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[DownGrader]

I don't know why, but I just remembered how strange were Black and White buttons on original Xbox controllers. First of all, they were never given some distinctive name - they were literally "Black Button" and "White Button". Secondly, on the Duke, they were placed just like C and Z on Sega controller...

...which does make sense since they were substituting missing shoulder buttons. Why they were so small and asymmetrical, though? The size was fixed in Controller S, but the placement was fucked up really hard.

They became symmetrical to Back and Start buttons and practically felt like another service buttons. But they were still face buttons which functionally belonged to ABXY zone! But physically they went far from the diamond, and their relative placement was switched cardinally - Black moved from B to A, White moved from Y to X.

I mean, damn. These buttons were weird.

Another interesting button is Z button on GameCube controller. IMHO, while being placed (and treated by many developers) as a shoulder button, its strange form, small size and tight and clicky feel make me believe it was meant to actually be a second service button - SELECT button,if you want, to accomodate START/PAUSE button.

Honorable mention - L/R buttons of Wii Classic Controller, first revision. They were actually analog triggers with the click at the end, just like GameCube Controller triggers. But there is not a single Wii game which uses analog trigger functionality! This, alongside with analog triggers being dropped in Classic Controller Pro and not being implemented in any Wii U controller makes me think something dark, horrible and involving analog triggers had happened at Nintendo, so they are not making them anymore.

Still, Wii Menu switches screens at full pressing of Classic Controller shoulders while Wii U Menu switches them on light pressing. That's weird.

So, can you remember some other buttons on various controllers which felt, functioned or was placed in some mind-boggling way?

 

[Strangelove77]

The select button on every controller. That button doesn't select shit.

Glad it got removed from the DS4. Fuck you, select button.

 

[SatoAilDarko]

I've hears that Need for Speed Nitro on Wii may support analog. I got the game recently but now I can't find my original classic controller that was clipped to my Pink Wii Remote.

I haven't looked hard though and I was using it like two months ago. It's just not where I thought I would put it.

 

[TheSadRanger]

The select button on every controller. That button doesn't select shit.

Glad it got removed from the DS4. Fuck you, select button.

It just got replaced by pushing in the touch pad tho in many games :/

 

[DownGrader]

The select button on every controller. That button doesn't select shit.

Glad it got removed from the DS4. Fuck you, select button.

Well, it selected menu items in NES era... but yeah, I agree. Kinda understand why Nintendo uses "+" and "-" while referring to these buttons in Wii/Wii U games... START and SELECT names are mostly for Virtual Console.

I've hears that Need for Speed Nitro on Wii may support analog. I got the game recently but now I can't find my original classic controller that was clipped to my Pink Wii Remote.

I haven't looked hard though and I was using it like two months ago. It's just not where I thought I would put it.

I might need to check it out, thanks!

 

[slick7rick]

I never understood why there was an Analog button on the early Playstation controllers.

 

[Matrix XII]

Even though I love the DS4 to bits, I think the "options" button is silly.

I mean, it's used as a "start" button, so why not call it so? It's also recessed in to the point where you have to press your finger fairly hard to actuate it.

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

The "Z" button was pretty weird back in the day, then again, the N64 controller in general was weird.

 

[unholyrevenger72]

I never understood why there was an Analog button on the early Playstation controllers.

So you can play racing games...

 

[oneida]

...which does make sense since they were substituting missing shoulder buttons.

Were they? I always figured the XB controller had heavy SEGA influence. Makes more sense as a C and Z substitution, placement makes sense that way too.

 

[Gunstar Ikari]

Double D-Pads on the Wonderswan

why

 

[Goodacre0081]

odd stuff here. not sure if these are genuine concepts or what.

 

[SatanicNemesis2K]

The alphagrip. I understand it's supposed to be a keyboard and mouse slammed into a controller... But hot damn

 

[BriareosGAF]

Double D-Pads on the Wonderswan



why

Did some games support vertical orientation?

 

[DownGrader]

The "Z" button was pretty weird back in the day, then again, the N64 controller in general was weird.

The Z of N64 controller is functionally just an L button. The Z of GameCube controller looks like... I don't know, like nobody agreed what this button is supposed to do.

 

[Pinky]

The GC controller is ergonomic perfection and feels like butter in my hands. However, I wasn't too fond of the face buttons.

 

[Matrix XII]

The alphagrip. I understand it's supposed to be a keyboard and mouse slammed into a controller... But hot damn

You'd basically need a training course to use that thing properly.

 

[DownGrader]

Were they? I always figured the XB controller had heavy SEGA influence. Makes more sense as a C and Z substitution, placement makes sense that way too.

And C and Z buttons of Genesis controllers functioned like L and R buttons of SNES ones... but were more influenced by arcade machines.

 

[joecanada]

Even though I love the DS4 to bits, I think the "options" button is silly.

I mean, it's used as a "start" button, so why not call it so? It's also recessed in to the point where you have to press your finger fairly hard to actuate it.

it may be used as a start button but then why wasn't start button renamed "pause" button long ago....

the options button on Ps4 literally calls up options screens in the UI ... and most games are press any button to start now even when they say otherwise.

 

[oneida]

And C and Z buttons of Genesis controllers functioned like L and R buttons of SNES ones... but were more influenced by arcade machines.

I'm not sure what you mean by this... In Streets of Rage for example, C is jump. are you saying that would be R on SNES? Or are you only talking about Street Fighter 2.

 

[Brashnir]

I never understood why there was an Analog button on the early Playstation controllers.

Those were actually late Playstation controllers. The early controllers didn't even have analog sticks.

And the reason was that the analog sticks were just kind of grafted on there halfway through the generation, so there were some potential compatibility issues with early games. That's why they put a button on there so you were able to turn them off.

 

[Matrix XII]

it may be used as a start button but then why wasn't start button renamed "pause" button long ago....

the options button on Ps4 literally calls up options screens in the UI ... and most games are press any button to start now even when they say otherwise.

Yes, that is correct. Perhaps they should have put the options button on the left side and replace the share button, then put a start button on the right.

I never use the share button anyways, but I suppose some do.

 

[DownGrader]

The GC controller is ergonomic perfection and feels like butter in my hands. However, I wasn't too fond of the face buttons.

Face buttons are my favorite thing in GameCube controllers! The big one for "yes" or some main action, the small one for "no" or some temporary action, the bean-shaped ones for functions you use from time to time.

I'm not sure what you mean by this... In Streets of Rage for example, C is jump. are you saying that would be R on SNES? Or are you only talking about Street Fighter 2.

Yeah, I was mostly thinking of 6-button fighting games.

 

[Gunstar Ikari]

Did some games support vertical orientation?

From my understanding, some did partially but there weren't many full-vertical games. Like, Rockman & Forte and (IIRC) Klonoa are mostly horizontal games that switch to vertical for a few stages.

 

[akachan ningen]

"Press water to shoot, earth to reload"

 

[CaptainSlow]

Oh god I'm getting bad flashbacks of the black and white buttons on the original Xbox and always hitting the wrong ones.

 

[oneida]

Yeah, I was mostly thinking of 6-button fighting games.

Were there any other than SF2? And Genesis' C button existed before SNES' R button

 

[DownGrader]

"Press water to shoot, earth to reload"

PlayStation symbols actually have meaning, like "square - piece of paper - submenu" or "triangle - point of view"... These? These look like Wingdings symbols.

 

[MrCunningham]

The "Z" button was pretty weird back in the day, then again, the N64 controller in general was weird.

The Z Trigger was my favorite thing about the N64 controller. It was perfect for FPS's on the console.

I always thought the Sony neGcon was a pretty weird design:

 

[tbb033]

I never understood why there was an Analog button on the early Playstation controllers.

On the Dual Shock? So you can play games that aren't compatible with analog mode without getting out another controller.

I've never seen analog buttons on pre-Dual Shock PSX controllers, and I got my PSX well before the Dual Shock era (well, there was the Dual Analog, but that was around for what, a month?).

I know there were things like the NegCon/JogCon for driving, but those aren't a standard controller (and I dont' know if they even had a button for analog mode or not).

 

[oneida]

"Press water to shoot, earth to reload"

I feel like you could make a really good documentary about the Gizmondo. What a fucking wreck that whole company was - too soon to find humor in the irony that it ended in a literal wreck?

 

[HUELEN10]

Double D-Pads on the Wonderswan



why

Rotate it 90 degrees, that's why.

 

[Lijik]

PlayStation symbols actually have meaning, like "square - piece of paper - submenu" or "triangle - point of view"... These? These look like Wingdings symbols.

It looks like they were trying the same "1,2,3,4 lines" idea as the PS icons and then just gave up on the 4th button.

 

[DownGrader]

The Z Trigger was my favorite thing about the N64 controller. It was perfect for FPS's on the console.

I always thought the Sony neGcon was a pretty weird design:

Fix yo' hotlinking ads:

It looks like they were trying the same "1,2,3,4 lines" idea as the PS icons and then just gave up on the 4th button.

Never heard of the line theory... damn.

 

[MrHoot]

The doug button

What does it doooooooo

 

[zewone]

Why is there a number keypad? Was the Jaguar originally a home phone?

 

[oneida]

The doug button

What does it doooooooo

It dougs.

 

[DownGrader]

The doug button

What does it doooooooo

Fuck, this cracked me up way more than it should. "DOUG" button and "FASTER" button... damn.

 

[zewone]

The doug button

What does it doooooooo

Can you Doug faster?

 

[Eila]

The "Z" button was pretty weird back in the day, then again, the N64 controller in general was weird.

It's paired with the analog stick, while L is paired with the D-pad, which was very underused in the console because there were hardly any 2D games.
I never understood why people think the N64 controller is weird. Maybe it's weird now after having experienced the evolutions, but I think it still works very well. Nintendo also did without the Select button first, though they kept it on the portables, I guess because of the lack of buttons.

 

[Mobius 1]

Why is their a number keypad? Was the Jaguar originally a home phone?

Games used to include a plastic overlay for the numpad, they were used as shortcuts. On Doom, you selected your weapons using them.

Like everything else with the Jaguar... it wasn't terribly clever.

 

[DownGrader]

Why is their a number keypad? Was the Jaguar originally a home phone?

They seemed to take the idea of Intellivision, with keypad and plastic overlays over it.

 

[zewone]

Games used to include a plastic overlay for the numpad, they were used as shortcuts. On Doom, you selected your weapons using them.

Like everything else with the Jaguar... it wasn't terribly clever.

I can't imagine playing Street Fighter II on this.

 

[Luigi87]

The doug button

What does it doooooooo

oh god I'm dying, lmao

 

[Pinky]

Face buttons are my favorite thing in GameCube controllers! The big one for "yes" or some main action, the small one for "no" or some temporary action, the bean-shaped ones for functions you use from time to time.

Oh, don't get me wrong. It certainly wasn't a deal breaker for me. They worked pretty well for most of the games I played/owned. I remember seeing the controller for the first time and thinking "How the hell am I supposed to play fighting games with THOSE buttons???" Lol, yeah. I also remember Mega Man Anniversary Collection being a pain to control because of the way the buttons were positioned.

 

[Machinehead]

Even though I love the DS4 to bits, I think the "options" button is silly.

I mean, it's used as a "start" button, so why not call it so? It's also recessed in to the point where you have to press your finger fairly hard to actuate it.

I actually think that an "options" button makes more sense than a "start". The problem here is that most developers still make UI as if they were making arcade games. "Press start" screens that actually require you to press start make absolutely no sense nowadays. It should be "press X" or something, and then Options should be relegated to accessing options in a game, pretty much like the Start button used to.

But yeah, the positioning, force required to press and size aren't very good.

 

[Eila]

They seemed to take the idea of Intellivision, with keypad and plastic overlays over it.

The Atari 5200 also had a keypad.

 

[blame space]

Doug button should be standard on every controller.

 

[oneida]

I actually think that an "options" button makes more sense than a "start" ... Options should be relegated to accessing options in a game, pretty much like the Start button used to.

zuh? if anything it's a pause button.

 

[Menome]

Patti Mayonnaise 4th Base Simulator - "Doug. Doug. Faster. Faster. Doug. FASTER."