Tuesday, May 29, 2007
According to Kotaku, C-Net has released their list of the Best 5 Controllers Ever. And here it is...
It's also worth noting that Kotaku got the listing upside-down on their article. Ah, well.
In any case, I'm finding it hilarious that the 2600's controller actually ranked in the first place. Having used the 2600's controller, it really is pure crap. Sure, it was the only controller we had for the 2600 (outside the paddle controllers and what-have-you), but it just barely qualified as a controller in general. Is it too much to ask for the freaking button to work in the first place?
And then there's the 'fun' of the switches on the 2600 itself, but that's not quite falling under 'controller,' exactly.
And, dear lord, if the 2600 controller was crap... the 5200 controller was infinitely worse. Sure, it had a pause button on it. This was actually an innovation for the time - not used again till the NES. However, the 'analog' stick barely worked at all, thanks to the fact that it never centered... and don't get me started on how they barely worked - or the freaking number pad.
On the plus side, I can think of several controllers I'm glad didn't make the list...
Before I continue, though, I must confess:
In all honesty, I should also be including the controller for the Magnavox Odyssey, Philips CD-i and the 3D0 on here as well...
...but the Odyssey's is the first controller ever made. Definate forgiveness there. I mean, even the 2600 had comeptition - even if they never changed their controller design.
The CD-i and 3D0 only escape because I've never used them before - but Wiki's shots of them look horrendous. The CD-i's has a SNES controller with an Atari 2600 stick pointing out of the D-pad spot, for Christ's sake!
In any case, here's the top 4 worst controllers I've ever used:
4) The Sega Game Gear
I give the thing props for being the first color handheld, as well as for being the first handheld to rival Nintendo in popularity. But there's a reason it failed miserably - look at the link provided down below.
The entire thing looks like some sort of monster that mutated out of a Sega Master System and an Atari Lynx, complete with one of the smallest screens I've ever seen on a handheld in terms of actual resolution and what it could show.
Like I said, I give it some credit... but I take away a lot more credit for everything else.
3) The Atari Lynx
While the fact that it was color made it nice to look at, and the fact that you could play it left-handed or right-handed was innovative (in that 'special' sort of way), the entire console was just plain massive - looking larger than the old brick Game Boy. The entire thing just looked plain awkward, and like crap. Ugh.
2) The Atari VCS/2600 Controller
I think I've said all I can remember about that chunk of plastic above, durable though it may be.
1) The Atari Jaguar Controller. Both of them.
Yes, there were two versions. A 'Genesis-3' version and a 'Genesis-6' version. And both were saddled with a numberpad, which did nothing for actual gameplay.
Combine this with absolutely no thought for how the hands would fit around this bigger-than-Xbox-HEUG-Controller, and you've got a bad controller in general.
In conclusion, it really doesn't matter if you've got fantastic games (I suppose the 2600 fits here), fantastic graphics (I suppose this goes to the Jaguar, despite looking like cat vomit half the time), or are in color (Hello, Game Gear and Lynx). If your controller sucks, it's not gonna be easy to get people to play you.
Hell, even some recent consoles with great games have had trouble thanks to their controllers - the Sega Saturn and the Xbox come immediately to mind for me.
I'm off, to work another day in the internship that is being a Teacher's Assistant.
NewtypeS3
| C-Net wrote: |
| 5). Atari 2600 joystick: Featuring a simple stick mechanism for moving around and a red button for firing. It's not technically a gamepad, but it's so crucial to gaming history there's no way we couldn't mention it. 4). SNES controller: This exercise in ergonomics is a curvy, multi-coloured, multi-buttoned evolution of the angular NES controller. This was the first controller to have shoulder buttons — a revolution that made an arcade staple like Street Fighter II a viable proposition in the home. 3). Nintendo 64 controller: This is one of the most important joypads ever produced. Not only did the N64's controller feature an analogue joystick, which made playing games such as GoldenEye realistic and subtle, but it also featured a pistol-like trigger button underneath. 2). PS2 controller: Nintendo may have started the analogue-stick-on-a-pad idea but Sony really took it to the bank. For many gamers, the DualShock gamepad is the best gamepad ever made... Having two analogue sticks meant you could play games in a completely different way to anything available before. 1). Xbox 360 controller: It was the first wireless pad to come as standard. Its comfy, solid design offers dual analogue joysticks and two analogue trigger buttons underneath. There's also a built-in jack for connecting a headset. |
It's also worth noting that Kotaku got the listing upside-down on their article. Ah, well.
In any case, I'm finding it hilarious that the 2600's controller actually ranked in the first place. Having used the 2600's controller, it really is pure crap. Sure, it was the only controller we had for the 2600 (outside the paddle controllers and what-have-you), but it just barely qualified as a controller in general. Is it too much to ask for the freaking button to work in the first place?
And then there's the 'fun' of the switches on the 2600 itself, but that's not quite falling under 'controller,' exactly.
And, dear lord, if the 2600 controller was crap... the 5200 controller was infinitely worse. Sure, it had a pause button on it. This was actually an innovation for the time - not used again till the NES. However, the 'analog' stick barely worked at all, thanks to the fact that it never centered... and don't get me started on how they barely worked - or the freaking number pad.
On the plus side, I can think of several controllers I'm glad didn't make the list...
Before I continue, though, I must confess:
In all honesty, I should also be including the controller for the Magnavox Odyssey, Philips CD-i and the 3D0 on here as well...
...but the Odyssey's is the first controller ever made. Definate forgiveness there. I mean, even the 2600 had comeptition - even if they never changed their controller design.
The CD-i and 3D0 only escape because I've never used them before - but Wiki's shots of them look horrendous. The CD-i's has a SNES controller with an Atari 2600 stick pointing out of the D-pad spot, for Christ's sake!
In any case, here's the top 4 worst controllers I've ever used:
4) The Sega Game Gear
I give the thing props for being the first color handheld, as well as for being the first handheld to rival Nintendo in popularity. But there's a reason it failed miserably - look at the link provided down below.
The entire thing looks like some sort of monster that mutated out of a Sega Master System and an Atari Lynx, complete with one of the smallest screens I've ever seen on a handheld in terms of actual resolution and what it could show.
Like I said, I give it some credit... but I take away a lot more credit for everything else.
3) The Atari Lynx
While the fact that it was color made it nice to look at, and the fact that you could play it left-handed or right-handed was innovative (in that 'special' sort of way), the entire console was just plain massive - looking larger than the old brick Game Boy. The entire thing just looked plain awkward, and like crap. Ugh.
2) The Atari VCS/2600 Controller
I think I've said all I can remember about that chunk of plastic above, durable though it may be.
1) The Atari Jaguar Controller. Both of them.
Yes, there were two versions. A 'Genesis-3' version and a 'Genesis-6' version. And both were saddled with a numberpad, which did nothing for actual gameplay.
Combine this with absolutely no thought for how the hands would fit around this bigger-than-Xbox-HEUG-Controller, and you've got a bad controller in general.
In conclusion, it really doesn't matter if you've got fantastic games (I suppose the 2600 fits here), fantastic graphics (I suppose this goes to the Jaguar, despite looking like cat vomit half the time), or are in color (Hello, Game Gear and Lynx). If your controller sucks, it's not gonna be easy to get people to play you.
Hell, even some recent consoles with great games have had trouble thanks to their controllers - the Sega Saturn and the Xbox come immediately to mind for me.
I'm off, to work another day in the internship that is being a Teacher's Assistant.
NewtypeS3
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