Favourite old school controller?

SLTE

SLTE

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Gaming has come a long way in the last three decades in many respects, though I think controller design gets overlooked. Some of the older controllers were absolutely brutal to use for extended periods of time. The NES controller, for example, dug into my hands after a while. Those squared-off corners sucked. The N64 controller could be pretty bad for your thumb, too, if you needed to quickly whirl the joystick. Which of these old school beasts did you like the most?

Mine is probably the PlayStation. It has a sleek design, it fits nicely into your hands, the buttons are laid out well, there's no confusion as to button location, and it's comfortable for long periods of time. It doesn't shock me at all that the controller's layout hasn't changed a whole lot between all four of Sony's major gaming consoles. It just works.
 
I think the Super Nintendo controller would be my all-time old school controller, with the Xbox 360 controller perfecting it and being the ultimate one. The NES one could get uncomfortable, and the Super NES controller took everything that went right and just made it better.

Personally, I've never liked the PlayStation controllers. I find that the analog sticks are shaped wrong, with the top of them bulging out when I feel they should bulge inwards (like the Xbox 360). This makes for my thumbs to slip off the controller, or makes me hold them at an awkward angle. I guess it all comes down to personal preference.
 
My favorite controller would have to be the SNES controller. It was the first controller with shoulder buttons and it fit well in your hand. There weren't too many buttons and they kept everything simple. They made excellent use of the shoulder buttons. I also loved the style of the controller. I know it doesn't play a huge part, but the look of it was awesome.
 
My favorite controller will always be the Atari Joystick. It just gave you the freedom to move around quicker. It was more than a toggle stick, it made you more mobile in whatever game you were playing. Of course, the option to fire at an enemy or jump was somewhat limited as it only had one button to use but, for all its worth, it was a really cool piece.
 
lexinonomous said:
My favorite controller would have to be the SNES controller. It was the first controller with shoulder buttons and it fit well in your hand. There weren't too many buttons and they kept everything simple. They made excellent use of the shoulder buttons. I also loved the style of the controller. I know it doesn't play a huge part, but the look of it was awesome.
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I agree, it had a sweet look, and was a solid controller. My main beef with the SNES controller was its poor adaptation to fighting games. I ruined my fingers trying to pull off long combos on Killer Instinct thanks to the d-pad. Fighting games are so much easier to play with joysticks...
 
I agree with most of the rest of you that the SNES controller was my favorite. Have any of you used a Super Famicom controller, they are even better! The controller is essentially the same except all of the buttons are convex instead of two being convex and two being concave. I know it sounds silly, but try it out and you will see that it is a lot easier to use.
 
I would vote for the SNES controller as my favourite old school controller, followed by the PS1 controller as my second favourite.

Early controllers like the original NES controller were too angular and uncomfortable to hold during extended plays.

The curved SNES controller was a major improvement ergonomically, and it moreover added additional buttons without becoming too convoluted like the N64 controller.

Controllers after the N64, including the PS and XBOX controllers, took a step back and felt like more logical and natural progressions from the SNES design.
 
While I am def not saying its the best, but the Virtual Boy controller had two d-pads which is like the first draft of the dual analog sticks we have today. Teleroboxer was basically the only game to really take advantage of it though.

The new Elite Pro Xbox One controller is pretty nice but getting used to the paddles takes some time.
 
For me nothing will compare to the Sega Saturn controllers or the six button Sega Genesis controllers that came just before Saturn was released. The direction buttons on those were just otherworldly in terms of comfort and responsiveness, and when I looked into it recently I found out that they were indeed more complex than any other controller made since then. The reason no one replicates it, it seems, is because it's too much effort for little reward since not many people use the direction buttons anymore, but I myself love using it for fighting games and I'd even say I prefer it over a fighting stick if I had the right console controller with nice direction buttons.
 
weirdly I guess I my favorite game console controller is from Nintendo 64, I enjoy the firm grip in using the analog joystick it is so perfect for jet fighter or any flying games it makes you feel that you are actually holding the actual controls of the plane, I guess I just spend too much on playing Nintendo 64 that why , I kinda biased on picking it as my favorite controller.
 
I really miss the joystick arcade controller, the one that is being used on arcade centers:p. I miss the days, that you go to a mall or an arcade center when you buy tokens and challenge a player.
 
I absolutely love the Super Famicom controller. And yes, specifically the Super Famicom one, and not the SNES one. They're technically the same thing, but the colors are what make the difference for me.

Nintendo modified the Famicom design for American audiences because they wanted it to appeal to a more adult demographic. Instead of the bright and colorful style of the Super Famicom, they opted for shades of purple for the SNES.

I had a SNES growing up, but I played with a Famicom controller, so that is the controller that gives me the most joyous, nostalgic memories. Something about those four, colorful buttons just brings up all those warm, childhood feelings again.
 
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