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Having recently had a brief discussion in another thread regarding the N64 controller vs PS2/Xbox/GC controllers, I thought I would start a new topic to see what everyones thoughts are on their favourite official controller of all time. Here are my thoughts on the ones I have used in recent times:
SNES Pad: Although this one is old now, I had to comment on it as it was one of the best controllers ever made. Still has the best D-pad to this day.
N64 Pad: This was a brilliant controller - the first to introduce the analogue stick I believe. The only thing I didnt like was the central placement of the analogue stick, which I would have prefered on the left. The buttons were perfectly layed out and the Z-trigger was genious.
Dreamcast Pad: I have only used this one a few times, but there was nothing memorable about it.
PS1/PS2 Dual Shock Pad: Took controllers to the next level. Perfect button placement, good analogue sticks and a sound D-pad ensure that it's suitable for any type of game. Apart from it's poor durability, it doesn't have any major faults.
Gamecube Pad: Very comfortable to hold with very responsive buttons and triggers which feel good to press. The Z button isn't too good as it is hard to tell whether or not you have pressed it. The D-pad is ridiculously small meaning games like Tony Hawks are difficult to play. However, it excells when playing Nintendo games which it's perfect for.
Xbox Pad: Alot of people are complaining about the size, but I don't have a problem with it at all. It's very well made, meaning it won't be falling apart like the Sony pads do. The D-pad is strange and doesn't work as well as it should, but the analogue sticks are excellent. The triggers are perfect for driving games, with just the right amount of resistance when pushing them. The buttons are not shaped or positioned well as they are too close together. The best pad ever made for driving games.
Overall, its hard for me to choose a favourite but I would have to go for the PS2 pad. It handles all gaming genres well and is the "Jack of all trades" for controllers. Having said that, the other controllers excell in different areas so I thought I would combine all of their features and come up with my own "Fantasy Pad". Here are the ingredients:
1) The shape of the Sony pad but with the strong build of the Xbox pad
2) Add the triggers of the Xbox pad (underneath the four shoulder buttons)
3) Replace the Sony Analogue sticks with the ones on the Xbox pad
4) Replace the four Sony face buttons with four of the B buttons from the Gamecube pad
5) Replace the four Sony shoulder buttons with slightly smaller versions of the N64 shoulder buttons
5) Replace the D-pad with the SNES D-pad
6) Switch the positions of the D-pad and the left analogue stick (as it is on the Gamecube/Xbox pads)
7) It would probably end up looking like something Frankenstien would use, so colour it in brushed metallic silver.... with gold buttons.... and, errrm.... crystalised analogue sticks.... or something. Just make it look cool, damn it!
And there you have it, my perfect controller. What do you guys think?
SNES Pad: Although this one is old now, I had to comment on it as it was one of the best controllers ever made. Still has the best D-pad to this day.
N64 Pad: This was a brilliant controller - the first to introduce the analogue stick I believe. The only thing I didnt like was the central placement of the analogue stick, which I would have prefered on the left. The buttons were perfectly layed out and the Z-trigger was genious.
Dreamcast Pad: I have only used this one a few times, but there was nothing memorable about it.
PS1/PS2 Dual Shock Pad: Took controllers to the next level. Perfect button placement, good analogue sticks and a sound D-pad ensure that it's suitable for any type of game. Apart from it's poor durability, it doesn't have any major faults.
Gamecube Pad: Very comfortable to hold with very responsive buttons and triggers which feel good to press. The Z button isn't too good as it is hard to tell whether or not you have pressed it. The D-pad is ridiculously small meaning games like Tony Hawks are difficult to play. However, it excells when playing Nintendo games which it's perfect for.
Xbox Pad: Alot of people are complaining about the size, but I don't have a problem with it at all. It's very well made, meaning it won't be falling apart like the Sony pads do. The D-pad is strange and doesn't work as well as it should, but the analogue sticks are excellent. The triggers are perfect for driving games, with just the right amount of resistance when pushing them. The buttons are not shaped or positioned well as they are too close together. The best pad ever made for driving games.
Overall, its hard for me to choose a favourite but I would have to go for the PS2 pad. It handles all gaming genres well and is the "Jack of all trades" for controllers. Having said that, the other controllers excell in different areas so I thought I would combine all of their features and come up with my own "Fantasy Pad". Here are the ingredients:
1) The shape of the Sony pad but with the strong build of the Xbox pad
2) Add the triggers of the Xbox pad (underneath the four shoulder buttons)
3) Replace the Sony Analogue sticks with the ones on the Xbox pad
4) Replace the four Sony face buttons with four of the B buttons from the Gamecube pad
5) Replace the four Sony shoulder buttons with slightly smaller versions of the N64 shoulder buttons
5) Replace the D-pad with the SNES D-pad
6) Switch the positions of the D-pad and the left analogue stick (as it is on the Gamecube/Xbox pads)
7) It would probably end up looking like something Frankenstien would use, so colour it in brushed metallic silver.... with gold buttons.... and, errrm.... crystalised analogue sticks.... or something. Just make it look cool, damn it!
And there you have it, my perfect controller. What do you guys think?
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why do people like the N64 pad. Big deal, it had a trigger like button, at least you dont need three hands to use all the buttons! WHen trying to play any N64 game i get confused due to the stupid layout of the buttons, i didn't like my snes pad either, the L&R butons didn't work.
Time_Warp wrote:
> The trigger buttons on the DC were great, because they were lower down
> you fingers just rested on them..Aahhhh....(:)
*
Ah, the memories.... *wipes a tear from my eye*
The Dreamcast was great. It died too young.
> The trigger buttons on the DC were great, because they were lower down
> you fingers just rested on them..Aahhhh....(:)
*
Ah, the memories.... *wipes a tear from my eye*
The Dreamcast was great. It died too young.
Sjigga wrote:
I wonder what new features the next generation of controllers will
have......
Its gotta be lasers, always the lasers....
I wonder what new features the next generation of controllers will
have......
Its gotta be lasers, always the lasers....
Kyz22 wrote:
> Best controller ever is the N64 one, it had trigger, shoulder buttons,
> analogue controller and D-pad, It had it all. I havent played on a
> console with a better setup
I would guess that most people would agree with you as the N64 pad seems to be the most popular. Not me though. I love the twin analogue setup and triggers of todays pads - I dont know how I could do without them. Its amazing how the controllers have evolved over the years, adding new features that soon become standard in all controllers. I wonder what new features the next generation of controllers will have......
> Best controller ever is the N64 one, it had trigger, shoulder buttons,
> analogue controller and D-pad, It had it all. I havent played on a
> console with a better setup
I would guess that most people would agree with you as the N64 pad seems to be the most popular. Not me though. I love the twin analogue setup and triggers of todays pads - I dont know how I could do without them. Its amazing how the controllers have evolved over the years, adding new features that soon become standard in all controllers. I wonder what new features the next generation of controllers will have......
Best controller ever is the N64 one, it had trigger, shoulder buttons, analogue controller and D-pad, It had it all. I havent played on a console with a better setup
Drunk Cow wrote:
> Of coarse the Gamecube controller is the best but it isn't very good
> when it comes with fighting games
Yeah, the Sony pad is the closest thing to a SNES pad, which was brilliant for fighting games due to the excellent D-pad and button layout. The Sony D-pad isn't ideal, but it's much better than the GC or XBOX D-pads which are pretty much unplayable for these games.
As I dont own a PS2, I have a joypad converter for the GC and XBOX that lets me use PS2 pads on them. I bought an official PS2 pad and now I can play any fighting game or Tony Hawk style game that requires precise directional combinations.
> Of coarse the Gamecube controller is the best but it isn't very good
> when it comes with fighting games
Yeah, the Sony pad is the closest thing to a SNES pad, which was brilliant for fighting games due to the excellent D-pad and button layout. The Sony D-pad isn't ideal, but it's much better than the GC or XBOX D-pads which are pretty much unplayable for these games.
As I dont own a PS2, I have a joypad converter for the GC and XBOX that lets me use PS2 pads on them. I bought an official PS2 pad and now I can play any fighting game or Tony Hawk style game that requires precise directional combinations.
Of coarse the Gamecube controller is the best but it isn't very good when it comes with fighting games like bloody roar and others(except SSBM, that is the best arrangement for that).
I say for fighting games the PS2 controller is the best. The PS2 has that classic SNES desing that I loved playing Mortal Kombat 3 on. And Im never considering buying Mortal Kombet anialation for Gamecube because I'm afraid the controller will make it different, so I'm bribbing my brother to buy it on his PS2 along with X-Men demension because I love those platforms.
I say for fighting games the PS2 controller is the best. The PS2 has that classic SNES desing that I loved playing Mortal Kombat 3 on. And Im never considering buying Mortal Kombet anialation for Gamecube because I'm afraid the controller will make it different, so I'm bribbing my brother to buy it on his PS2 along with X-Men demension because I love those platforms.
Nomad Soul wrote:
> Personally I'd go for:
>
> The shape and curvature of the GC controller.
> The triggers of the XBOX/DC controller.
> The analogue sticks of the XBOX controller.
> The dual-shock and the D-pad of the PS2 controller.
> The Z button of the N64 controller.
Haven't played the Xbox but that seems like some good choices.
The trigger buttons on the DC were great, because they were lower down you fingers just rested on them..Aahhhh....(:)
> Personally I'd go for:
>
> The shape and curvature of the GC controller.
> The triggers of the XBOX/DC controller.
> The analogue sticks of the XBOX controller.
> The dual-shock and the D-pad of the PS2 controller.
> The Z button of the N64 controller.
Haven't played the Xbox but that seems like some good choices.
The trigger buttons on the DC were great, because they were lower down you fingers just rested on them..Aahhhh....(:)
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