Worst Controller Design

[Biohazard2974]

those who say the gamecube controller is a bad design have never played the colecovision. The gamecube controller is phenomenal on so many levels it's not funny. Worst controller ever, let's see..............POWER GLOVE. Closely following that is the Sega Activator.

 

[Condorbeta]

Maybe I just have massive hands for my age, but I LIKE the original XBOX controller. I never had any problems with it at all. I fitted nice and snugly into my palms. But now, the 360 one is way better.

I suppose that I'd have to agree with the N64 controller as the worst one. I got used to it well when I was a kid, but for the few games that required me to use the LEFT side of the controller (Pic here: http://data4.blog.de/media/599/1684599_6d92d4b8ee_m.jpeg )
It got pretty annoying.

 

[Ranzel]

The best part about the N64 controller was giving it to someone who'd never seen it before and watching them grab the middle with one hand and then being clueless as to where to put the other hand. I don't think the n64 controller was bad. I could reach the analog with my thumb. To be honest, it was and still is so unique than using it was half the fun of playing a N64.

The original xbox controller is the only one I had gripes with, not because it was to big, but there was just to many damn buttons.

 

[sanspec]

i'd have to say the play station 2,3 controller.
btw you missed number 4, not having to look at the controller every time you wanted to a specific thing, when the game says press square, i have to look down and see witch one the square is and l1, l2,r1,r2 wtf when it says r1 or 2 i mash either 1 cause you cant feel them apart least with a 360 controller, 1 is a button and the other is a trigger, very diferent things.

yes i'm an xbox fan but i still got to say the normal x box controller was made by ppl the have uncany reflexes and super agile hands

 

[Cdscottie]

The original Xbox controller....or the original Sega Saturn controller. Both were horrible and yet there are still people who swear by them.

 

[Dectilon]

I didn't really dislike the N64 controller. You just have to hold it differently when using the stick. The PS2-controller is good, no funny business, but the top buttons should probably have been made easier to push. As it is now you can't really hold on to the controller properly in games where you need to use those buttons a lot, like fighters.

The Xbox controller... what were they thinking...

The Megadrive controller was pretty bad too. Not the design, but the quality. They broke way too easliy, even if you didn't mash very hard/often.

 

[Jack Spencer Jr]

You kids these days. The worst controller in the world was the Mattel Intellivision. That... thing was danged uncomfortable. The disc, which was like a primordial ooze D-pad, was especially bad on the fingers. The keypad was often worthless or difficult to select the correct button without taking your eyes off the screen. Of course, it was designed back in 1978, when ergonomics sounded like a punk rock band.

 

[ManBarrel]

I really liked the original xbox controller.... perhaps because I have large hands (seriously, they fit very well). Along those lines, The dreamcast controller wins big points with me.

I used to have the NES powerglove... which, as far as I am concerned, was the worst, followed possibly by the n64 controller just because of the mario party blisters on my palm.

 

[Ranzel]

I really liked the original xbox controller.... perhaps because I have large hands (seriously, they fit very well). Along those lines, The dreamcast controller wins big points with me.

I used to have the NES powerglove... which, as far as I am concerned, was the worst, followed possibly by the n64 controller just because of the mario party blisters on my palm.

Not everyone who has said the xbox controller was bad has small hands by default, you know. It was overall poorly designed, hands big or large.

 

[Cdscottie]

Ah the powerglove....cool idea that just didn't work. And for the N64, it was fine for some types of games but god Mario Party was horrid. I never knew you could get so many blisters on your hand from playing a game.

 

[LyonLee]

Strangely enough, I actually liked the N64 controller. It sure looked odd, but while playing it felt seemless. The trigger + analogue stick worked really well for me. The major problem I had was with the C-pad. It was alright if used intermittently, but playing an FPS while trying to push a button to look around was almost a trial-and-error method of playing.
But, don't forget, this was the first controller that brought about both the memory card, and rumble-pack.
My least favorite controller was the GameCube. It just never fit for me. The right thumbstick was in a bad place, the left thumbstick didn't have any resistance to it, and the buttons were too numerous (the weird C button with surrounding buttons?) add to that the odd trigger buttons (as I said, I liked the earlier, simpler N64) and you had my least favorite controller.
The original x-box controller was okay. It's actually not too different from the current design. The only difference was they needed the extra space for the vibrators. It wasn't that bad, only made my hands cramp up a little bit earlier that the current design.

 

[Moe The Bus Driver]

The wireless, six button Sega Genesis controller. The wireless feature was great, but control became spotty at a distance greater than a foot. The XYZ buttons had a nasty habit of sticking after even the most minor uses, and really, beyond a few fighting games they were completely useless anyway.

 

[EdForever]

out of all the game pads ive use i must say i hate the N64 pad the most

generally i hold game controlers diffrently to the average person exspecially on fighting games as i have 2 double jointed thumbs and find it hard to press buttons with the tip of my thumb so i have always just bent my thumb backwards and used the join just below this area.

now this area of ya thumb isnt to grippy and whilst its fine on analogue sticks such as the playstation ones (prolly due to the rubber) on the N64 one its completly and utterly useless to a point when i physically cannot use the controler to any degree of accrucy.

i guess on designers priority list makeing sure double jointed people and such can use there controlers is way down on the list as we make up such a small amount of the population. but its nice when a controler just works for me even if its just by chance it was designed that way.

 

[CarlosYenrac]

Ok, i've got to speak up here. In defense of the N64 controller, as many have stated before; you are not expected to have 3 hands to play it, it gives you 3 options for how to hold it, depending on the game you're playing... and speaking of, did anyone fiddle with the controller options for Goldeneye and find the control style that had you holding 2 controllers? Hands down (sorry bad pun) the best control style for 1 or 2 player modes- left analogue move, right look; left trigger aim, right fire. The only difficult part was sometimes swapping weapons with either a or b buttons, but if you had to swap weapons in a firefight in single player you suck and didn't plan ahead, and who changes weapons multiplayer?!? one shot kills with pistols was the ONLY way to go.

Now Joe, you think you had problems with fighting games and shoulder cramp? Killer Instinct Gold on ludicrous speed *shudder* my thumbs break out in blisters just looking at the cartridge these days.... cut the thumbs off leather gloves and wore them(just the thumbs) while we were playing, and soaked our bleeding stumps in our scotches while we waited for a turn..
ahh the nostalgia...

*EDIT* Yes I owned Mario Party, No none of them still work...

Ah,that's right, back on topic!
The worst would have to be the Sega Megadrive II(i guess that would be the genesis for the yanks?) controller -the one with the extra 3 buttons). 3 words:
Slippery. As. Fuck.

 

[Break]

N64, without a shadow of doubt. Analogue stick too far away from everything else and the really awkwardly placed Z-button killed it. Then again, I'm of the opinion that the N64 should have been a complete disaster.

Wait, what? That's perfectly true if you're holding it by the left prong, but if you're playing 98% of N64 games ever made, you won't be. So how is "right under your index finger" awkwardly placed?

Hah, Mario Party. Because of that, there is a generation of gamers that no longer have palms.

The Playstation controllers are ridiculous. Why can't they grasp the fact that there are perhaps three games that use the D-pad more than the analogue stick, and swap them around? Not even the travesty that was the boomerang controller tried to fix that.

 

[Mr_Cynical]

Xbox original, Dreamcast, or... uh... was it the Jaguar that had another giant pad-like controller? I only vaguely remember.

the atari Jaguar pad was ridiculous, a huge chunky affair with a numeric keypad that was bloody useless unless you had the little overlays that told you what the buttons did.

n64 pads were dodgy as hell, mainly due to the c-buttonsm, and i actually liked the big xbox controller.

jaguar pad gets my vote.

 

[wilsonscrazybed]

I have great big piano playin' hands. The first time I picked up an xbox(original) controller all I could think to myself was "How the heck do people play this thing?" After about 30 min or so the tendons in my lower forearm started to ache like I had just had a four hour marathon wank. After an hour I had to put it down and never picked it up again since then.

Speaking of the Ps2 controllers, it was okay for short stints, but after serveral hours (eg. when I got my copy of GTA San Andreas) and spent like 15 hours playing it I developed a medical condition that could only be described as "Ps2 Claw."

 

[I3ucky]

for me, it's either the N64, dual shock, or original giant xbox controller.