What's the best and worst console controller?

[Jegsimmons]

of the current line up, the best is the 360 remote.

the worst is the wii....seriously nintendo, find a controller that feels good in the hand and stick to it, every new console was a new controller that looked like another box of fucking legos were added on.

 

[Muffalopadus]

I can't believe no one brought this controller up before now. I registered just so I can set the record straight.

The best controller ever is the Steel Batallion controller. It cost like $150, but was the size of a desk. Any controller with a dual joystick and three pedals AND a little flippable cover with a button underneath is a thing of beauty to me.

Not to mention it was designed for a single game. A mech game. This is the controller of legend.

Spoiler

Worst controller? Probably the N64. My hands are way too big now to use it. Also, I hated that white dust that the analogue stick made after a while.

 

[Jazoni89]

Best - The Gamecube - light, and very comfortable in the hands. The controller was great for long periods of play, and the simple button placement made playing games a breeze (even though it did have the shittiest d-pad know to mankind).

Worst - A coin toss between the Dreamcast controller, and the orginal xbox controller.

The original xbox controller was so cumbersome to use (and it was required that you have bigfoot style hands), it even affected how well i played the games (especially games that required lightning fast actions like fps's or fighting games). The black, and white buttons in particular were awfully placed (the triggers were pretty good though).

While i think it's the best console ever made, the Dreamcast controller, (while great looking), was very uncomfortable to use, especially if you are playing a game which requires you to mash the triggers (like jet set radio). So It's pretty much guaranteed that you will have Serious finger cramps if you play with it for extended periods of time (it also doesn't help that the back of the controller has a dodgy curve to it). Also, who's idea was it to have the lead coming out the bottom of the controller (a bad design decision on Sega's part).

 

[sabercrusader]

Bestrobably the Xbox 360 controller or the Dualshock 2 controller. A tie, is between them, I would say the 360 controller is perfect if it wasn't for that damn D-pad.


Worst:the N64 controller(took me a while to get used to) or the first original Xbox controller. The fucking thing was so big that I couldn't even reach half the buttons in time for when I went over to my friend's house to play Halo 2 with him and his brothers.

 

[TehKnifeh]

Best: Xbox 360 pad (must be battery pack version! feels comfortable and has a certain "chunkyness" to it without going down the route of the original xbox pad. seriously sorting through a box of cables the other day and came across one, holy crap they were huge, cant believe I forgot!

Worst: Dual shock 3. I dont know why I dont like really, the wieght of the controller puts me off, I feel like it could break through use even though I know its prob as sturdy if not studier then the xbox pad. Dont like the triggers that much either. Dual shock 2 was better IMO.

Random : Fond memories of my awesome C64 controller, not the ones that came with it though they broke in months but my little black and yellow joystick took some punishment!

...in a non masterbatory way :E

 

[Sethzard]

Best Xbox 360, poor D-pad, but great triggers.
Worst, wii, it's a motion control which as a rule I hate, actually maybe the move.

 

[Flailing Escapist]

Not include gamestop of other "homemade" controller varieties.

Worst: Original Xbox
Just the size of the controller. If you compare it to ps2 or gamecube controllers it looks ridiculous

Best: Xbox 360
My favorite so far is the controller for the 360. Why? simply because I think they fit my hands pretty well. For all the times I've gone on a gaming "binge" I have yet to get a cramp from using a 360 controller.

 

[Lazy Kitty]

Best: Xbox/360 controller or GameCube
Worst: Playstation (any)

No experience with: Wiimote

 

[Treblaine]

Not sure if it counts but the PSP.

D-pad = terrible, it cannot do diagonal input i.e. press two directions at once.
Analogue nub = effectively no better than a decent D-pad only far less comfortable

And the general shape is just bad bad bad, it couldn't do anything particularly well. Which is a shame as PSP was host to most of the first 3D engine games on a handheld yet the controls were worse than a SNES. Here's hoping NGP/Vita amends for that with a pair of true analogue sticks and what seems to be a proper d-pad.

Best: 360 controller. Wired version mainly, it took a while to grow on me but you know what it is great how sturdy the thing is, the sticks, the triggers, the general feel. You can use more force and be more precise while PS3 controller is just too "loose". D-pad is crap but thankfully I never have to use it, it's mainly a secondary set of face buttons.

 

[TehKnifeh]

Worst the ps3 boomerang controller.. (ps-move also because it's a wii-mote with a ping-pong ball on the end. And Kinect too because people are the controller)

This comment made me laugh. The worst controller is YOUUUUU!!!!! Controller is fine, your the one thats broken! >D

 

[teebeeohh]

best: mouse/keyboard, gamecube original(i never owned one but borrowed one from a friend to play some exclusives),
worst: N64, and of course Kinect, because people are the controller and people are shit.

 

[Caligulove]

Best would have to be the Gamecube controller- actually. I genuinely like the 360 controller and how it makes sense and all, but I got used to the clusterfucky nonsense of the GC controller- plus it just felt so damn comfortable, with probably the best trigger buttons ever. Wavebird perfected it, though with that nice bit of weight to it.

Worst I would have to say the Sega Genesis controller. I admit I never played much of the console, and would like to say that it was because of the controller that just felt... weird in my hands. But who knows, maybe I just never gave it (or SEGA in general) much of a chance.

 

[EternalFacepalm]

Best: 360 controller, seriously, it's amazing.

Worst: I haven't tried it myself, but didn't Atari have a controller that looked like a phone with a joystick on top of it? Can't remember the name, but whatever.

 

[Gammaj4]

Best: PS3 controller. Been playing on that one (in essence) since Dual Shock came for the PSX.
Feels natural to me.

Worst: N64 controller. Seriously, how am I even supposed to hold it?

Spoiler: Like this

Anyway, I love the Gamecube controller.

The worst...
Hmmm.
Atari Jaguar.

Spoiler: Need I say more?

 

[bloob]

Best: Gamecube and Xbox 360, the Xbox 360 being a progression from the Gamecube, similar analogue postions. It is just more comfortable to hold.

Worst: Nintendo 64 as mentioned i don't know how someone could have said yes to that design, and the dualshock controllers, the position of the sticks just feels awkward to me and i hate the triggers on the dualshock 3

 

[Megahedron]

Well, the revised (read: smaller) Xbox controller was the first one that ever actually fit my hands right, and it is still the best fit out there. If it only had shoulder buttons, there would be nothing wrong with it. Picked it up last week to play some non-backwards compatible games, and it felt better than anything in the current gen. Though the 360 controller and PS2 (never played a 3, so I don't know) both serve their purpose without actively bothering me.

Worst... Well I've never seen two N64 controllers together without at least one messed up analog stick. There's pretty good odds that after two/three hours of play my left thumb would be damaged. And the highest rate of cord damage. Maybe we all just beat that poor console up too much.

 

[Weslebear]

Best: GAMECUBE controller, I have yet to find any device whatsoever that is more comfortable to hold than that beauty.

Worst: N64 controller was humanly impossible to use, honourable mention goes to everything made by Madcatz.

 

[brinvixen]

Best: Dualshocks from Sony. They've remained relatively unchanged over the consoles, but I think that points to the quality of the controller (what ain't broke, don't fix, right?). I know part of my love for the controller has to do with owning all the Sony systems and having become accustomed to how they work, but I do find them to be great controllers regardless. Very light to hold. And the symmetry is tight. Six-axis on the PS3 is a little annoying, but I personally don't own any games that utilize the technology, so it's not a bummer (but, does point to its uselessness).

Worst: Kinect. I know that technically it's the first-gen controller of its kind, so it's allowed to have some faults, but it's definitely not a good show of what this technology has to offer. The space needed to play Kinect properly is ridiculous. It was clearly intended for shorter people. I'm on the taller side, and for Kinect to see me properly, I had to stand almost 12 feet away from the sensor, which had me moving a sofa out of the way to get far back enough. Going through that every time is too much of a hassle: why bother when when you could press "ON" and play normally with a handheld controller. There are other issues -- the fact that Kinect has trouble tracking movement properly, and has even more trouble with the tracking when two people are playing together, Kinect isn't always listening when you speak to him/her, the list could go on. Basically, it's at the bottom of the controller pool right now. Especially considering that Dance Central, one of the titles on it, is hella-fun, but can get really irritating to play for the above issues. But, I'm not planning to buy one myself (entry cost is too much for me), that's just my experience with it.