Least favorite video game controller

[DC]

What was your least favorite video game controller ever and why?

[Aniekwe]

Playstation 1 console controller was my least favourite because the buttons were too hard and it hurts my fingers when I play too long. 

[killamch89]

Honestly, it has to be N64 controller and that's because it had so many buttons in awkward places that was difficult to reach. Half the time, the games didn't make use of most of these buttons anyways.

[Dannyjax]

The ProController for Atari Jaguar is by far the least and wired controllers they made I used. By adding number pad in the controller, it made Atari's Jaguar controller too big and to make matters worst, the number pad was hardly used for any game playing. 

[Aniekwe]

59 minutes ago, Dannyjax said:

The ProController for Atari Jaguar is by far the least and wired controllers they made I used. By adding number pad in the controller, it made Atari's Jaguar controller too big and to make matters worst, the number pad was hardly used for any game playing. 

This Atari Jaguar controllers look horrible and hilarious at the same time. It's almost round in shape like a plate. It's going to be difficult playing with it. Good grief that I never played with it. 

[Withywarlock]

At the National Video Game Museum at Sheffield, South Yorkshire I had the luxury of trying out different controllers for iconic games. Unfortunately, whether it was due to their overuse, age, simply not being used to them or a combination of all three, I really struggled with the Sega Mega Drive (Genesis) controller. The action buttons were responsive but the directional pad was stiff and unwieldy. The NES controllers there weren't up to much either, the buttons loose with no feedback upon pressing them but the D-pad at least felt serviceable.

I appreciate that ~2 hours in a museum trying out different controllers for a short while isn't going to give much of a first impression. When I was a reviewer of Playstation One games I also critiqued various paraphernalia, and you'd be surprised how many controllers I'd give a pass to: the G-Con 45 is still an impressive piece of hardware; and even the NeGCon - a controller you twist to move left and right - is an astonishingly precise tool for driving games such as Ridge Racer. The Playstation Mouse was required for the Infamous Goat Puzzle of Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars if you were playing the PS version.

The Dual Analogue controller (not to be confused with the Dual Shock) was my favourite for its convexed analogue sticks so the thumbs can slide down into them and grip comfortably, whereas the Dual Shock - particularly the painfully heavy vibrating of its PS2 model - was my least favourite. Its concaved sticks meant my thumbs rolled off the sticks, which is especially tough when you need to perform fast circular motions for quick-time events or other such rapid tasks. Being made of dog noses the thumb sticks attracted so much natural grease from one's thumbs, and they weren't particularly easy to keep clean for long. The rumble feature of the Dual Shock was not worth the extra expense (as far as I'm aware the Dual Shock set the precedent for controller price hikes), but then no vibration tech at the time was (at least, for gaming). The button to turn off and on the dual analogue sticks was inconsistent at best, and a spongy stress relief as you jam your thumb into it repeatedly and fruitlessly at worst.

Sorry for such a rambly reply. I guess that's what happens when you binge Paul Harrell videos whilst toiling away in Kenshi.

[NightmareFarm]

If we aren't counting portables then out of the controllers I have used I would say the wii remote controller. 

[Kane99]

I would say the original Xbox controller. And maybe even the N64 controller for a while. But for me, I always got used to the weird controllers. The ones I absolutely hated the most though, were the madcatz controllers. Each one I ever bought either didn't work right, or broke after a while of use. Never understood why people even bothered with that brand. 

[Justin11]

DualShock 3 controller for PS2, is on the podium of it all, for the least controllers I've ever used. 

[Nebulous]

I would say the N64 controller as well.  It was awkward and the joystick would always break on me.  Back in the day those controllers weren't cheap either.  But I did like the different colors and the see through plastic on some of them.  Plus the rumble pack was cool!  

[The Blackangel]

I would have to give it a tie between the Game Cube and the Wii. The Game Cube was just uncomfortable as hell, and the buttons were in a completely fucked up location. The Wii was just worthless. I played it a bit for a while, but that whole controller scheme they came up with was sickening.

[Dannyjax]

On 6/27/2022 at 1:54 PM, Aniekwe said:

This Atari Jaguar controllers look horrible and hilarious at the same time. It's almost round in shape like a plate. It's going to be difficult playing with it. Good grief that I never played with it. 

You spared yourself from serious stress by not having to play with ProController for Atari Jaguar because it can get you so worked up with trying to hold it alone and not to talk about pressing the buttons. 

[killamch89]

On 6/27/2022 at 6:53 AM, Dannyjax said:

The ProController for Atari Jaguar is by far the least and wired controllers they made I used. By adding number pad in the controller, it made Atari's Jaguar controller too big and to make matters worst, the number pad was hardly used for any game playing. 

And here I was thinking nothing could top the N64 or those custom SNES controllers with extra buttons and switches which had no real use. The number of buttons is makng me flustered lol.

[Aniekwe]

23 hours ago, Dannyjax said:

You spared yourself from serious stress by not having to play with ProController for Atari Jaguar because it can get you so worked up with trying to hold it alone and not to talk about pressing the buttons. 

The ProController for Atari Jaguar is definitely a horror show and I'm sure that it was why there wasn't any other controllers like it ever made after. 

[Kane99]

On 6/27/2022 at 7:54 PM, The Blackangel said:

I would have to give it a tie between the Game Cube and the Wii. The Game Cube was just uncomfortable as hell, and the buttons were in a completely fucked up location. The Wii was just worthless. I played it a bit for a while, but that whole controller scheme they came up with was sickening.

I didn't mind the Gamecub controller all that much. I do agree it was kinda rough with the button placement, but I felt overall it was a better controller than some. The Wii controller was just dumb imo. Yeah the motion controller gimmick was cool for a while, but that soon died down a bit. And now the Switch has those stupid tiny joy con controllers and honestly I'm not sure how to feel on those.