mr_sockochris
Member
pretty much this... depends on the game.
This.
Most games were 'right position' with the bottom picture bring good with stuff like KI Gold.
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So just how were you supposed to hold a N64 Controller
- Thread starter StalkerUKCG
- Start date
This.
Most games were 'right position' with the bottom picture bring good with stuff like KI Gold.
Ekans Ring Toss.
Sword Of Doom
Member
Was I the only that read the goddamn manual?
Lol apparently. I never had an N64 but every time I went to my friends house I was so confused with that controller.
lord_of_flood
Member
This looks like it should be the right answer but there's so many things wrong with it too.
In general, the "right" ways to hold it were with the left hand on left or middle (depending on the game) with the right hand on the right. However, you never really got access to everything because of the controller's poor design, which I think was the most unfortunate part about the N64 controller.
thepenguin55
Member
I have a distinct memory of being in Toys R Us shortly before the release of the N64 (and Mario 64 with it) to play one of the many demo units that was hooked up. A man with (presumably) his wife and child approach the demo unit to my left. The man picks up the controller and examines it and then exclaims "Wow, look honey! A finger rest!". He then proceeds to stick his index and middle finger into the memory card slot (or it may have been his middle and ring finger, my memory is a little shakey as to which fingers he put in). He then proceeds to play the demo holding the controller awkwardly. I looked over a few times to see how he was doing and you could just see in his face that he was getting more and more uncomfortable as time went on. It was AMAZING. lol
How? How could anyone play like this? For 99% of time me and everyone I knew held it left hand in the middle. The Z trigger is also there, how could you reach it otherwise?
BRocknRolla
Member
I remember my left hand being on the middle and right hand on the right for most games
This was the standard way to hold it for most games. If you weren't doing it that way, I don't know what was wrong with you.
Different games did however utilize different methods beyond that though.
NOLA_Gaffer
Banned
you could also play Goldeneye with two controllers... dual sticks and dual triggers...
or... get one of these monsters.
I wonder how many people are going to think this is an official product.
Caddyshack
Banned
Uncomfortably.
That was not a controller designed for ease of use.
That was not a controller designed for ease of use.
Dr. Black Jack
Member
This is how I hold it, press Z with my right middle finger. My hands are gigantic so putting my left hand on the middle prong just doesn't work for precision movement/trigger pulls.
Metalingus5150
Member
I wish I could find a scan of the Earthworm Jim 3D manual online. Every N64 game manual had a page about how to hold the controller for that specific game, with the same boring copy/paste text. But EWJ3D had some great things to say. I'll take a pic of the manual when I get home.
DownGrader
Member
Eh... I still don't like Dualshock's "stick the sticks somewhere near the controller" design; one of the reasons I dislike Wii Classic Controllers. Saturn 3D Pad/Dreamcast/Xbox and GameCube layouts are so much better, and Wii U one is best of both worlds.
C.Olimar788
Member
I never understood why this was difficult at all. As has been pointed out, the controller has three ways to hold it based on the game - it makes the controller really nice for a mixture of 2D and 3D games on the same system since you can play both without having to awkwardly reach down for whichever movement input is deemed less important by the controller's design.
Do the same people who have trouble with this have trouble when they have to hold a Wiimote sideways instead of as a pointer?
Do the same people who have trouble with this have trouble when they have to hold a Wiimote sideways instead of as a pointer?
ThatStupidLion
Member
never found a problem with this controller tbh. was always comfortable for whatever game I was playing. iirc I rarely even used the D pad. can't even recall a game that utilized it well or at all.
SoundPulse
Banned
Were there any games that actually used the left position? I can't remember playing any.
This is how I always played N64 games. Didn't realize I was in the minority. Edit: And Z-Trigger was hit by right hand middle finger, didn't seem weird to do it that way.
Vital Tundra
Member
I remember my left hand being on the middle and right hand on the right for most games
This is the default for sure. Most games are played optimally with this.
Weltall Zero
Member
pretty much this... depends on the game.
Did any game use the "left position" above? I always knew it was theorethically possible but I don't think I ever played or even knew of any game that used it.
Wii U is definitely the best controller right now, even if it's entirely iterative over decades of dual shock-likes. The placement of everything feels simply optimal. On the other hand I keep saying that of each Dual Shock iteration, so I guess they'll manage to improve even on that (perhaps making it as confortable to hold as a Gamecube controller).
Blackpuppy
Member
The Turok games used the left position. The standard layout was the same that Halo "revolutionized" years later. So the D-pad was used for moving and the analogue stick was used for aiming.
AndrewDean84xX
Banned
I'm in the process of buying my wifes co-workers N64 collection. They're in need of money, and I made him a very fair offer. But I get not wanting to part with it. I regret parting with mine. Still mad at myself.
SystemUser
Member
There was at least one game that I thought felt played better like this, but I can't remember what it was. I think it was a racing game though. I liked having access to Z and L at the same time.
pretty much this... depends on the game.
These three positions are what I used most of the time. By far the lion's share of N64 games were intended to be played with the left hand on the analog stick (middle handle) and the right hand pressing the buttons.
Peterthumpa
Member
Dead Prince
Banned
this. is the only way i held it growing up.
Peterthumpa
Member
Wasn't holding it like that a pain in the ass to press the Z button? I wonder how painful playing OoT for long stretches would be.
Salty Hippo
Member
This will always boggle my mind. Not once did it ever occur to me to hold it like that. The correct way is beyond obvious. There aren't even any games that require you to use both L and Z. You use L if it's a d-pad based game, Z if it's every other game.
akidnamededdy
Banned
The fuck is this debauchery
Oh man, this pic. I thought my cousin was wierd doing this. I see she has companions.
You poor confused sod.
Mental Atrophy
Banned
I'm feeling really inadequate right now, because I don't think I can do that.
AndrewDean84xX
Banned
Yet, it felt so right in my childish hands.
protomouse
Member
It's three controllers in one.
Left hand on D-Pad, right hand on analog: I can't think of any use for this grip.
Left hand on D-Pad, right hand on face buttons: Fighters, some 2D games
Left hand on analog, right hand on face buttons: Shooters and most other 3D games
Left hand on D-Pad, right hand on analog: I can't think of any use for this grip.
Left hand on D-Pad, right hand on face buttons: Fighters, some 2D games
Left hand on analog, right hand on face buttons: Shooters and most other 3D games
greycolumbus
The success of others absolutely infuriates me.
I only ever did home position. Mario 64 was a bitch for six year old me.
poodaddy
Member
I wish I had an N64 to take a picture, but I held the middle part with my right hand and I kept my left hand overhand on the right side of the controller kind of above it. It looked weird as fuck and people were always asking me wtf I was doing, but my Smash game was crazy with that grip.
Morning Star
Member
VOMIT
stan423321
Member
So Seth Killian or something more complicated? I don't see how you presed R though.
plentyofmilhouse
Member
Fun fact, the first time I saw an N64 demo booth both my dad and I couldn't quite work out how to use the controller to play Star Fox 64.
Later, when asking him to play Mario Kart when we finally owned a system and I'd solved the N64's three pronged mysteries, he just couldn't deal with the damn thing. It was like an absolutely alien concept to him to just hold the controller in a certain way for different games and not have access to all the buttons at all times, even when they weren't needed.
Looking at the controller again now and having played a few N64 games recently, it's an amazingly iconic and versatile design. It's also so very weird.
With their super weird N64 and (better but still sorta weird) GameCube controller, it's no wonder Nintendo ended prioritising touch and waggle afterwards.
Later, when asking him to play Mario Kart when we finally owned a system and I'd solved the N64's three pronged mysteries, he just couldn't deal with the damn thing. It was like an absolutely alien concept to him to just hold the controller in a certain way for different games and not have access to all the buttons at all times, even when they weren't needed.
Looking at the controller again now and having played a few N64 games recently, it's an amazingly iconic and versatile design. It's also so very weird.
With their super weird N64 and (better but still sorta weird) GameCube controller, it's no wonder Nintendo ended prioritising touch and waggle afterwards.