The best console controller

Think carefully before deciding. A few points to think on:

 - Comfort. Probably the most critical  aspect of a controller. You need to be able to use it for sometimes hours on end and for it to remain comfortable. It should fit naturally into your hands, and be intuitive to use.

 - Functionality. Keep in mind some controllers can have TOO much to them. You could argue the Dualshock 2 went too far by having literally everything except the select / start buttons be analog.

 - Versatility. No matter the genre of game, the controller should be easily adaptable for it.

 - Innovation. While first doesn't always mean best (hello, N64 analog stick), some definitely get sentimental over such things.

[edit] reset poll, 3 possible options.

Some of my personal opinions:

NES pad - I used this thing for hours and hours and hours when I was little, so much that I would get sore / small blisters on the sides of my little fingers. No idea why they made it such a brick. Cult following, but it's not that great.

SNES - Improvement on the NES, but again no need to be so flat =| I preferred to use this third party pad I had, since they'd managed to take into account the shape of human hands and designed it more accordingly.

DualShock - This would be my favourite pad out there. That it's remained the same shape for well over a decade and across 3 consoles is a testament to its popularity. Perfect button placement, grip shape, 2 rumble motors. I remember playing for like 6 hours straight sometimes and having no issues. I tended to never use the analog sticks though, it felt a little unnatural to move my thumbs that far down to use them.

N64 Pad - Just what were they thinking? I thought this pad was stupid from the moment I first saw it and I haven't changed my mind. Protip: Humans have 2 (two) hands. It's impossible to press all the buttons without moving some hands and re-holding the pad in a different way. It doesn't even have that many buttons; they could have easily fit all the buttons, pads and the stick into a design that let you hold it properly with 2 hands. I remember on one game, turok I think it was, you needed to use the analog stick to move, though occasionally had to press the L shoulder button. Duh. Stupid pad. And while it had the first analog stick, it was shitty, had a huge dead zone, and that white stuff accumulated in the bottom. The same for the rumble pak idea. There is enough hollow space to put a motor in there, and you can draw power from the console, not make us buy batteries.

Gamecube - My second favourite, almost a tie between this and the DualShock. It fits so naturally, and the left analog stick and d-pad have their positions reversed from DualShock, which is better.

Original XBOX pad - wat

XBOX Controller S - much more comfy, though the bottom buttons are in stupid places - you have to shift your hands around to press them.

I'd have to go with the PSX controller. A nice amount of buttons, easily reached and it's a size that just about anyone can use.

I have pretty tiny hands, so the DC and XBox controllers were near impossible for me to use. Even the smaller XB controller doesn't feel right.

N64 Pad - Just what were they thinking? I thought this pad was stupid from the moment I first saw it and I haven't changed my mind. Protip: Humans have 2 (two) hands. It's impossible to press all the buttons without moving some hands and re-holding the pad in a different way. It doesn't even have that many buttons; they could have easily fit all the buttons, pads and the stick into a design that let you hold it properly with 2 hands. I remember on one game, turok I think it was, you needed to use the analog stick to move, though occasionally had to press the L shoulder button. Duh. Stupid pad. And while it had the first analog stick, it was shitty, had a huge dead zone, and that white stuff accumulated in the bottom. The same for the rumble pak idea. There is enough hollow space to put a motor in there, and you can draw power from the console, not make us buy batteries.

Don't forget the tendency for the stick to create blisters. XD Why would they make those rings if it will easily chafe the skin? lol

360 and n64 easily

Top 3

Gamecube Controller: Button placement was good, had the right amount of buttons, and was very comfortable. I could use it for hours. By far the best Nintendo controller, and my favorite of all time.

360 Controller: It was a close call between the Wii remote + Nunchuk and the 360 controller. The only reason the 360 controller beat it was because of the the Wii remote's lack of buttons and odd 1 and 2 button placement. The 360 controller has enough buttons and analog sticks, which were all placed well. It's a comfortable controller, and I can use it for hours.

Wii Remote: It's a very comfortable controller. The accelerometer and sensor bar provide new controls that other consoles don't have. It works well when it's implemented correctly. Button placement is fine, except for the 1 and 2 buttons. It all comes down to preference.


Other Thoughts

NES Pad: I never really had issues with using it. Didn't get cramps or blisters. It worked well for me, and was good for its time.

Dualshock: I remember playing Grand Theft Auto, and holding X to drive. A lot of the time, I wasn't pressing hard enough, so I didn't go as fast. That was annoying. Had to press too hard to go full speed, and it gave me thumb cramps. The analog stick placement was pretty bad. Using them was more awkward than it needed to be. The analog sticks also bubbled out. I lost grip sometimes, and wouldn't have if they took a bowl shape like the 360 controller. These problems are still present in the six axis.

N64 controller: Everything Roph said + thumb blisters.

It's called Nintendo Thumb. I've never had it though. Oh, and PSX has the best controller.

Dualshock - I've never had a problem with a Playstation controller, easy to hold, great button placement. Glad they never changed it

Gamecube - I got thumb blisters, but otherwise it fit my hands perfectly

360 - The most comfortable controller I've ever used, the buttons click perfectly too.

I may have chosen the 360 controller, but I've never owned a 360 personally. The one thing that got to me is that they're cordless. While it's true that they may be less of a hassle compared a corded mouse, the fact that your gameplay may be interrupted by low batteries, or some type of interference really bugged me.

Uh, most 360 controllers are corded.

Spoiler for:

This is the controller that came with the 360 I got at launch.

Wii and gamecube.

The 360 controller that came with my Xbox Arcade is wireless.

The 360 controller that came with my Xbox Arcade is wireless.

Ditto, I was under the impression you had to separately buy cordless controllers if you wanted them.

The 360 controller that came with my Xbox Arcade is wireless.

two controllers came in mine, both wireless

NES: Obviously this controller is a classic, and a huge improvement from the controllers before it (why did so many controllers have numeric keypads? i mean really?) but by no means the best.

Master System: Same as above, but gets less points for originality since they basically ripped off Nintendo's.

Turbo-Grafx 16: ^

Genesis: Way more comfortable than the SNES controller, but not as functional =/

SNES: Compared to controllers now, this thing feels awful, but it was awesome back in the day. Especially because of the shoulder buttons. Nintendo was always ahead in terms of controller innovation.

Sega Saturn: I've never used it but I don't think I want to. I think that might be the stupidest looking controller I've ever seen.

DualShock: This is pretty much the perfect controller. Good comfort, good button placement, good functionality. It doesn't excel in everything but it doesn't need to. It just works no matter what.

Nintendo 64: This controller had a lot of potential but nobody really used it the way I think it was intended which made for horrible controls in a lot of games, so that kinda ruined it =/

Dreamcast: Obviously an improvement from the Saturn, but awful compared to what was already out there. It felt awkward and weak, like it was made of cheap plastic. The VMU thing was kind of cool though, I guess.

Gamecube Great, but kind of weird. I didn't like how the A button was so prominent and the D-pad was virtually unusable because of its size.

Xbox: This thing is like holding a loaf of bread. It's comfortable but not very intuitive, I remember having to look down a lot to make sure my fingers were in the right place.

Xbox Controller S: An improvement, but easily outweighed by the 360 controller.

Wii: The controller that spawned a revolution, kinda. After Wii put this baby out, everyone jumped in on the motion control craze. It makes a lot of games weird to play (Super Mario Galaxy being a prime example of this) but it works so well for its other games, and its number of uses is through the roof so it's easily one of the best.

360 Controller: This would be my favorite controller by a long shot if it weren't for the D-pad. I don't get why Microsoft made it a POV switch; it doesn't feel like a real D-pad. It makes it kind of awkward to use with games where a D-pad is more sensible. Other than that, its button placement is perfect and its comfort is second to none.

In the end, I chose DualShock, Wii and 360. Between them I'd probably pick the DualShock controller as my favorite, simply because I can never remember ever having a single complaint about it.

Master System: Same as above, but gets less points for originality since they basically ripped off Nintendo's.

But the Master System controller has eight directions ~_-

Spoiler for:

So does the NES controller ?_?

Even though the NES does have it, the Master took advantage of displaying the fact that it does. The NES just 'looks' like it moves in 4, while the Master looks like it moves in 8. Even though both can move in 8. Just saying, Master looks like it would offer more even though it doesn't.

360, then Gamecube, then who cares.

DualShock. GC and 360 are a tie in my book.

Dualshock - it's a nobrainer methinks, it's so comfy and easy to use. The sticks are actually a little bit too close for my thumbs to reach them comfortably for long gaming sessions but it's tolerable. The Trigger buttons are nice but I find them to be too close together. Still the best IMO.

GC - Like the best fitting controller I've ever used, the sticks are perfectly place, and shit to those who say the C-Stick will give you cramps. Last time I checked you don't often rely on the C-Stick. The Z button is annoying but thank god it's not used very often.
Triggers are by far the best, they really had the best shape to them.

360 - a great controller, I need to find a wired one to use with my pc (10$ cheaper and I don't mind the cord).
The grip and texture is really nice, and they fit my hand really well.

Dreamcast - Haven't used these in a long while. I remember them being really well fitting (I probably had much smaler hands) but the plastic felt a wee bit flimsy. The buttons were well placed and the triggers had a nice shape to them.

Wiimote & Nunchuck - if only games would use it when it actually makes sense to, then it'd be up there with Mouse and Keyboard. @_@ And for any human, the 1 and 2 buttons are extremely uncomfortable to reach.
Held horizontally it feels really nice, especially with the skin. B is awkward, a little too awkward when holding it horizontally though.

XBOX - This thing had like the worst controller ever. Oversized buttons combined with undersized buttons all packed into something too huge for its own sake. It was butt ugly too.

I always reach those 1 and 2 buttons on the Wiimote with my left hand. It actually made sense in Zelda, because bringing your left hand over and then moving it back was kind of like the action of opening up a map.


But yeah, my vote goes to the Wiimote because of the nunchuck, the motion sensoring abilities, and how customizable it is for homebrew apps. You can use it right side up, sideways, with or without the nunchuck, any way that you prefer, and that's cool. I usually use a different controller setup for different games, like just using the wiimote sideways for Zelda, but using the nunchuck for Super Metroid. If only the actually WiiWare games would let you do this.

Second to that would be the Xbox controller, because I have monstrous hands.

Being more of a PC gamer i dont hae much to add here.

The Sega Genesis and Playstation controllers are the only ones ive had lengthy exposure too.

I always found the Sega one to dig into my hands after several hours of playing.

The PS2 one seemed heavy.

I recently aquired an Xbox360 and love its controllers. At first i thought the unaligned analog sticks would annoy me but they work fine and decramp my hands on it.

I agree what people have said about the dpad though. Most games seem to allow the use of either so i stick to the sticks.

I chose the SNES and PS1 controllers.  The SNES controller is great because it has a lot of buttons in a logical arrangement, and it is rounded, so no digging into your hands.  And it is so light-weight.  I am technically picking the original PS1 controller for my second pick, not the PS2 controller above.  It was like the PS2 controller except it had no joysticks and no rumble feature.  I liked that controller for similar reasons to the SNES controller: easy to hold, lightweight, straight-forward.  I think on the bottom of my list would be the N64 controller - way too bulky, and it was so awkward to hold when not using the d-pad.