What is the crappiest third party controller you ever used?

Sorry I'm late. Here comes another Haiku

Controllers change games
Good ones offer great gameplay
Bad ones rape loved shmups

What are your guys least favorite controllers? Did you guys ever try to controlla 5200 or Jaguar game and get lost? What makes a good controller in your opinion? What games were messed up by bad controllers (besides triggerheart Topher I already mentioned it if you can get my Haiku's meaning)?

Finally, Dyson I have been trying to E- mail you. Did you got it? If not say so on the show and i'll try to contact one of the other crew members.

Remember those overlays from Intellivision games back in the day? Awesome for two seconds, ass times 30 when you lost them.

When I was super young (I'd guess somewhere in the 8 years range) we had a game for the 2600 I think it was called Star Command or Space Command or something like that. In any case, it came with a ridiculous pack in controller that was basically just a numeric pad with a few extra buttons that you used alongside the standard Atari joystick with big red button. In any case the thing is despite being by all standard measures a TERRIBLE controller (you literally had to set the thing on the floor or table and punch in codes and coordinates and it was pretty unresponsive) I LOVED it because it really made the whole 'immersion' thing work since it looked and felt like what a kid in the 80s would think a space ship console might look like and I couldn't get enough of it cause of that. So the question that comes out of this is have you ever found yourself using a control system that you know/feel is technically inferior and yet you love it for ulterior reasons?

My second question would be more of just a suggestion to maybe talk about the transition from the NES/SNES era of D-pad plus a few buttons to the analog era (especially then the dual analog era.) For me I completely stopped console gaming when faced with particularly dual analog. It seems to be the most illogical and unintuitive system and, at the time as those console were coming out, I really just decided to be a PC only guy and play with the mouse and keyboard. In fact the only reason we started getting the NES and then SNES after our 2600 and early PCs was to play D-Pad style games (mostly platformers, schmups (non-arcade), etc.) I did not buy another console again till the Wii which attracted me precisely because it had ditched dual analog. I can get by on dual analog ok now (just finished mass effect on the 360) but still feel that those controllers and most of the games made for them just fight my every step of the way and there isn't a second when I wouldn't rather be playing with a mouse or a D-pad style game. ANYWAY, long long comment: sorry!

Everyone's got retro goggles on, snes controller is unergonomic. Maybe the best of it's time but not anymore. My vote goes to 360, ergonomic, weight, rumble, analog sticks, triggers, wireless.
And as far as everyone complaining about the dpad
1. The dpad's importance has been waning for a decade.
2. Nintendo and Sony own the "good patents" on dpads so it's not all Microsofts fault.
3. It's fixable

1. bullshit
2. bullshit
3. why should I have to fix their fuckup? Also bullshit.

Ever debate the merits of multi-platform games in terms of their ease of play on either the SNES controller or the GENESIS controller?

How often has said debate ended in tears and "Beat It"-like knife-fights?

P.S. And I was drowning those troubles in Arrested Development.

Is it true Nintendo have the patent on the + style d-pad?? No other company seems to use them, and Nintendo really does seem to make the best (IMO) d-pad.

So anyway, do any of the crew know if this is true??

A lot of people hate the original design for the XBOX controller:

But I loved it.

I still have my "the Nintendo Double player wireless Head-to-head system" for my NES. It was made by by acclaim and needs 4AAA batteries in each controller but thsoe batteries don't seem to do anything as it only lasts a couple of hours.

Found an advert for it on Youtube but that ain't the set I have. Mine are blue and black

fuck the 5200 controller, fuck the Jaguar controler, fuck the 1st Xbox controller, and FUCK playing Super Metroid on the GameCube D-pad.

I'm voting SNES - shoulder buttons have been a sustained feature since. in the vein of St Patty's Day, any favorite video game drunkard?

Snes for the win.

What is your favorite computer joystick?

Mine was for the C64 (and 2600 aparently): The TAC-2
Its seriously the best digital controller i've used.

Topher this is the controller for you, its right there in the name:
Totally Accurate Controler Mk.2

Can't argue with that!

There's even a hoodie of it :)

@ Hamza

A friend of mine bought it because it was "better than playing with the normal controller". I think whoever made it was trying to emulate the Power Glove for some god damn reason. It was bad, because the buttons were in awkward positions, and it was really stiff trying to use the movement patterns..ugh..

Ugh, I feel like absolute shit rright now, but how can I resist RFGO?

Anyway, I remember a almost epiphany-like moment when I "graduated" from the SNES and Genesis controllers to the N64 controller. I remember thinking about how complex it looked, and was a bit intimidated by it. But since then, the concept of a controller has evolved from a simple square rectangular brick to controllers like the Wii remote, which ultimately ask upon the imagination and willingness of the player. So where will the next ones take us? How much more complex can controllers get? Will we eventually be fully integrated into the game?

Controllers are as important as developers if the industry truly wants to evolve and be recognized worldwide as an art form.


Now if you don't mind me, I'm off to puke for the 4th time today. Cheers.

which controller(s) do you think are the best fit for what games or genres of games?

IE, the Gamecube Controller for Smash Bros.

or, the Saturn Pad for Fighting games (I never owned a Saturn, I'm just going with what other people told me)


also an unrelated question

If a game that originated in 3D took a back shift and switched to 2D, what 3D franchise do you think would make the most awesome 2D game?

@ Tubatic: I loved the nes max. I wish companies still used cycloids.

As far as good ones I liked the Genesis 6 button pad, and the newer/japanese saturn pads.

And for arcade sticks the virtua stick high grade is awesome. And the dreamcast arcade stick (green goblin) was as far as I know the best arcade stick released in the US.

For crap there's the dreamcast pad, most things by mad catz, and of course the original xbox controller.

I'm surprised no one has brought up steering wheel controllers for racing games. I have never tried one myself, but my guess would be most of them suck monkey balls.

Anyone know of any good ones?

SNES controller is definately the best controller EVER.

Oh, don't forget to talk about the Steel Battalion controller.

To Hamza CTZ Aziz:
The glove thing isn't as bad as it looks. It just didn't do anything, just like the power glove. Although I will give it credit for letting me eat/read while gaming. Nobody will see this anyways, just thought I would mention it lol.
Also, to the other guy who talked about keyboard and mouse earlier, of course it has changed over the years, just like controllers. Ergonomics, key resistence, programmable macros, lights (for bling), and even onboard displays have been advances that have helped to modify the keyboard for today's gamers.
And, to the guy who talked about the wireless DS stylus, are you retarded? How would you get a point of reference for the stylus to the DS? The Wii uses a sensor bar. What, would you have to hold the DS at arm's length and point the stylus at it? How the hell would that even be powered?
I'm also too late for comments/questions but it never hurts I guess.
Why do you think developers sometimes refuse to put button settings into games? Is it just an arrogance issue (we know best), or is it just an oversight in general? And if it is an oversight, how the hell did no one, not even the testers, catch it?

Dreamcast controller was like thumb torture for me. I imagine it was the dpad. On the opposite side of the scale, X360 controllers are quite comfortable... although the dpad is apparently not that great. What annoys me the most is when the thumbsticks on the ps2 controllers got silky smooth. I don't like them when they're sand paper gritty but a half-way thing is nice however.

It will be interesting what they do for the next generation in platforming. People seem to be taking a more minimalist approach nowadays. I wonder if the next trend will be a sort of apple one button thing or some sort of hybrid between wii controllers and the standard layout the ps3 and x360 offer. 6 axis be damned.