We can all remember back to the older systems in our lives and for some those systems are not that old. We can remember the games that got us to sit in front of our televisions for hours trying to beat the final boss without a save point or searching desperately for that final upgrade to our characters. Sometimes at the awful realization that our hands had succumbed to Nintendo Thumb covered in blisters.

But of all the great times we have had with the systems of out past we have to ask ourselves, What the hell were some of these designers thinking!? there are far too many systems for me to list here but I will start with a few and I welcome all Dtoiders to bring their own examples and gamepads past that we all may have tried so hard to forget.

Below are the pictures of three gamepads in recent existence that have shot such anger into my heart that it is hard to believe these were ever released to the public either as a concept or as a full fledged product.




1st we have our standard Nintendo 64 controller:
Although a pioneer of game control with its centered joystick and Z button conveniently located to optimize FPS games, this controller was a complete piece of garbage! Why the designer thought for some reason that humans had evolved a third hand still boggles me! why not just put the control stick on the left with a D-pad under it and the c buttons on the right!? (like the GameCube) Not only is this the worst controller in my memory but I can still feel the gritty loose joystick that always seemed to crap out on every controller you happened to get in those 4 player bouts of Mariokart or Golden Eye. The asymmetrical design goes against every mode of comfort I can think of, and that is why the N64 controller gets #1 worst controller on my list.




2nd we have the Original XBOX controller:
Oh. What's that? You forgot about this beast!? Well I didn't! It has been haunting me as I still have one of these looming in a drawer somewhere in my house waiting to turn sentient and kill my whole family while we sleep. ok maybe not kill us all but I do still have a few of these in my home. I was so happy when the Controller S came out for the original XBOX I went out and bought one that only my hands could touch while my younger brothers (who didn't have jobs) were stuck using the huge beast and losing circulation in their legs as this gigantic controller rest on their laps. The functioning and button placement of this controller were all fine, and in fact has not changed much in the newest version of the 360 controller. But ZOMG Why make it so damn big!? it is as thought they just made the in house tester model huge to save time and then said "Hey screw it, lets just release this huge thing...they will never know the difference" but we knew, and hated it.




3rd we have the unreleased but equally as upsetting PlayStation 3 boomerang controller:
This controller very well could have been the most comfortable and most advanced controller in the world but because of the drastic veer away from the Dual Shock2 controller it would have been instantly tainted and although I have no basis for this statement having never held the boomerang, it looks uncomfortable and small and just isn't the PlayStation controller we all know and love. Even if you hate the lack of rumble the SIXAXIS was a much better move than the boomerang.


Alright there we have it, I said I would limit it to the newest disappointments in gaming control history. So let's have all your suggestions of the worst gamepads of all time! Let's get some seriously old school stuff in here. Please limit it to first party console controllers only. we all know the infinite number of knock offs that are positively miserable...


Ready...GO!