Top 10 Lists : The Top 10 Videogame Controllers Ever
- Hello folks! What’s up? I have been thinking seriously about videogame controllers, and I gotta say it’s really hard to come with a top ten list of them. There’s a difference between controller and peripheral, one is used to play a game, and the other just enhances the videogame experience. I will set one rule only to this list, one very important rule: 1, if it has buttons and it’s used to play a game, then it’s a controller. So there you go, let’s roll!
This controller brings you to the stage of rock fame and celebrity. Its simple controls of five multicoloured buttons and a set up of right handed devices make this the biggest controller to be carried, but also one of the most addictive. You put the game in, take that plastic Mattel guitar and start nailing note after note in a disastrous succession of un-rhythmical rock concerts and performances. Even if you suck at the game, it will “suck” you in to never let you go, and while it’s heavy and not very ergonomic, it’s easy to handle and play games with. Too bad only you can play one game with it (I don’t count GH sequels as separated games), though you can use it as a baseball bat substitute for Wii Sports.
#9: DDR pad (ARC)
Probably the most annoying dancing game of all time, no doubt many people hate this game but damn, the controller is ridiculously original. Four arrows, up, down, left, right (left right B A start, ha, ha, ha, I made a Contra-code joke) and two buttons A and B, and then a selection of songs for you to leave your legs and dignity in the process of trying to make three left arrows while doing six right, up and down arrows in a middle air jump. Crazy fun game, but insane way of playing it, I know people who make rows of 200 arrows in extreme difficulty.
Innovation is what brings this great controller to this list. I was the first one with a feature of memory saving installed in it, thanks to the cute and useful visual memory cards. It had two triggers on each side, four buttons and a comfortable analog-stick. This was the perfect controller also for its size, perfectly positioned between big controllers and normal sized ones.
It was the first controller to add Left and Right trigger buttons, while keeping the D-pad and star / select buttons, while adding a new pattern of A, B, X, Y buttons on the right side. This controller was a great choice to play games that required quite a lot of actions to apply, like Super Metroid or Starwing. Though so many buttons can look messy, it was perfect on your hands, and it was such a great controller that Nintendo is preparing a new peripheral for the Wii, in the shape of a SNES adaptable for the VC games. YAY! Speaking of the Wii…
Nintendo’s controller for its new gen console was quite huge, in expectation! A motion sensor control made you feel inside the game every single second, while at the same time gives you a new selection of buttons, keeping the A button under your thumb, putting the B button as a trigger, and adding + and –, 1 and 2, and Home buttons. Using the Wiimote alone works perfect for same games like Super Paper Mario, Zack and Wiki and Excite truck, and putting it sideways works for the Virtual Console games on the NES, NeoGeo, Turbografx 16, and some of the Sega Mega Drive. Adding to it the so called Nunchuk, you get yourself a weapon of mass entertainment, perfect to play Super Mario Galaxy, Twilight Princess, Resident Evil 4, and even Brawl. We still wanna see what you can do with this controller, because it has a huge potential.
Believe it or not, if videogames feature nowadays an analog-stick it’s thanks to this controller. Before Sony feature analog-sticks, Nintendo did this one, with probably one of the most versatile controllers ever. You had so many buttons they are difficult to count: A and B, four C buttons used to control the camera in 3D games, Left and Right buttons, a big red Start button, a D-pad and a trigger that after played Goldeneye or Perfect Dark it lost its sensibility. This was actually the first controller to look correct and right to play fully 3D environments, giving more important to the analog-stick than to the D-Pad, neglected in a side of the controller. Maybe that’s why it’s so back on the list, because it neglects buttons of the own controller.
#4: Dual Shock (PS)
Okey, Okey, the N64 controller was the pioneer with the vibration feature thanks to the awesome, unique and perfect Rumble Pack, but the only problem that peripheral had was the fact that you needed to add batteries to it. The PSOne Dual shock saved that, removed the batteries and included a very powerful rumble feature, along with two analog-sticks, copied directly from the ones of the N64 but with bigger pads and rubber made so they could fix to the thumb better.
#3: NES pad (NES)
Wow. Just wow. This controller was a revolution when it first came out. This was the Wiimote of its time. It had only five buttons: D-pad, Start, Select, A and B. It was the perfect combination of buttons to control you games tightly and accurately. Games like Super Mario Bros 3 and The legend of Zelda were a perfect synchronization of movement and action thanks to this glorious controller, and the fun grew bigger with games like Contra, Megaman 2 or Metroid. This controller is so great even nowadays people keep playing more with their original NES and its controller than with the Wii and the Wiimote turned on one side.
Let’s face it, when it comes to great controls, the Atari 2600 is a example to follow. Its controller was the simplest thing you will ever find in your entire miserable gamer life: A joystick and a button. Yeah, that’s right! Only two freaking buttons! That’s perfect! For the games of it’s time it was more than necessary, but if you check the games nowadays you say: “Why do I need so many buttons?” Well, thinking on this beauty of a controller on this classic console brings back old days, and basically because the simpler the better, and there’s nothing more simple than having a button to move and other button to shoot. It was a time of innovation as well, and I gotta remind the Atari 2600 featured the first wireless controller ever made, with a complicated mix of antennas and battery packs, but that saved you the need to be careful with the wire. That was thanks to the simple gaming controls.
This controller is one to rule them all, and it does without even twitching. It’s nearing to 10 years old and it still feels like new and prepared to give some more battle. It has a total count of 11 buttons, counting analog sticks and triggers, and it’s still a perfect setting of buttons, because none of them shadows the other. Games so complex like Metroid Prime or Resident Evil 4 control so intuitively that it feels natural, and it works perfectly for such simple games like Super Smash Bros Melee, The Legend of Zelda saga and Super Mario Sunshine. And since the Wii plays Game Cube games it will also allow you to play those too, but the real gift this controller is comes with the Virtual Console: You can use your GC Controller to play games from the NES, SNES, N64, Mega Drive, Turbografx 16, NeoGeo and now Commodore 64. That’s a total number of 9 console games you can play with this controller. How many controllers can have that power over so many consoles? Not many, in fact, this is the one, the controller made to control consoles.
I might have left a few controllers out there, like the awesome 360 controller, wireless, beautiful ergonomic design, but it drains batteries like crazy. That's the problem with wireless controllers and not only the 360 one has that problem, all of them have it. Thanks a lot for reading and passing by.
List by james_corck (11/18/2008)
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