 2: These feel cheap and I hated the stupid dog bone style.

[Sonicwolf]

PlayStation - ALL! I loath the d-pads. Some of the worst designed.

[Mobius]

PlayStation - ALL! I loath the d-pads. Some of the worst designed.

Same... Can't stand the d-pad. On top of that, why has Sony still not swapped the d-pad and left analog stick? It's a recipe for hand cramps.

[Sonicwolf]

Same... Can't stand the d-pad. On top of that, why has Sony still not swapped the d-pad and left analog stick? It's a recipe for hand cramps.

Try and figure this out - They have tried to distance themselves from the old PlayStation consoles yet they are still stuck with a controller designed in 1994...

[Pantechnicon]

No particular order here:

1. Atari 7800 standard controller - This thing is just brutal. I actually earned my official Twin Galaxies Missile Command ranking using one of these at CGE2K7 because a 2600 with one of these attached was the only machine available at the time I went for the score. If I had a standard CX40 joystick at the time that score could have been doubled.

2. Atari 7800 gamepad* - The * means "it only sucks when used on a 2600". The d-pad/fire button orientation is backward to the CX40 joystick, so if that's what you cut your teeth on originally (as I did) this pad is impossible to use. Otherwise, for a game that I've never played, it's very nice.

3. Playstation D-pad - I like the dual shock, but this one just never felt right to me.

4. Atari Jaguar - Feels good to hold, but the d-pad can be kind of unforgiving, particularly with games like Kasumi Ninja, which rely on certain precise movements.

5. X-Box "Duke" Controller - Terrible button shapes, and the positioning of the white and black buttons seems almost like an afterthought. I read something once about this controller where the writer mused that the reason the Xbox did so poorly in in Asia was because this controller took up half the space in an average Japanese living room.

[The 1 2 P]

Gamecube controller: This just doesn't work for me and is very uncomfortable. If they moved some things around it might be playable then.

N64 controller: Um...it had promise but that promise was a lie. And since this existed during the PS1 dual shock and Saturn pad days, this was just an unexcusable wreck.

2600 paddle/joy stick: I'm not exactly sure what kind of joy I was suppose to get from this unless I was one of those sadomasachistic pain lovers. Fail.

[duo_r]

I was excited to get this Alps controller back in the day. Was supposed to be super comfortable, great for RPG's. When I used it I could not believe how horrible the D-pad was, and it had a very annoying angle to it.





The funny thing is people complaing about Sony's old design, but we almost got the boomerang controller with the PS3, complete with the same annoying angled D-pad:

[Sonicwolf]

Another of my least favorite controllers is the Intellivision controller. I liked the circular disk idea but the rest of the controller was just a mess. So many freaking buttons. If you dont have the overlays, the game is useless too.

[Diosoth]

Saturn analog controller- it's big and in an odd shape. It was made for use with only 1 game.

Dreamcast- it's a Saturn analog controller. Same cramped shape to hold. When I owned a Dreamcast I had to find a decent 3rd party controller.

The first model Logitech PS2 wireless- it's bigger than the original Xbox controller. Too big for the button layout and too big to hold. It was so bad they had to redesign a much smaller version.

Ascii SNES controller- I use this for the Retro Duo. My problem is all the turbo knobs, which are uncomfortable to touch or even try to move. I had to gut out the slider knob for the start button because my thumb kept bumping it during play.

[dr101z]

Least favorite: N64 by far. I remember all the hype for this controller before it was revealed and about how it was going to be a revolution in controller design and how it would change the face of gaming. As everyone saw it was the most elaborately designed piece of crap ever dropped onto the market. Three hand grips and buttons you couldn't reach unless you let go and repositioned one of your hands. WTF were they thinking!?!?

Say what you will about the Jaguar and Intellivision controllers but at least they were more practical in design. At least Nintendo redeemed themselves with the GameCube controller and again with the Wii controller.

[Game Freak]

My least favorite controller would just have to be the Genesis controller. I never know if the button actually "registers" cause theres very little of springiness to it. Also the D-Pad is awkward and it gives me cramps.

The NES pad also had the tendency to jab into my hands though....

[CosmicMonkey]

All Sony Dual Shock pads. It's bad enough trying to play WipEout HD with one, god knows how people are managing Street Fighter.

[mnbren05]

Say what you will about the Jaguar and Intellivision controllers but at least they were more practical in design.

I doubt any human being could find the Jaguar controller to be practical. It is sheer madness. Hell in Russia it was mistaken for a deformed potato with buttons.

[c0ldb33r]

I've always had problems with the nintendo 64 and Dreamcast controllers. I find a lot of second hand ones have very loose analog sticks. They just flop around and when you try to use them, you have to press a lot further than I'd like.

When they're pristine, they work fine, but they're I find they're screwed a lot of the time.

[Flippy8490]

I really am not a fan of the Atari Jaguar either, but Playstation Controllers annoy me no no end. Not ergonomic at all.