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The Great Controller Debate

Jimmu

Administrator
Staff member
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Controllers are an extremely important part of the gaming experience. So, which console has done it best? What do you consider to be your favourite?

For me, my favourite controller is the Playstation 4. I find the layout to be intuitive and the body off the controller to be very comfortable even after many hours. As a child I loved the N64 controller (I'd hold it by the middle and right handles) but going back now I think I was crazy.
 

Azure Sage

March onward forever...
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I don’t really think about it too much, honestly. People complain about the joycons, but I have no issues when using them. People complained about the 3DS, too, but again I had no issues. I tend to be comfortable with whatever I’m using. I can’t really think of an exception. If I had to name something as a preference, I will say I preferred to use the GameCube controller with SSBB on the Wii.
 

DekuNut

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I personally hate any controllers that are 95% joystick (Atari). Though I may have to give best controller to Gamecube. Xbox controllers always felt too bulky and I never liked the shapes on the PS controllers. Gamecube, Though, was about perfect.
 

CynicalSquid

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The only controllers I genuinely enjoy using are all the Xbox ones. The 360 and One controllers are extremely comfortable and even the Duke wasn’t too bad despite the fact that it was bulky af. The Wii U and Switch pro controllers are a close second. Every other controller is garbage imo. Even the GameCube one.
 

Princess Niki

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I am comfortable with most Nintendo controllers as well as Playstation since I grew up playing those consoles. Hand my a Xbox controller and I would be confused for a bit since I have only ever played one once.
 

Quin

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Old favorite of mine was the 360 controller. Everything about it was perfect except the D-pad, which was outright horrible.

The Xbox one S Controller is my all time favorite one at the moment. Controllers really is the only thing Microsoft does right and I use it for most games on my PC. The stick is nice and on the right location, They fixed the issues with the shoulder buttons, and the D-pad, which works perfectly for when I play a 2D platformer, It has nice analogue trigger buttons for the games that require it (something Nintendo refuses to do for some reason after this first Classic controller) and everything is just as it should be. I'm not a guy that cares much for the gimmicky stuff like rumble and motion controls so that doesn't factor in for me personally.

The Cube controller is another one of my favorites, mostly because of the shape of the face buttons. I'd like to see another controller try something like this. Its a shame it lacks buttons and has a terrible D-pad, so I only use it for smash nowadays.

PS controllers I never cared for because of the meh D-pad and the location of the left stick, but the build quality of the ps4 one felt nice.

Nintendo has been dropping the controller ball ever since the wii for me. wiimote sideways felt terrible to hold and dragged down any game that insisted on using it for me, with nunchuck was a bit better but it lacked buttons and im not too big on motion controls. The classic controller was alright, but having to connect it to a wiimote to play really was bad design.

The gamepad felt way too big and was dead after 2 or 3 hours of gametime. almost no game made good use of the gamepad screen so there was no reason (other than price) to just use the wii U pro controller, which is probably the best controller they made in a good while. I don't like the glossy finish but its battery life was massive, felt pretty light, and buttons were all good quality. After 1000 hours of Monster hunters and other games my left stick has a bit of issue and I need to blow in it occasionally to fix it but otherwise its great.

The Joycons are probably one of the worst they made, they feel cheap, small, and the button quality and layout feels terrible. Everytime the sticks make that cheap sounding metallic kinda noise I shudder. The faults are understandable because they pushed the "you can play multiplayer with each player just using one joycon!" thing but it was not worth it for me. Every time I switch to the Switch pro controller I feel both my performance and enjoyment greatly increasing. One among other reasons I never really use handheld mode.
The pro controller is great but feels a bit on the heavy side, and the 60/70 bucks price tag is a bit hefty. And I can understand not wanting to pay that much for a controller that can't even get the D-pad right. Somehow they screwed that up even though Nintendo is usually pretty good/decent at making a useable D-pad The xenoblade edition improved it but its still not perfect. The rest of the controller is fine though.

The steam controller is an oddball though. They tried to make games that were only seen as "mouse and keyboard games" (think First person shooters or other first person games, and strategy games) playable on a real controller, but It ended up being a 50 buck middle ground that wasn't really better than mouse and keyboard at mouse and keyboard games, and also not as great at controller games than most other controllers, due to pretty bad button placement, and no D-pad.

Great thread
 

YIGAhim

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Gimme anything exceot a sideways Wii remote and I am fine. TBH I love playing on the Gamepad.

I do, however like the Detachability of the joycons and the circle pad of the 3rd.
 

Doc

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I have yet to find a controller I like more than the gamecube controller. It so easily fit into my hands and rested there comfortable, while still having a little bit of weight behind it. By far the best controller I've experienced.
 
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Honestly, the WaveBird. It fits my hands perfectly, it’s a little heavier than the GameCube’s normal controller, and it’s wireless.
 
Joined
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NES Dogbone
Late to the party but it was an amazing controller, the shape fit into the hands so very well. Well worth getting if you own an original NES.

Switch Pro Controller
All round very good controller. I so like the materials used to make the shell here. It's not smooth plastic like the WiiU pro controller. So it fits in the hand better, because of the added friction and does not slip out after longer play sessions. Also the gyro inside for the motion controls works very well. One of my favourites as well.

Wii Classic Controller
Like a SNES controller only better. I used it quite a but and today it's my primary Dolphin controller. Only downside is the cable is on the wrong side and gets in the way when trying to use the controller.

Dual Shock 4
It's an alright controller. The buttons work well and the control sticks are on a nice material so they don't slip after longer periods of use. Also I do like the speaker on the controller. A few games I own use this and it gives the games a different feel. Not always better but it is interesting.
However the printing on the buttons is poor. The X, O and Square are off centre on mine and it looks a little out of place. Also the d-pad technology at work here is quite inferior to Nintendo's d-pad. I am pretty sure this is partially due to legal reasons and Nintendo having their base d-pad idea patented back in the 1980's. Also the touch pad is a good idea but hardly used. Probably better to remove it and have a less bulky controller. Overall it's a very nice controller just, not perfect in a few ways.
As an aside, more from a developer point of view, there needs to be more use of motion controls in PS4 games. Especially in first person shooters, but other games could benefit from this too. DOOM for example, imagine if the PS4 port had proper motion controls as one option and dual sticks as the other. That would be amazing. Everyone would be happy then. Missed oppotyunity there.
 
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However I think this is the best controller - note well the heavy SARCASM

yS792sg.jpg
 

Mido

Version 1
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However I think this is the best controller - note well the heavy SARCASM

yS792sg.jpg

That smile is going to haunt my dreams for some time. :eek:

As far as the question at hand is concerned, there is not a controller that I hate, if only because I've found myself mostly able to adapt to varying controller structures. This being noted, my favorite controller goes to the Xbox 360 controller. I think it serves all purposes quite nicely, although I think Quin makes a good point about its D-pad. I personally didn't mind it, but it was strangely bulky.
 

HeroOfTime

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Gamecube all the way, which feels weird since I've only used a Gamecube like twice. The controller just feels right though, like it was made for gamers. I started using it for Smash, and after getting used to playing Wii U games with it (through homebrew), I'm thrilled to see that it works on the Switch, though it's missing a few buttons.

I've also really liked the gamepad, I've never understood the hate for it. It's a little big, but I got used to that real fast. It's nice to have a little screen in my hands when I don't have access to the family TV (I've got 11 siblings, so believe me, the TV's almost in use by someone). My only complaint is that it wasn't really utilized in any games as anything besides a different monitor. Between the camera, microphone, motion controls, and second screen, the Wii U had endless possibilities, and it annoys me that it never saw its full potential. Nintendo has a history of getting away with some really wacky things, and could've made this system into something great.

Other than that, I don't have a preference, I'm fine with really any other controller. Even sideways Wii remote, I played a hecka lot of games like that when my Nunchuck broke.
 

mαrkαsscoρ

Mr. SidleInYourDMs
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despite having grown up w/ a gamecube and essentially been using that controller my entire life, it isn't my favorite
the one I prefer the most is the ps3 controller, I personally just find no faults w/ it and it works marvelously w/ each game I play on it,though you can say the same w/ the layout of ps1 and ps2 since they're identical but I like the built quality of the ps3 the most
 

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