I had a later edition of this sidewinder which did have a USB connector.
Before that I had a Gravis with a two sided connector like you described. Control stick bloody broke on it (only controller I've ever had that broke). What a swizz.
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Worst controller thread
- Thread starter SolVanderlyn
- Start date
I had a later edition of this sidewinder which did have a USB connector.
Before that I had a Gravis with a two sided connector like you described. Control stick bloody broke on it (only controller I've ever had that broke). What a swizz.
Microsoft SideWinder
The whole thing looks like and feels like an indistinct mass of cheap plastic.
I loved that controller, was incredibly sad when Microsoft stopped producing game pads as the Sidewinder series was pretty good at the time.
Still got it and one of these somewhere :
I've always hated the dual shock. The DS4 is garbage too:
Useless touch pad.
Shit battery.
Shit build quality.
Shit option and share button.
Useless lightbar.
But hey, the masses want the same shit over and over so that's what we get.
I also agree with this. Keyboards just aren't ergonomic/comfortable. Using cursor keys instead of a d-pad to play 2D games? What the hell is wrong with you?
I really liked it too, I don't think it felt cheap at all, it was very sturdy and comfortable. I'm not sure if the d-pad would be suitable for fighting games, but it was ideal for FFVII and Grim Fandango.
manzoman96
Member
N64 controller is a mess. Never was a fan of it, though great games and memories make me look positively on it.
Every time I use an Xbox 360 controller my hand cramps. N64 never did that to me. 360 wins for me.
Every time I use an Xbox 360 controller my hand cramps. N64 never did that to me. 360 wins for me.
yanipheonu
Member
For recent gens? That WiiU Gamepad has turned out to be pretty awful. Even from a guy who otherwise loves that console.
I still don't get what they were going for, or what they thought was going to happen with that thing.
Thanks god we've gotten some good games out of it I guess.
I still don't get what they were going for, or what they thought was going to happen with that thing.
Thanks god we've gotten some good games out of it I guess.
Can you please post a picture of this?
As for the thread topic, my personal vote goes to the ColecoVision controller. You needed basically all of your strength to get any of those buttons to register. You could get severe callouses just by playing Smurf.
Lister
Banned
Using two analog sticks instead of a mouse to play fps games? What the hell is wrong with you?
NOLA_Gaffer
Banned
Aw, I though the Nintendo 64 controller was really comfortable. 
For me it has to be the original three Dualshock models. The analog sticks that low and close together always felt awkward.
For me it has to be the original three Dualshock models. The analog sticks that low and close together always felt awkward.
scrubpatrol
Member
Jesus Christ I'm fucking choking.
Soapbox Killer
Grand Nagus
The Intellivision controller scarred me for life. So awkward to hold and unresponsive in every way from the shit-tier circular touch-pad to the useless side buttons. It doesn't help that the games are dated as all hell. God, I hate the Intellivision.
Just look at this poor bastard trying to play with this thing:
The "Tv on top of the old Tv" is such a old school thing.
thechristoph
Sir!
Microsoft SideWinder
The whole thing looks like and feels like an indistinct mass of cheap plastic.
There were several different sidewinders. This one was great:
This one is a flaming pile:
EscapeArtist
Banned
It HAS to be the Sega Activator, thing was absolutely awful. I remember asking for one for my birthday when I was a kid, terrible mistake.
Lactose_Intolerant
Member
Glad someone posted this. Though I had the colorful version.
I'm surprised no one mentioned this piece of flimsy shit:
Can't even remember how many of these broke. They're as strong as biscuits.
My Grandpa fixed electronics and I remember always bringing him our broken controllers to fix.
Lunarwhale
Member
Just going solely off first party controllers and experience. Haven't had as much with third party peripherals.
Wii U's tablet needs a mention for how the battery life requires it to be plugged in for charging so often, and how said charger has a brick on it, making it a pain to use. Some awful implementation with it as well - setting up controller slots on VC games when using both a gamepad and Wii U Pro Controller is (or at least was, maybe it improved) a headache.
I love the Steam Controller, but it deserves a mention for worst treatment of a controller at least. I swear its functionality gets shittier with every update Valve pushes out. Out of the box back in early December I had no issues with it, then they moved over to a new way to store profiles and you have to fight with the client every time you want to make a little change. It's completely unoptimized to tinkering around with now because of how often it reverts a chance unless you go through the process of saving every iteration of your configuration.
Wii U's tablet needs a mention for how the battery life requires it to be plugged in for charging so often, and how said charger has a brick on it, making it a pain to use. Some awful implementation with it as well - setting up controller slots on VC games when using both a gamepad and Wii U Pro Controller is (or at least was, maybe it improved) a headache.
I love the Steam Controller, but it deserves a mention for worst treatment of a controller at least. I swear its functionality gets shittier with every update Valve pushes out. Out of the box back in early December I had no issues with it, then they moved over to a new way to store profiles and you have to fight with the client every time you want to make a little change. It's completely unoptimized to tinkering around with now because of how often it reverts a chance unless you go through the process of saving every iteration of your configuration.
Ecto311
Member
Glad someone posted this. Though I had the colorful version.
My Grandpa fixed electronics and I remember always bringing him our broken controllers to fix.
I came to post the same thing. Goddamn this thing sucked as a kid. I got it with a commander Keen setup and man that little stick that screwed into the center of the D pad (if you consider it one of those) was JUNK. It tricked me by the box but the fuckin plug was a printer style and you needed specific drivers plus plug - unplug would make the average PC go ape shit because it couldn't handle a 65pin plug being removed. The shape did no favors either.
Mihos
Gold Member
A slightly older pic
Bottom right is the offending POS, look at them...... mocking us all as they sit there not fitting in their holder. You have any ideas how many frogs died because of those pieces of shit?
Sword Of Doom
Member
For me it's not about control. It's more a comfort issue. I've played with KB/M since the early 90's and I still don't find it comfortable.
You wanna squab? Because I'll fight you right now for this.
its like a Salvador Dali painting
But the PS3 pad was pretty gross, everything I disliked about DS2 plus some near useless triggers.
Dreamcast stands out in my mind as pretty bad too, the dpad hurt my thumb during long sessions of virtua tennis and crazy taxi and my fingers would get pinched between the fading and triggers
But the PS3 pad was pretty gross, everything I disliked about DS2 plus some near useless triggers.
Dreamcast stands out in my mind as pretty bad too, the dpad hurt my thumb during long sessions of virtua tennis and crazy taxi and my fingers would get pinched between the fading and triggers
LupusWarrior
Neo Member
Ps1 - Ps4 . No love for people with big hands. Too skinny . Shit stick placement.
Cizeta-Moroder
Banned
When it comes to tactility and accuracy, arrowkeys/wasd are actually the best possible "d-pad".
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.
Quite possibly the most uncomfortable controller in the modern era. Far too small and input is nowhere near precise enough as it should be.
Bonus points go to this:
The ergonomics really aren't great here.
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.
This right here. I would add the weird 3D effect to the list as well.
SlickShoesRUCrazy
Member
Sony's game pads.
Just have never enjoyed how they felt in my ha do.
Just have never enjoyed how they felt in my ha do.
smokeandmirrors
Banned
who in the actual fuck thought the triggers on the DS3 were okay? seriously the most halfhassed controller of the modern era
AdmiralSnackbar
Member
neurosyphilis
Definitely not an STD, as I'm a pure.
Lol wtf ?
neurosyphilis
Definitely not an STD, as I'm a pure.
How is the stick placement shit ? Or that's just your opinion? Personally I prefer the PS way. The Dukashock layout has been that way since before I was even alive, doubt it'll ever change because I minority doesn't like it.
dragonzdogma
Member
It worked really good with resident evil 4,unless you had a jacked up analog or something.
Why is this flimsy piece of crap cost $50?
I agree
Fuck those triggers
Fuck the shit quality in my hands
papertoonz
Member
i hate cause when i use it my hands touch each other
no controller should have it where you hand touch one another
Not even kidding. A mouse is great, but keyboards have no business controlling a game. How we still don't have a legit replacement is baffling.
RiggityRice
Member
It HAS to be the Sega Activator, thing was absolutely awful. I remember asking for one for my birthday when I was a kid, terrible mistake.
DUDE! I made the same mistake. I wanted one for my bday as a kid and luckily my parents thought it was too expensive and instead bought me WWF Wrestlemania the Arcade game for Genesis. I lucked out..
What would you replace it with? The mouse is all you need for changing direction, there's no need for an analogue stick or anything. The keyboard offers you a wealth of control opportunities that no controller could match.
EatinOlives
Member
Still got it and one of these somewhere :
I had this one and I hated it. The d-pad was tilted to the side so to press left or right, you had to actually press right-and-slightly-up, or left-and-slightly-down. There were also no start or select buttons, plus it was just uncomfortable to hold.
I hated it. I got a Logitech PC controller later which I liked a lot better but still was annoying due to a square bounding box around the joysticks instead of a circular one. After that one I just got a regular 360 controller and it was like heaven.
I love using mice, even when games say "please use a controller for best experience". Mouselook and above all mouse aiming is just so good. Despite growing up with consoles I adjusted to a mouse super fast and now I can't play aiming-heavy games without one.
Keyboard, eh, I could take or leave. I do really like the sheer amount of buttons to work with, but WASD for movement is so primitive at this day and age when everything has a 360-degree movement. I've always wanted to try one of those one-hand keyboards with a joystick on them but they always looked gimmicky.
I was really looking forward to the Steam controller because it seemed to be trying to capture the precision of mouse-like functionality with the ergonomics of a controller, but after the first week or so after its official launch it seems the hype has died down and the consensus has been a lot more tepid than I wanted it. The jankiness of having to choose between mouselook and button prompts really put me off (even if it's not Valve's fault exactly).
ss_lemonade
Member
We had the Turbo Touch 360 for the Genesis and boy was it terrible
I have huge nostalgia for the Sidewinder gamepads, I can't see them as anything but cool (albeit limited and dated) controllers.
However, this one hands down was the worst:
No sort of feedback from the touch D-pad made games entirely unplayable. Too bad, because I liked how the actual buttons felt.
Not even close.
A) It looks like a Ferrari mixed with an X-Wing. It looked great.
B) It's very comfortable to hold (more so than the other controllers of that era), unless you did something crazy like trying to use all three sides at once somehow.
C) The controller (and the console) came in a billion different colors.
D) Yeah, it was a design mistake but later generations of console controllers learned to shift it's weight from top to bottom.
E) It better be, the Gamecube controller came out five years later.
F) The N64 controller uses the SNES controller has a base, except it added a middle part and added two more face buttons via the C-buttons.
G) The C buttons could be used as a camera, but most games used it as face buttons. Not sure what you mean about placement; they are right next to the A and B buttons where your thumb would go. It's not like they are the Dual Shock analog sticks where you had to move your thumb all the way down to the bottom of the controller to be able to use them.
H) The Mario Party minigame will break your hand no matter which controller you use.
However, this one hands down was the worst:
No sort of feedback from the touch D-pad made games entirely unplayable. Too bad, because I liked how the actual buttons felt.
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.
Not even close.
A) It looks like a Ferrari mixed with an X-Wing. It looked great.
B) It's very comfortable to hold (more so than the other controllers of that era), unless you did something crazy like trying to use all three sides at once somehow.
C) The controller (and the console) came in a billion different colors.
D) Yeah, it was a design mistake but later generations of console controllers learned to shift it's weight from top to bottom.
E) It better be, the Gamecube controller came out five years later.
F) The N64 controller uses the SNES controller has a base, except it added a middle part and added two more face buttons via the C-buttons.
G) The C buttons could be used as a camera, but most games used it as face buttons. Not sure what you mean about placement; they are right next to the A and B buttons where your thumb would go. It's not like they are the Dual Shock analog sticks where you had to move your thumb all the way down to the bottom of the controller to be able to use them.
H) The Mario Party minigame will break your hand no matter which controller you use.
FunkyDealer
Banned
I've always found the N64 controller to be very comfortable... I really like it, despite the stupid third handle. It has good cable length, an exciting slot of opportunities and an analogue stick! I wouldn't say it's among the very worst controllers. It's not the controllers fault you apes can't treat your sticks with a gentle hand. 
Now the OUYA controller, that's a crappy one. It's got poor connection quality with the console, weird sticks, it feels cheap and you gotta remove the front-plates to change batteries. It does have a redeeming feature though, the low price. Which does make up for some of it.
The Xbox Duke has the worst facebuttons ever, round and pointy, they're awful for long sessions. The controller is also far too large and heavy.
Now the OUYA controller, that's a crappy one. It's got poor connection quality with the console, weird sticks, it feels cheap and you gotta remove the front-plates to change batteries. It does have a redeeming feature though, the low price. Which does make up for some of it.
The Xbox Duke has the worst facebuttons ever, round and pointy, they're awful for long sessions. The controller is also far too large and heavy.
FunkyDealer
Banned
My hand always gets freezing cold when using a mouse for prolonged periods. I'm not a big fan of using it for gaming unless it's an RTS or City Builder sort of thing.
Bearpowers
Neo Member
The DUKE
On my 23 inch 1080p monitor that looks 1:1 scale