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[CollectedDust]

I don't have a photo handy, but my vote would have to be: the POS that comes with the Retron 5.

The Retron 5 controller is ugly, hard to hold, unresponsive, and terribly built. I own / have owned many of the other offenders in this thread, but I think the Retron 5 controller takes the cake.

 

[Crayon]

Playing Way of the Warrior with this controller was beyond frustrating.

Finally. This came packed with 700 dollar console. It's one of the worst.

Dreamcast controller sucked. The slanted dpad, the little hard buttons, the rail-like grips, Overall lack of buttons. Pos.

The jaguar controller was pretty rough. The general shape was bad. The feel of the buttons was bad. The layout of the buttons was bad.

In fact I'm going to blanket shit on all 3-across genesis style button layouts right now. A triangle would have been so nice. But three straight across? Why?

 

[mindsale]

I'll say the Wii U Gamepad. Its awful battery life, weight, button spacing, and frequent subscreen referencing make it a chore to use it for games that don't support Pro Controllers.

 

[Mr. Enigma]

I had actually conned my parents into paying $80 for this piece of shit. I played Mortal Kombat with it for about 15 minutes before realizing it was crap.

 

[-MD-]

The DUKE

Yeah this thing was terrible.

Wii controller is even worse.

 

[Herne]

On my 23 inch 1080p monitor that looks 1:1 scale

Old Penny Arcade was so great.

 

[dearodie]

I could not get used to the speedking:

 

[Duxxy3]

Post 2000 I'd say the Dual shock 3.

Sony was straight up lazy with that design. I'm not a huge fan of the Dual shock 4, but at least Sony tried something new. The Dual shock 3 was a wireless Dual shock 2 with god awful triggers. The ergonomics weren't adjusted at all. Just tossed in some poorly designed triggers (mechanism and shape) and called it a day.

 

[MrBenchmark]

Post 2000 I'd say the Dualshock 3.

Sony was straight up lazy with that design. I'm not a huge fan of the Dualshock 4, but at least Sony tried something new. The Dualshock 3 was a wireless Dualshock 3 with god awful triggers. The ergonomics weren't adjusted at all. Just tossed in some poorly designed triggers (mechanism and shape) and called it a day.

came here to say this and add the DS4 is the most poorly made controller I have ever had. having to use thumbstick covers and keeping a supply of R2 L2 and springs in house is just (pardon me) FUCKING ridiculous!

 

[Kindekuma]

The DUKE

Hmm. Smaller than I remember.

 

[Daingurse]

Worst controller I've ever personally used is the N64 controller. I didn't like that thing at all. Although to be fair, I don't think I ever knew how to actually hold it till like 2 years ago. So god knows how I held it, but the memory of my experience with it persists to this day. The way to hold it wasn't apparent to me it appears, and I actually will hold that against the controller lol. I've never encountered that with another controller, like ever. Everything else I've ever used has been extremely intuitive, but it took me like 10 years to figure out I wasn't holding that damn N64 controller right lol.

 

[Gattsu25]

Thanks for pre-empting my google image search.

I fucking HATED this thing. It was an uncomfortable piece of shit.

 

[Pinky]

Ahh, yes! I was trying to remember the name of this controller earlier. What a piece of shit! Didn't work for crap!

 

[iMax]

Come at me with your FPS of choice.

I don't doubt that you can become an expert. But I'm talking about poor design.

You can become an expert on anything you like but it doesn't mean it's designed for its purpose well.

 

[iMax]

Contrarian much? DualShock controllers are considered industry leaders. It's why they haven't changed the shape or layout for 4 generations while everyone else reinvents the wheel each generation. DS4 is my favorite controller ever.

I like the DualShock 4. The D-Pad is still way too squidgy but it's definitely an improvement over the DualShock 3.

For larger handed people, both are a pain the ass to use.

 

[bman94]

A lot of hate for the Wii U gamepad. I love that thing.

Me personally is any of the PlayStation controllers up until the duel shock 4. The analog sticks were always in awkward positions, the detached d-pad felt awful, the face buttons felt arbitrary and not easy to remember, the controller felt weird to hold, the L1/L2 and R1/R2 buttons never felt natural, I hated that the first two PlayStation controllers s didn't have analog triggers and that the third PlayStation controller had the wrird weird flappy analog trigger that was slippery as hell. I have never owned a PlayStation so that probably speaks to my dislike of the controller but the PS4 controller feels good tho.

 

[Novocaine]

The DS3 is bad but Wii-mote is by far the worst. Ruined a whole system worth of games with it's motion bullshit, and turning it sideways and mimicking a normal pad was just straight up uncomfortable. Wii Sports was good, everything else would have benefited from a proper controller more IMO.

 

[Windforce]

Anything Wii related. Absolutely hated the motion controls (and the U tablet).

 

[ShadowkillXNA]

Pretty much all the DualShocks have their issues. DS1 was flimsy and barely utilized, DS3 is small and had really atrocious triggers, DS4 has poor build quality and shit battery life.

All of them share the biggest issue though: Symmetrical sticks, ensuring they will forever be inferior for any game in first person or with a 3D camera.

It amazes me that people still believe this horseshit. The last two generations I gamed almost exclusively on the original xbox and xbox 360. I played tons of COD online and games like Dead Space, Farcry 3, Red Dead Redemption, Dark Souls, Borderlands.
I considered the xbox 360 gamepad the best of all time.
Until I got a ps4.
I've played Bloodborne, Dark Souls 2, Wolfenstein, Battlefield 4, Battlefront, The Division Beta. You know, games in first person or with a 3d camera.
The ds4 is by far the most comfortable and best controller I've ever used and I am someone who previously considered the 360 gamepad the best ever.
The only place symmetrical vs asymetrical sticks matter is in the head.
Btw I have both PS4 and Xbox One.

 

[Novocaine]

It amazes me that people still believe this horseshit. The last two generations I gamed almost exclusively on the original xbox and xbox 360. I played tons of COD online and games like Dead Space, Farcry 3, Red Dead Redemption, Dark Souls, Borderlands.
I considered the xbox 360 gamepad the best of all time.
Until I got a ps4.
I've played Bloodborne, Dark Souls 2, Wolfenstein, Battlefield 4, Battlefront, The Division Beta. You know, games in first person or with a 3d camera.
The ds4 is by far the most comfortable and best controller I've ever used and I am someone who previously considered the 360 gamepad the best ever.
The only place symmetrical vs asymetrical sticks matter is in the head.

The DS4 is by far more comfortable than those 2 controllers.

But have you tried the Xbox One pad?

 

[ShadowkillXNA]

PS3

Although PS4 controller still isn't quite close to the Xbone, it is incredible how much it has improved over the PS3 one, seriously dire controller.

EDIT: Actually although it was absolute garbage for its time (ps3), the N64 is easily worse.

Correct, the ds4 is miles ahead of the xbox one controller. Most comfortable controller I have ever used, while my hands feel slightly cramped after gaming with the xbox one gamepad after a while.

 

[TheAdmiester]

Only out of the ones I've actually used and not just those that look silly, this piece of shit:

It's so bad it's actually an asymmetrical controller that I hate, and that's usually an automatic plus for me.

 

[ShadowkillXNA]

The DS4 is by far more comfortable than those 2 controllers.

But have you tried the Xbox One pad?

Yep, I have both ps4 and xbox one. Played the Battlefront beta on both and will play The Division open beta on both as well.
PS4 gets the vast majority of my playtime in part because of the controller.

 

[kurisub306]

Besides the side buttons not working, to the springy cord pulling your console off the table and have the console dangle in between player 1 and player 2 in the air like a happy 3 year old being swung by their parents... every move left, right, or forward seemed to trigger a random number generator that would decide which way you would actually move... to the number pad 'overlays' that would end up in the couch you got rid of last year... Everything about this is just wrong. They couldn't even bother with a back side on the controller it is fricken hollow ... The console has a place that looks like you should be able to slide them into for storage, but it is really there just to mess with your mind... the controls pop out of it because of the industrial strength spring loaded cord that would break your lawnmower blade if you ran over it.

I have every system hooked up currently, and nothing incites the rage from within more than an intellivision controller.... at least on the 7800/2600 I could plug in a Sega Genesis game pad..... this is unredeemable on every level.

While I love the disc for movement (playing SNAFU without just doesn't feel the same) those side buttons were pure hell…you had to mash them in hard to get them to register. I remember as a kid ripping my finger up trying to fire fast enough in Space

Spoiler

Invaders

Armada

 

[zoodoo]

I could not get used to the speedking:

Is that a mouse?

 

[Forerunner]

Only out of the ones I've actually used and not just those that look silly, this piece of shit:

It's so bad it's actually an asymmetrical controller that I hate, and that's usually an automatic plus for me.

Only thing I hated about it was the c-stick. Why couldn't it just be a regular analog stick? I hated that yellow nub so much.

 

[Duxxy3]

Yep, I have both ps4 and xbox one. Played the Battlefront beta on both and will play The Division open beta on both as well.
PS4 gets the vast majority of my playtime in part because of the controller.

Complete opposite for me. I play everything on the XB1 now because of the elite controller. I'd rather not use the DS4 unless I'm forced to (for exclusives).

 

[Feichaw]

Well, I absolutely hated the SNES controller back in the day. Playstation controller (I'm not talking about the Dual Shock) was shit too.

Both felt so uncomfortable on my hands that I couldn't play a game for very long. I always got blisters from those things too.

 

[tr00per]

What I never understood is with all these companies selling new controllers for old systems, why they don't use more modern shells? Using the n64 as an example they could add a second stick that you can map to the c buttons or d pad, built in rumble, a trigger shaped z button, etc


And also

Why don't they make special order small and XL official controllers for people with small or large hands & children? I would love to have an XL ds4

Old Penny Arcade was so great.

Pinocchiowater.Gif

 

[thechristoph]

Only out of the ones I've actually used and not just those that look silly, this piece of shit:

It's so bad it's actually an asymmetrical controller that I hate, and that's usually an automatic plus for me.

A lot of people talk yang on the button placement, but think about it like this... You can hit A plus every single button. No other controller lets you hit that many combos. That is why Soul Calibur was the jam on GameCube, not just because it had Link.

 

[Dicer]

Anyone saying wiimote is on drugs....

The split mote/chuck was the comfiest lap controller ever, and as far as "waggle" if you were swinging around like a monkey on crack you were doing it wrong...

Was it ideal for everything, no...but it was pretty damned close.

I'm kinda sad Wii U didn't just come with a wiimote 2.0 refined and maybe a bit more different button layout.

Also, the Jag controller outside of lack of face/shoulder buttons is quite comfy to actually hold, and the dpad is top notch. the Jag pro-controller fixed issues, but a bit too late, should have been the stock pad.

 

[ramparter]

LIST REASONS WHY, NO PICS WITHOUT LABELS, NO ONE WORD ANSWERS, I WISH I COULD BAN THOSE WHO DON'T DO THIS BUT I DON'T HAVE THAT POWER SO <--------- FOLLOW THESE RULES PLEASE

N64, hands down.

What were they even thinking with this abomination.

A) It's ugly as fuck

B) It's awkward to hold

C) TERRIBLE, boring default colors

D) Analog stick wears down way too fast

E) C-buttons were actually a nice idea, but the Gamecube's C-stick was 100x better and an improvement in every way

F) The SNES controller was such perfection that nearly every system uses it as its base even to this day, and THIS was its successor

G) It actually has LESS face buttons than its predecessor, getting rid of X and Y for the C-buttons, which are nowhere near as intuitively placed

H) Mario Party minigames

What do you think was the worst controller? Why?


Good point. If you want to list a third party controller, go ahead, but also list your least favorite official controller.

Worst thread OP

N64 pad was easily the best when it was released.
First to feature a trigger, first to feature stick, 6 face buttons allowed the first 3d games where you control the camera. Nintendo's mistake is that they didnt update the analogue stick.

 

[Lord British]

Never quite understood N64 controller hate. It's unusual but I always found it really responsive and tactile.

 

[Lagamorph]

The worst controller I've ever used is probably the Steam controller. The buttons are too small and the touchpads are awful. Far too much fussing about with having to configure it differently for every game then fine tune it almost constantly.

 

[Fraeon]

One hell of a gaming mouse

 

[Pantaghana]

I don't doubt that you can become an expert. But I'm talking about poor design.

You can become an expert on anything you like but it doesn't mean it's designed for its purpose well.

There must be many RTS, sim and 4X games on consoles, because gamepads are so well designed.

 

[Jumeira]

Easily DS3. Symmetric sticks, cheap material used, tacked on and pointless motion controls and the triggers were awful.

DS4 is a massive improvement but still suffers from feeling cheap and light. Couldn't believe how bad it felt to hold recently when I played rocket league.

 

[biteren]

There must be many RTS, sim and 4X games on consoles, because gamepads are so well designed.

i was pretty good with C&C Red Alert on PS1

by good i mean slightly faster than growing grass

still had fun

 

[Cucurbitacée]

I could not get used to the speedking:

I wanted to post this too. Your left hand had to carry the whole weight of the controller, press the button(s) and resist the input of your right hand. After half an hour my left wrist was always crying in pain.

Unfortunately it was rather popular and all my friends had one. If I wanted to play at their places, I usually took my "good" controller with me.

 

[icecold1983]

wii and wii u. just awful.

 

[Shuggananas]

Contrarian much? DualShock controllers are considered industry leaders. It's why they haven't changed the shape or layout for 4 generations while everyone else reinvents the wheel each generation. DS4 is my favorite controller ever.

Also at TC, N64 controller gets a pass because it gave us the analog stick, and to this day has 2 of the greatest Zen gaming experienced in many gamers eyes in Mario64 and Zelda OOT. For me the worst controller is the Wii remote/nunchuck combo. Terrible motion controller, terrible as a standard controller.

Protip : just because it's popular doesn't mean it's good
Just because they don't change it doesn't mean it's perfect

 

[Lux R7]

Dreamcast.
Also, N64? really? That's like the best controller for shooters ever made.

 

[TriAceJP]

Yeah - N64 had some heinous 3rd party controllers.

Yo man I 100% preferred the Superpad 64 (it's actually a reskinned PC controller iirc).

Thing lasted me throughout the N64 era. Felt solid and the scheme wasn't idiotic like the official controller was. Pretty sure It was the only third party controller I liked over the official offering.

 

[Hektor]

This thread is like the opening of pandoras box. So many awful pads that i've never seen before. How some people thought that some of those are good ideas is boggling my mind.

Anyways, from the ones i used it's definitely the DS3 for me.

What a crock. Felt cheap and i couldn't play more than 3 hours on it without my hands starting to hurt because of how tiny it is.

And the triggers uh, it's like someone thought "We need triggers, others have them!" without understanding what the trigger is for. Awful, awful pad.

 

[ResidentDante]

What's with these old controllers featuring a fucking NUMPAD? Was it for the 2D versions of COD in the 80's?

Press 462 to pay respects.

 

[D.Lo]

This ain't no small minority preference like DUALSHOCK haters dislike of symmetrical sticks(its not their fault them poor unsymmetrical souls )...No no, This controller is actually a piece of shit.
Look at it! How do you press the left shoulder button now in that position?

Are people truly this dense? Or liars who have never owned and played the system for any length of time?

Games are designed around the stick position in the picture and do not require use of the left shoulder button. If a game did require it, it's a bad piece of software design.

Ah, so it seems some N64 controller haters are also people who never use one. "How do you press the left shoulder button" indeed.

Exactly.

 

[akira28]

looks more like a murder weapon than a game controller

 

[Shuggananas]

Games are designed around the stick position in the picture and do not require use of the left shoulder button. If a game did require it, it's a bad piece of software design.

Exactly.

I think a few games used the D-pad instead of the joystick like pokémon stadium ? And in these you'd use L
Also L was used in a few games for secondary actions (case in point in mario kart 64 it was used for the map iirc)

 

[goomba]

Seems most in this thread have not held many controllers in their life.

Alpha grip ag-5

 

[Hektor]

Alpha grip ag-5