What is your favorite controller?

[Book Thief]

(Especially when compared to the N64s some of my friends had. I still can't figure out how they held those things' controllers for long periods without hurting their wrists.)

The N64's controller is a lot more ergonomic than people give it credit for. If you've ever held the Wii's Nunchuck, guess what: that thing is literally just the center prong of the N64, just cut away from the rest of it.



That said, the spread-out nature of the buttons is its downfall in my opinion. Trying to play GoldenEye that thing is... well, you have to constantly remind yourself that they did the best with the peripheral they had to work with. The control is ambidextrous, so four of the six face buttons are dedicated to walking/moving the camera, as is the D-pad. With the L/R-buttons being used for precise aiming and the Z-button being used for firing, that leaves you with the A- and B-buttons for everything else. If memory serves, I'm pretty sure "reload" and "interact" were tied to the same button, while the other cycled your weapons in a pre-determined fashion. If you wanted to pull out a specific weapon, you had to press the Start button to enter a pause menu and pick the weapon from there.

 

[Gravityqueen4life]

either gamecube or the 360 controller.

 

[BrunoMattei]

I think the 360 style controller fits just about every niche you would want. Especially the ones with the trigger at the grip. If only the manufacturers can get the build quality right so the controller lasts more than a year or doesn't have drift and build a god damn decent D-Pad. They always forget the D-Pad unless you go out of your way to get specialized controllers. How fucking hard could it possibly be to make a functioning D-Pad that is responsive and doesn't hurt the thumb when being used? This is something the fucking NES got right over 30 years ago. It can't be that hard and requires an engineering miracle.

 

[ZMOT]

I like the DS3 the most but its not the most durable, PC support was awful with those programs you had to run to recognize it, and this is really minor but it would feel better if it were a little heavier. DS4 solves most of that but the touchpad is awful as a touchpad and a button, it changes your audio device to the controller on PC, a giant light as well as a smaller light bar for no practical reason, and I think the RL buttons and the general rounder redesign stinks.

the giant light is for the eyetoy and VR so it works as a motion controller, you can use the dualshock like a normal controller in VR, not even pc is able to do that without glueing shit onto your pad. on pc at least you can turn it down or outright disable it. playstation too, but not completely (probably because you'd never know if the controller is turned on or which player it is).

changing the audio device sucks, but it's one click to change back, then just disable it in device settings and the next time you plug it in everything's peachy (unless you switch usb ports, but that's more a windows/usb thing....)

 

[Kheapathic]

The PS2/PS3 controller was the best for me.

 

[Jasper2K]

gamecube.

 

[Stasi]

They had a weird quality timeline.

First batches were amazing, like Nokia solid.
Then they blew up and increased production to keep up - quality dropped, sales dropped.
The newest hardware is really solid because they are trying to regain that market share.

I must have bought during that dip. Got two different controllers and both crapped out for different reasons. Wanted to pop one of them open to have a look to see if I can fix it and they use some stupid non-phillips screws. Fucking dumb.

Anyway, PS2 is probably objectively the best and good for pretty much any style of game. 360 was a good controller but has the worst d pad in existence.

 

[Billy_Sama!]

I don't have the favorite per say but I enjoy the Second version of the Saturn Controller to be the best classic 6 button controller with shoulder buttons.

I do think the most neglected design for a controller is the Gamecube. A little goofy and not modern compared to its contemporaries and later controllers but it had the best face button design. Since the buttons have different shapes, positions, and colors, I never had any issues with button inputs like the standard diamond arrangement especially with QT inputs.

 

[IDanceonTrannyGraves]

 

[TheDarknessGrows]

VKB's older joysticks are the best. The newer stuff is not as good. And most other games can be played with a SNES controller.

 

[BTS4Lyfe]

I got small as fuck hands so ingot myself one of these. It's pretty good for everything except super precise inputs. I have real trouble with doing combo inputs for fighting games on this thing. HOWEVER.


This brick has got to have one of the best D-Pads I have ever used. As dumb as it sound I really enjoy the steam deck. Only thing is the right stick is a little bit too close too the face buttons for me.

 

[Banana Hammock]

I've only had it for a few days, but I'm really liking the Gulikit King Kong 2 pro. It's got a good heft to it, nice grips, and hall effect joysticks. Haven't had it long enough to comment on the durability, but I'm hoping that it lasts, because everything else is great.

Edit: I haven't noticed anything, but apparently the input lag is pretty bad, so you probably shouldn't use it for fighters or fps games.

 

[Day Drinking]

I haven't noticed anything, but apparently the input lag is pretty bad, so you probably shouldn't use it for fighters or fps games.

Can confirm. Was awful trying play fps with it. It actually made the game flicker if I was trying to use it wirelessly. Gave it to my friend since the thing is marketed as a Switch alternative and he says it's fine.

I've always leaned towards the standard Xbox generation of controllers. The newest ones with USB-C has solved a lot of my issues, because I mainly like to play wired. No fancy paddles or adjustments. Works great for FPS (Halo) and playing games on emulator, since it's become an industry standard and is compatible with most things in the default layout.

 

[Pissmaster]

Boring answer, but I like my Xbox Series X Aqua Shift controller.

less boring answer: Wii Classic Controller Pro


If the sticks could click I'd keep using it for modern games.

 

[Banana Hammock]

I've always leaned towards the standard Xbox generation of controllers. The newest ones with USB-C has solved a lot of my issues, because I mainly like to play wired. No fancy paddles or adjustments. Works great for FPS (Halo) and playing games on emulator, since it's become an industry standard and is compatible with most things in the default layout.

I thought about getting one of those instead, but I really wanted to try the hall effect joysticks, and I prefer the button layout on switch controllers.

 

[NERF or NOTHIN']

SNES. I haven't found a controller that has fit as well as that.

Logitechs F310 isn't horrible but they don't last very long.

 

[Midnight Menin]

Maybe it's partially nostalgia, maybe it's the fact that my hands are smaller than average, but I find the gamecube controller to be surprisingly comfortable. If it wasn't for the missing inputs (an entire shoulder button, clickable sticks, select/home and a gyro sensor), I'd likely never use a dualshock 4 again. The form factor is just really appealing to me and fits well in my hands.
Had the panda controller actually released I would've definitely bought one just so I could use it on my PC. I'm still pissed about it.

 

[Cats]

I am about to piddle from happiness just like a ffucking dog

the only microswitched thumbstick, in history. is finally coming back in a modern controller. I never thought a company would go through all the trouble of actually remaking this obscure controller. If you have never handled a NeoGeo CD gamepad it is really something special. The thumbstick satisfyingly clicks like a mini arcade lever and there is a slight thickness to the left side of the pad to accomodate the microswitches. Each face button is wide and feels satisfying to press.

I've never tried 8BitDo but I am still enjoying thoroughly my Retrobit Genesis pads which are amazing. However having PC access, not to mention a wireless option to boot, to an updated NeoGeoCD pad is really the top of the mountain for handheld, non-fightstick/arcade cabinet controllers. Even more they added shoulder buttons to really just completely make this thing perfect.

I preordered one and allegedly they are coming out in the middle of this month, so, we shall see. I've checked out the internals disclosed by 8BitDo and they look promising. I am so fuckin excited to finally be able to have one of these. It is a good year for controllers for me friend kiwis

 

[cybertoaster]

The Dreamcast controller is by far the most comfortable I've ever used

The back was really ergonomic

It was pretty good but that rubber they used to the analogs was shit, it didn't last and would become a dust that got stuck into the analog mechanism.

The second USB Genesis 6 button I ordered to harvest parts from for my project

What project?

 

[Cats]

I was planning on making a pad with larger buttons and stuff, it was going to be a custom thing. I shelved that though because I am actually building a fightstick right now with lots of translucent red parts and hunting down the exact components for my vision is enough of a pain in the ass on its own for now