10 worst game controllers

by Blake Snow { Feb 24th 2006 at 1:30AM }

With the current generation of consoles upon us and Nintendo's deviation from the traditional controller nearing, IGN looks back at the 10 worst game controllers in history. From the article: "Many of these [controllers] were first-party, out-of-the-box concepts, while others were cash-in ideas from engineers that clearly either didn't have a sense in their noggin, or they simply listened too much to their marketing department. Either way, these controllers are a bad bunch." Here's how the list turned out:

Jaguar Controller
Xbox Fat (original)
Sega Activator
Intellivision Disk
Philips CDi Game Controller
TI-99 Joystick
NES Power Glove
U-Force
Turbo Touch 360
5200 Controller

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

ill trooper @ Feb 24th 2006 1:43AM

I nominate the Channel F controller:

http://videogames.org/html/ChannelFStuff/ChannelFIndex.html

John Gross @ Feb 24th 2006 1:43AM

Oh I love the original xbox controller. For me it was the perfect size and the s-type is far, far too small. Too bad.

mirobin @ Feb 24th 2006 1:49AM

Boo! I happened to like the Jaguar controller!

James @ Feb 24th 2006 2:13AM

I nominate Nintendo VirtualBoy controller / system.

rronaldraay @ Feb 24th 2006 2:15AM

I liked the Xbox Fat controller haha, I mean its good if you got big hands (like me) but my favorite control is definitely the xbox 360 controller, so perfect.

batman @ Feb 24th 2006 2:19AM

hey... i like the duke...

Dmnkly @ Feb 24th 2006 2:23AM

An admirable effort, but they clearly could have dug deeper.

There was one godawful controller I'm embarrassed to admit I owned. I think it was released around '95 or '96... may have been named the orb, or something along those lines? It was supposedly developed for FPSes on the PC. It had this ball in the middle, and two grips that you'd twist, and it was all supposed to give you the "feel" of moving in three dimensions. It was a total train wreck, and if I recall, EB was giving them away with game purchases within two months of release (which is how I ended up with one).

My memories are pretty vague... I'd love to see a photo. Anybody else remember this thing?

Dmnkly @ Feb 24th 2006 2:35AM

Found it:

http://www.dsom.com/albums/album05/space_orb.sized.jpg

Gads, was that thing awful.

Raymond @ Feb 24th 2006 2:36AM

Have you ever USED the virtual boy? that controller was great. it was the precurser to the modern controller, with the two grips on the side like most have today. it even has little valeys for your fingers to rest in. that was a great controller.

STFU N00b!

Dmnkly @ Feb 24th 2006 2:37AM

I'm with Raymond. The problem with the Virtual Boy wasn't the controller.

Jago @ Feb 24th 2006 2:48AM

Yea I agree as well...hell the non-wireless Gamecube controller is VERY similar to the Virtual Boy controller except it has more buttons.

epobirs @ Feb 24th 2006 2:57AM

The Xbox Duke is on there but not the Panasonic 3DO controller? Shenannigans! The Xbox Duke works great if you aren't a small child or girlie-man. I picked up a couple of spares against the day mine wears out, if ever. (I have a Wico Joystick purchase in 1982 that still works well when I fire up the Amiga.) The 3DO unit was genuinely difficult to use despite having a fairly conventional layout for the era. It was very common for people to do a bit of surgery on it to alleviate the stiffness. In addition it had the horrible daisy chain approach to connecting multiple controllers. If player 2 got too enthusiastic he could yank the controller out of player 1's hands.

The CDi game controller was a decent unit as well. Pretty much a clone of the Genesis unit and far better feel than the 3DO. It was released long after sane people had given up on CDi though. It was the original controller that was designed with edutainment exercises that was the horror from beyond time and space.

THe Virtual Boy was fine in the controller department. Actually very good in that respect. It was the entire system concept that should never have gotten past the testing stage.

The Jaguar controller resurrected a failed concept from the early 8-bit era of having a numeric keypad. Without a Jaguar version of Star Raiders this was a waste. The keypad was a nice attempt to offer more input range but suffered from not being easily used without taking one's eyes off the TV. The layout of the main D-pad and buttons was alright if you were already a Genesis player. It was the stiffness of the unit that was the big drawback. Not as bad as the 3DO but bad for an out of the box standard for the system. Copying the shoulder buttons then best known from the SNES would have helped achieve the keypads goals in a more accessable way.

The winner really should be the Atari 5200 original controller. Has any other standard unit ever had a mass recall that offered free repairs and trade-ins at Atari Service Centers? I worked in a store that sold Atari computers back then and we also handled service on the game systems. The 5200 controller was just a disaster. Both a terrible decent in having a non-centering analog stick in an era where games suited to analog control were quite rare and in being badly made.

Psygnosis2097 @ Feb 24th 2006 3:08AM

the "Xbox Fat (original)" also called 'Duke' was the best xbox controller in my book. The only one with analog buttons as well. And I bet it was more expensive than $11 to make ;D

Jago @ Feb 24th 2006 3:12AM

"The Xbox Duke works great if you aren't a small child or girlie-man."

Oh nice...we are back to 2001 Xbox fanboy name calling crap.

That is the DUMBEST defense argument I've ever seen...I thought those statements were long gone by now.

Miichael @ Feb 24th 2006 3:16AM

what the sam hill. why is the coleco vision controller not on that list

Psygnosis2097 @ Feb 24th 2006 3:19AM

@5. "I liked the Xbox Fat controller haha, I mean its good if you got big hands (like me) but my favorite control is definitely the xbox 360 controller, so perfect."

Well it's too small (or shall I say unergonomic?) for my hands (and they are by no means huge) - at least to control the mini-joy-stick on the left precisely.

If you replace the D-Pad with that stick it would be perfect though (for aiming anyway).

Conn @ Feb 24th 2006 3:21AM

I think the Saturn's original NA controller was pretty horrible.

Psygnosis2097 @ Feb 24th 2006 3:26AM

It's kinda funny that every revision of Microsoft's Xbox controller is coming closer to Sony's dual shock solution (even when it comes to force feedback).

I think the perfect dual-analog-stick-controller would be a fusion of the two.

It would still suck for fps games though - which makes me wonder when X360's version of smartjoy frag will be released ;-)

Jay @ Feb 24th 2006 3:26AM

>The Jaguar controller resurrected a failed concept from
>the early 8-bit era of having a numeric keypad. Without
>a Jaguar version of Star Raiders this was a
>waste........Copying the shoulder buttons then best
>known from the SNES would have helped achieve the
>keypads goals in a more accessable way.

The Jaguar did have a version of the controller with shoulder buttons called the ProController. It basically just mapped the "4" and "6" keys to the left and right shoulder buttons, respectively. As for the keys, it's a shame there was no Star Raiders, but the keys did make a lot of games easier, such as first-person shooters (which the Jaguar had several good ones, like Alien Vs. Predator, Doom, and Wolfenstein 3D) because the weapons were usually just mapped to the keys, instead of having to shuffle through on-screen menus to get to the weapon you wanted.

I guess I'm strange because I loved the Jaguar controller and the original XBox controller is among my all time favorites. And I have pretty small hands :D

Though the system itself is my favorite of the pre-Crash era, the ColecoVision controller was pretty horrible too. The stick was hard to keep hold of, the right-side fire button was awkward to get at, and I think I remember maybe two games that actually used that huge keypad. You could buy 3rd-party add-ons that extended the stick and made it easier to handle, but it was still unwieldy.

Psygnosis2097 @ Feb 24th 2006 3:27AM

@16.

I remember that as the 'real' Jaguar controller anyway.

Jay @ Feb 24th 2006 3:33AM

>I remember that as the 'real' Jaguar controller anyway.

Yeah, once I got mine, I didn't touch the original ones again...until I broke the shoulder buttons...they were kinda flimsy...

Pseudo @ Feb 24th 2006 3:35AM

God bless the Duke. If you had decent-sized hands, and
honestly gave it a few hours of your time without prejudice, you might see the reason why Microsoft chose to market the Duke. Been playing games since 1984; I own most systems, and by far, the Duke is my favorite. What is this? My thumb just so happens to rest over all four of the oval shaped buttons, coincidence? I think not. I like not having my thumb jump all over the place....but maybe if you don't do any marathon gaming sessions, you might not have to worry about those things. Perhaps it's only me who doesn't like both of my thumbs bumping together every time I play a FPS because the analog sticks are an inch or two away from each other....

It's ok. I understand the naysayers....innovation and trying to do something different doesn't make a product sell. People want to be fed the same thing that they've always eaten....Go ahead and buy your yearly roster update '09, or your Need for Sequels: Most Regurgitated. Forgive me for ranting, I work behind a game sales counter all day, and it's all I see.

Oh and please don't take me as an Xbox fanboy; I really welcome innovation in any way possible...PS3? Heck, bring on the boomerang, brother, it may look strange, but I'll be happy to try it...

Psygnosis2097 @ Feb 24th 2006 3:37AM

@11.

I liked the Goldstar 3DO controller (SEGA-ripoff).

It was perfect for NFS / Wing Commander at least ;P

Psygnosis2097 @ Feb 24th 2006 3:40AM

@19.

That boomerang controller is already history.

refinedsugar @ Feb 24th 2006 3:41AM

Man epobirs don't harp on the 3DO controller. It wasn't that bad. It could have used a six button layout, but complaining about the daisy chaining? That was an awesome feature for games that supported more than two people. Especially at a time when consoles only had two controller ports built-in.

I never found them uncomfortable either and they came in two sizes (much like the xbox did at first). So people with smaller hands could use the small one and vice versa. The large controller even had a headphone jack built-in which was just cool when it was late or you didn't wanna bother anyone.

I, for one, am glad the 3DO controller didn't make that list. It could have been better, but it wasn't one of the worst controllers ever.

Spartacus @ Feb 24th 2006 3:45AM

First off, I would have to agree with some people here that the 'Duke' shouldn't be on the list. Though it was a litle big, it wasn't difficult to get used to and many people with larger hands loved them. I know several people who won't use the 'S' controllers at all.

Secondly, I found it a little amusing that two of the controllers on this list (Sega Activator and the U-Force) were motion sensored (3 if you count the power glove). People HATED these controllers, yet now Nintendo comes out with another rendition for its upcoming console and everyone screams "innovation that will change gaming forever". It's already been done and failed, so what changed? The exact quote about the article on the Sega Activator was:

"This octagon from Sega promised players who stood in the middle a new way of fighting in titles like Eternal Champion. But it just ended up making 8 year olds look like they were having convulsions."

How is the Nintendo controller going to be any different? When the controller was first confirmed I was VERY skeptical. I've used a similar device on a PC before, it's called a gyroscopic mouse. You know what? I hated it. You couldn't control it for crap. Not because it was poorly designed, but because the human hand just can't operate nearly as precise in the air as it can resting on a surface. Try to sign your name or draw a picture holding your palm and wrist in the air rather than resting it on the table, you can't control your hand for the life of you. This is why the PC mouse is one of the best input devices ever. It is intuitive, accurate, responsive and easily controlled due to the fact that your wrist is a pivot point that is resting on a solid surface that acts as a point of reference. Free 3D movement has none of these benefits, which is why all motion based controllers have failed in the past and why I think the Revolution will simply be a novelty item that will be fun in 15 minute increments. Buy hey, Nintendo can do no wrong, so don't listen to me, I'm only using the past to predict the future...

btribble @ Feb 24th 2006 3:45AM

Though probably the 5200 controller should get #1 worst (non-centering joystick, super flaky contacts, joypad that was barely used, and too-close together A-B buttons that were inconveninent to press) it is AFAIK the first controller to have a PAUSE button, so that's something at least. The 5200 also has one of my favorite controllers, the giant trackball!

Almost as bad, and unmentioned, is the 7800 controller. Not only did it lack a pause button (which was on the system for some reason) but it was just impossible to use for more than five minutes without sending my hands into painful cramps. This thing just was not comfortable at all.

One last thing about Atari controllers. One thing I did enjoy about the Jaguar controller was that it had standard buttons on the keypad for turning music on/off and resetting the game. I thought that was a cool idea anyway...

Jago @ Feb 24th 2006 3:52AM

Making a controller huge doesn't make it "innovative" plus if it was so "great" they wouldn't have changed it and there wouldn't have been so much criticism about it.

...and don't worry I won't call you a fanboy either. If you had said something like the other guy:

"The Xbox Duke works great if you aren't a small child or girlie-man."

...then I would have called you a fanboy.

Psygnosis2097 @ Feb 24th 2006 3:55AM

@23.

We shall see.

It's more about precision than the way we control things, isn't it?

It will be interesting to see if Big N is able to match the accuracy of a good mouse/keyboard-combo with all the effort they put into this project.

I'm pretty confident it will blow todays controllers away - at least in fps/racing games. But that's just me.

Psygnosis2097 @ Feb 24th 2006 3:56AM

@25.

The S-Controller wasn't better at all - it was a halfed ass solution for the japanese audience.

Psygnosis2097 @ Feb 24th 2006 3:59AM

*half-assed ;D

Jago @ Feb 24th 2006 4:00AM

"yet now Nintendo comes out with another rendition for its upcoming console and everyone screams "innovation that will change gaming forever"."

OMG...I swear...some of you guys need to look at the box for the Power Glove. Do you know who made it? MATTEL!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_glove

The only thing Nintendo had to do with the Power Glove was that it was made for their system.

Oh and Spartacus:

Have you held the Revolution controller? No
Have you seen games for it? No

What is the big difference between the U-Force, MATTEL's Power Glove, etc.? How about 10-15+ years of technology. Just b/c something came out 10-15+ years ago doesn't mean it won't ever work again.

Jago @ Feb 24th 2006 4:02AM

"The S-Controller wasn't better at all - it was a halfed ass solution for the japanese audience."

That's why it was more popular and why Microsoft quickly replaced the "Duke" with the smaller controller right? and why the 360 controller (which I think is awesome) is similar in size to the S controller.

Psygnosis2097 @ Feb 24th 2006 4:07AM

@31.

Aren't new things always more popular?

The way they repositioned the buttons indeed was half-assed.

Jago @ Feb 24th 2006 4:09AM

Maybe for you but if it was so bad, the uproar seemed to be pretty quiet b/c I've to hear anything so bad that it prompted them to the change the S controller.

Psygnosis2097 @ Feb 24th 2006 4:11AM

I bet they reserved the invention of (digital) shoulder-buttons for the X360 controller so they could call it new again. Their D-Pad still sucks for 2D-fighting games (japanese audience again!)

Psygnosis2097 @ Feb 24th 2006 4:15AM

I have to give them credit for inventing the guide-button though.

Which makes me think of the fact that I sometimes accidently push the start button (instead of "X") because of it's misplacement.

Jago @ Feb 24th 2006 4:15AM

Hate to break it to you but 2D fighters are plenty popular over here as well.

Street Fighters various flavors, Guilty Gear, Capcom's other 2D fighting series games, etc.

Psygnosis2097 @ Feb 24th 2006 4:20AM

@33.

Compare the playability of sports games that were optimized for dual shock controllers with their xbox counterparts (especially the SSX series) and you know what I mean!

Psygnosis2097 @ Feb 24th 2006 4:21AM

Yeah, gamecube is even worse. -Oh the irony.

Psygnosis2097 @ Feb 24th 2006 4:33AM

@36.

I know - but you can't deny the fact that they are alot more popular in Asia.

I'm still playing 2D fighting games myself and I would applaud Microsoft if they fixed the Sidewinder-style D-Pad.

Spartacus @ Feb 24th 2006 4:38AM

Jago:

I am well aware of who made the Power Glove. I think you misinterpreted what I said. "Another rendition" didn't imply Nintendo made the Power Glove, it meant they were recycling a previously attempted idea for a controller.

Furthermore, have YOU held the Nintendo controller?
Have YOU seen the games for it?
No, you haven't, so you are no more informed than I am. At least I'm using logic and past experience to make predictions rather than hearsay and wishful thinking.

Finally, the mouse and keyboard have been around for more than 15 years, yet their functionality remains the same. Sure there have been some improvements, but they still work the same. Nintendo is taking a concept that so far has NEVER worked in the gaming industry and repackaging it. Will it be better? Probably, but it still falls prey to all the weaknesses I mentioned. Go buy a gyroscopic mouse and tell me if you'd ever replace your current one with it permenantly. It's the same concept and same functionality as the soon-to-be Revo controller. The D-pad on the NES worked. The D-pad on the 360's controller is basically the same despite "years of technology". Technology can't suddenly make a bad idea a good one, it can only improve upon solid designs.

Liquids @ Feb 24th 2006 4:39AM

Duke 4 win.

How dare they call it the Xbox Fat.

ZildjianKX @ Feb 24th 2006 4:45AM

The "5. Philips CDi Game Controller" wasn't a game controller, it was a remote control.

If you wanted to play games, they made a chorded gamepad... stupid IGN.

http://www.videogamecritic.net/images/cdi_c.jpg

It was stiff but worked.

Also, the Intellivision controller should have been the worst, must worse than the Jaguar's (which had the similar keypad to the Intellivision's).

epobirs @ Feb 24th 2006 4:48AM

Hey, if people are going to hate on the Duke then they're going to receive a reminder of their petite status. I've encounter far too many people who were merely repeating a meme they'd been spoonfed before they'd ever actually laid hands on the device to judge for themselves. Being a fan of the Wico and Coin Control sticks from way back I was pleased to see the return of a controller with some heft to it rather than something that felt like I might crush it in a moment of overintense play. I'm no gorilla, so I find it remarkable that so many think a featherweight controller is the only way to go.

The 3DO controller I mentioned was the only model available from Panasonic at launch. The other units and the better pad from Goldstar for their model of the 3DO didn't come until much later when the failure of the platform was largely a given. And as for the multiplayer value of the daisy chaining, please, talk about damning with faint praise. This sort of thing was far better served by port expander hubs as seen on the PC Engine/Turbo Grafx, which also had only a single port on the base unit.

Likewise for the Jaguar ProController. I've owne almost every video game system ever marketed in the US and was one of the first people in LA County to buy a Jaguar. (It's serial number was in the 4xxx range.) I still have it along with a pretty good colelction of games and accessories. But the sad fact is that the Tramiel era of Atari couldn't produce a controller with good feel to save their lives. The Pro was an improvement but well after the damage had been done.

It should be remembered that the 7800 was an extension of the 2600. Much better graphics but identical very weak audio. Not even up to the POKEY chip in the 400/800/5200. A strange oversight I always thought. Anyways, the pause button was on the 7800 itself because that was an established part of the 2600. Other than the MARIA video chip the 7800 kept very close to the 2600 layout. It might have done some real business if it had launched at the intended date instead of sitting in a warehouse for years. Atari lacked the Nintendo publishing model that made third party support a cash cow, so at best it would still have been blown away by the NES for reasons other than hardware.

One of the important lessons any designer should learn is if you're going to copy then copy from the best. The Jaguar would have been far better served with a clone of the SNES controller. The SNES controller was a major advance but Nintendo is also very litigious about such things, so most were incline to copy the more easy going Sega instead. Speaking of Nintendo controllers, the earphone jack on the 3DO was an idea that had already appeared on the Famicom in Japan where tiny living spaces made it a necessity before affordable wireless headphones became common.

I wouldn't write off the Revolution controller based solely on past attempts at similar inputs. More recently the Xavix stuff works quite. If I were into sports games I'd probably have bought some but I found the instore demo to be effective enough to make wonder what might be done in a genre I care about. Many concepts are ahead of their time. The technology may be ready in some areas but not in others. The Virtual Boy might have been a winner if Nintendo had held back until the company that developed the technology had succeeded in a better range than shades of red. More recent demos of similar devices have been impressive but nobody wants to market something that have the VB's failure looming overhead. Previous movement sensing controllers like the U-Force were tied to platforms with extremely crude 2D graphics and scant processing power. The modern pseudo-3D display and vastly greater CPU strength should have a good shot at making this reach its potential if it is there at all. I'm at least willing to give it a try. I have nothing to lose if Nintendo fails but everything to gain if they succeed, just like any product before I've committed any money of my own.

Psygnosis2097 @ Feb 24th 2006 5:00AM

@42. "stupid IGN"

Thanks for pointing that out for everyone.

It had to be said.

Psygnosis2097 @ Feb 24th 2006 5:01AM

10 best power bricks of all time anyone?

Jago @ Feb 24th 2006 5:09AM

"Furthermore, have YOU held the Nintendo controller?
Have YOU seen the games for it?
No, you haven't, so you are no more informed than I am. At least I'm using logic and past experience to make predictions rather than hearsay and wishful thinking."

No of course I haven't held or seen any game footage, but I am not the one saying "Oh it will never work b/c some old gyroscopic mouse didn't work in Windows."

"Nintendo is taking a concept that so far has NEVER worked in the gaming industry and repackaging it."

WTH? You REALLY think that they are taking 10-15 year old technology and repackaging it into a slicker looking device?

If the remote is sooooo old and such a failure then why are people who have actually held it and have played demos on it...praising it? You know people like Peter Molyneux, Hideo Kojima, Square-Enix...hell even EA.

Oh and technology can make a bad idea better. How is that possible?

Easy...evolved and newly developed technology can make ideas better. Ideas evolve, the resources for those ideas evolve and improve, the manufacturing process evolves...plus like epobirs said:

"Many concepts are ahead of their time. The technology may be ready in some areas but not in others."

Oh and comparing a gyroscoptic mouse to the revolution remote like comparing apples to oranges. That is like some people on here saying that the DS's touch screen capability is a stupid gimmick b/c playing a puzzle game on their Palm PDA is boring. A PDA has basic functions and not intended to play ONLY games on.

The same is said for the Revolution remote...it is DESIGNED for games obviously the advances in technology to accomplish this.