Top 10 Worst Gaming Controllers

Post by **Vympel** » 2006-02-22 09:49am

Link

Includes the power glove, as is right and proper.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2006-02-22 09:54am

I still say Sega's octagon and Power glove are number 1 and 2 respectively.

I could use the X-Box fat controller....I dare anyone using those other two monstrocities with any viability beyond "I jumped....I think"

wautd · Post by **wautd** » 2006-02-22 10:15am

Honorable Mention: Spider-Man Plug 'n Play

Hilarious

Civil War Man · Post by **Civil War Man** » 2006-02-22 10:41am

The X-box controller has no business being ranked worse than crap like the Powerglove. I personally find it quite easy and comfortable to use, and I don't exactly have hands big enough to palm a bowling ball.

Hell, I'd rank the original NES controller worse, considering that it's personally Hell on the thumbs. But it's probably a bad idea to insult a gamer's sacred cow.

Praxis · Post by **Praxis** » 2006-02-22 11:23am

The ORIGINAL XBox controller? That thing is horrible. Are you sure you're not thinking of the revised XBox controller? Because the original WAS a bowling ball.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2006-02-22 11:58am

They should've put the dance panel side of the Nintendo Power Pad up there. It sure as hell wasn't a dance-dance-revolution.

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2006-02-22 12:04pm

CaptainChewbacca wrote:They should've put the dance panel side of the Nintendo Power Pad up there. It sure as hell wasn't a dance-dance-revolution.

Sega's Activator and Nintendo's U-Force make the Power Pad seem reasonably well designed by comparison. Though it should have at least taken over the X-Box original controller for poor design.

felineki · Post by **felineki** » 2006-02-22 12:59pm

Civil War Man wrote:Hell, I'd rank the original NES controller worse, considering that it's personally Hell on the thumbs.

I honestly never had a problem with the NES controller... even when making full runs through SMB3 and such.

TheFeniX · Post by **TheFeniX** » 2006-02-22 01:14pm

Praxis wrote:The ORIGINAL XBox controller? That thing is horrible. Are you sure you're not thinking of the revised XBox controller? Because the original WAS a bowling ball.

It was larger than almost any other controller made: how did that make it horrible?

The analog sticks were much more stable than the new smaller ones, the buttons were all easy to access once you broke yourself from the PS2 setup (you never had to move the position of your hand unless you want to hit start or back), and it's extremely durable.

Granted, I've got large hands, but even then: I'm always annoyed when I have to use the right analog stick and shoulder buttons on my PS2 controller because I had to bring my index finger up from it's natural position. Hence, refined movements with the right analog stick while using R1&2 were much more difficult.

Basically, the only arguement against the original XBox controller is "LOL ITS HUUUUGE!" Exactly why does it place it anywhere near the stupid fucking ideas designers have come up with in the past? And if so, rated worse than controllers that don't even work 99% of the time?

wautd · Post by **wautd** » 2006-02-22 01:20pm

felineki wrote:
Civil War Man wrote:Hell, I'd rank the original NES controller worse, considering that it's personally Hell on the thumbs.
I honestly never had a problem with the NES controller... even when making full runs through SMB3 and such.

Depends on the games you played i suppose. I remember having red thumbs anyway

Lord Zentei · Post by **Lord Zentei** » 2006-02-22 01:53pm

What was the idea with that power glove thing? Near as I can tell, the control keys are on the glove meaning you could only use one hand to operate it... Or were you supposed to punch with it or something?

Civil War Man · Post by **Civil War Man** » 2006-02-22 02:00pm

Praxis wrote:The ORIGINAL XBox controller? That thing is horrible. Are you sure you're not thinking of the revised XBox controller? Because the original WAS a bowling ball.

I have gotten used to the newer controller, but even back in the days of the larger controller, I never really had a problem with it. It was a little unwieldy in certain circumstances, I'll admit, but that shouldn't put it anywhere near in the running for the second worst of all time.

TheFeniX · Post by **TheFeniX** » 2006-02-22 02:05pm

Lord Zentei wrote:What was the idea with that power glove thing? Near as I can tell, the control keys are on the glove meaning you could only use one hand to operate it... Or were you supposed to punch with it or something?

It had two sensors that went on either side of your TV. You then moved it around to control directions. It's been a while (10+ years), but I think opening and closing individual fingers controlled buttons.

Found This.

In 1989 Mattel (yes, the toy company) introduced the PowerGlove, a handtracking device based on a glove. The PowerGlove was intended to work with the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in place of a regular controller. The PowerGlove can track motion of the glove in three-space, finger position, and has a set of buttons/switches on the top of the wrist.

It has two modes "hires" and "lores". In "hires" mode, the PG reports the position in threespace, the roll, and configuration of fingers along with the SELECT, START, A, B, CENTER and ARROW CLUSTER switches (which are a part of the NES standard controller). In lores mode the glove reports position on the hand on the x and y axis and the buttons (thus emulating a NES controller completely and allowing one to use the glove with non-glove-specific games).

The lores mode also allows the users to select one of fourteen (?) built-in programs that associate different sets of motions with the NES controller outputs of up/down/left/right/select/start/A/B. Each program also has its own translation of finger movements to control inputs.

In effect, by using it in any VS game, you guaranteed getting your ass beat.

The Dark · Post by **The Dark** » 2006-02-22 03:00pm

I couldn't use the original X-Box controller at all. In fact, the horrible ergonomics of it for me was why I purchased a PS2 instead. Five minutes of playing X-Box gave me horrid cramps in my hands, and I couldn't reach the analog stick and triggers at the same time, which made Halo (and most other games) virtually unplayable for me until the new controller came out.

That said, the N64 controller should be on that list somewhere.

Dooey Jo · Post by **Dooey Jo** » 2006-02-22 03:10pm

The Dark wrote:That said, the N64 controller should be on that list somewhere.

Now that's just blasphemy

Xon · Post by **Xon** » 2006-02-22 03:47pm

The Xbox controller is designed to rest in your hands not for you to grasp it like a lifeline.

They just aimed a little big in the 1st version

Losonti Tokash · Post by **Losonti Tokash** » 2006-02-22 04:35pm

Praxis wrote:The ORIGINAL XBox controller? That thing is horrible. Are you sure you're not thinking of the revised XBox controller? Because the original WAS a bowling ball.

Horrible, indeed. I've gone out of my way to buy the big ones. The only reason I even have a Controller S is so my friends with PS2s and Gamecubes can use a controller that's a size they're used to.

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2006-02-22 04:39pm

That said, the N64 controller should be on that list somewhere.

Why ? It's innovative, comfortable, ergonomic, lefty-friendly, expandable and has what is possibly the best D-pad and analogue stick on any controller to date.

Lord Pounder · Post by **Lord Pounder** » 2006-02-22 06:14pm

The Jaguar won it? Not one bit suprised the thing was a fucking nightmare to use. The original AvP was no fun when you have to wrestle with a brick with a TV remote attatched.

kheegster · Post by **kheegster** » 2006-02-22 06:39pm

The new Nintendo controller looks like it's going to join that list in the near future:

TheBlackCat · Post by **TheBlackCat** » 2006-02-22 06:46pm

You can't really look at a controller from 20 years ago and try to compare it to a controller today in terms of ergonomics. All the controllers back then were blocky and angular. But the D-pad was an innovation that has been copied by nearly every gaming system ever since. The basic NES controller configuration has been used by every major console and portable system since. In fact, the Revolution is probably the only major primary controller since the NES to not use the same basic configuration.

Similar with the N64 controller, it was the first major console since the gaming collapse in the 80's to have an analog controller. Analog controllers are ubiquitous today because of the N64 controller. Nintendo wasn't sure how popular the analog stick would be, so they wanted to make sure people could still use the d-pad if they wanted to. The d-pad turned out to be almost useless, but Nintendo couldn't have known that because no one had combined the two like that before and no major system had used an analog stick since the crash. Later systems made improvements, but only after seeing what had worked and what hadn't from the N64.

Incidentally, I actually liked the turbotouch 360 controller.

Praxis · Post by **Praxis** » 2006-02-22 06:51pm

kheegan wrote:The new Nintendo controller looks like it's going to join that list in the near future:

A gyroscopic wireless mouse combined with a pointer and regular controller attributes like a joystick and D-pad? Sounds like a gamer's dream to me

Darkdrium · Post by **Darkdrium** » 2006-02-22 06:56pm

Personally, I don't know what to think about that thing. I suppose I'll withold my judgment until the revolution comes out.

Instant Sunrise · Post by **Instant Sunrise** » 2006-02-22 07:54pm

Maybe I'm bitter, but I would have put the Dual Shock / 2 up there. I just can't seem to hold it comfortably. And I can never get used to non-alphabetic button labeling.

As for the Xbox controller, unless I am rembering it wrong, didn't most of the controller-bashing come from before the system was even released?

The Dark · Post by **The Dark** » 2006-02-22 10:21pm

ggs wrote:The Xbox controller is designed to rest in your hands not for you to grasp it like a lifeline.

They just aimed a little big in the 1st version

Yeah, like Hank Fraley-sized big. My hands aren't little, but it was still a damn uncomfortable controller.

Destructionator XIII wrote:The N64 controller's weak points were that the left side of it was pretty useless, and the stick would self destruct.

That, and the Z button had a tendency to jam over time. It was also sometimes difficult to find the right C button quickly because of the small size and odd angling, but that's a bit more subjective.

And the sticks most definitely self-destructed. I never had one completely die, but out of my three controllers, it's obvious which is the oldest because the stick is so loose compared to the other two. After every game session, the ground dust has to be wiped out of the stick well with a rag.