Your Favourite Game Pad (or other controllers)

[Benny]

This was something that's come up in the Mario Odyssey thread but thought it deserved a thread. What's your favorite game pad? For comfort, ease of use or button action.

 

You can list other favorite controllers as well, but I'm most interested in the humble pad.

 

I think for me so far I've never gotten over the chunkyness of the original Xbox fat controller for playing Halo. The face buttons were shit and mushy, mind... And the D-pad was terrible... But the lovely firm and clicky sticks! And finally a controller that fit my huge hands

 

 

 

Modern gaming day to day use though, I like the Dual Shock 4, elegant design, no longer terrible analog sticks that are loose and become gooey after a short time, and excellent buttons:

 

 

 

[Jamie John]

It's probably an unoriginal choice, but the 360 pad was always the best for me. The concave sticks, clickiness of the bumpers and heft of it made it supremely comfortable for hours and hours of play.

 

 

In at a close second is the Wii U Pro controller, which is basically a 360 pad anyway, apart from the placement of the right stick. Looks very smart though.

 

[disperse and recoagulate]

Not sure about favourite but the least comfortable after a few hours is definitely the Megadrive.

 

I’d probably say the original PlayStation was probably the most comfortable, because I had small hands when I was eleven years old.

 

Actually my favourite is probably either the PlayStation 2 pad or the little Mad Catz one I had for the original X-Box - both purely because of the amount of time spent using them. An insane amount of time overall, thinking about it. The MadCatz analogue sticks went brown from so much use. 

 

 

(mine was green)

 

[Benny]

Oh I almost forgot the Gamecube pad: very underrated that one. Silly C stick, but the dual action triggers with the extra click were novel. And brilliant A button.

 

 

 

Remember to post pictures!

[Jamie John]

Just now, Benny said:

Oh I almost forgot the Gamecube pad: very underrated that one. Silly C stick, but the dual action triggers with the extras click were novel. And brilliant A button.

 

Dpad was shite though.

[Stanley]

It's needs a vote thing!

[dataDave]

Any one of Nintendo's controllers, excluding the NES and Virtual Boy. I like to say the Wii Classic Controller is my all-round favourite.

https://images.imgbox.com/78/89/xc5xApSC_o.jpg

 

 

[R0b]

Don't you find the Pro version a bit better?

[Mr Do 71]

 

[Sureshot]

Analogue - 360 controller.

Digital - Japanese Saturn pads.

[Yuujiin]

I do like the pro controller for switch . Fits nice for my paws and the battery lasts ages.

[Benny]

I could set up a poll, but how many controllers were there over the years? There's dozens.

[Loik V credern]

The Gamecube pad is the only controller that really contributed to the enjoyment I had with some games that were perfect for it. Resident Evil 4, Wind Waker, Mario Sunshine, Metroid Prime, Soul Calibur 2, F Zero GX, Smash Bros Melee.

[Paulando]

13 minutes ago, Benny said:

Oh I almost forgot the Gamecube pad: very underrated that one. Silly C stick, but the dual action triggers with the extra click were novel. And brilliant A button.

 

 

 

Remember to post pictures!

 

This one brings me so much joy whenever I hold it. I remember the day it was announced and pictures for it appeared online, I couldn’t wait to have a go. The d-pad is fiddly and the button placement and shapes are unconventional, but I really like them. The grips feel so comfortable to hold, and you’ve got to love those bright colours.

[Shimmyhill]

1) Switch pro

2) DualShock 4

3) 360 pad

4) GameCube pad, particularly wave bird

4) Wii remote + nunchck

5) Phat Xbox pad but only with Halo

 

Worst pad of all time are any variant of PS3 pad.

[Vin]

 

It just felt incredible.

[Qazimod]

It would have to be the 360 controller. I haven't used a Bone so I can't compare that, and the DS4 would lose out due to the stick rubber.

[Paulando]

Just now, Vin said:

Worst pad of all time are any variant of PS3 pad.

 

So this. Just awful, and so outdated. Everything about the PS3 was awful - from the terrible handling of downloads and installs, to the shitty online service. I don’t think the controller charged when the console was off either? And it wouldn’t charge from a phone plug. Horrible.

[Down by Law]

 

The matte effect feels so nice in the hand, much nicer than any of the solid DS4 colours. It reminds me of the feel of the Reach 360 controller which was similarly lovely to hold. Which is a close second!

 

This was and still is my preferred method for playing anything retro / 2D:

 

 

Also not a pad but...

 

 

So comfortable to hold, that stick felt so good to use, better than any D-Pad I've ever come across. 

[Super Craig]

 

The pointer should be a standard feature by now. A shame that the JoyCon doesn't include it.

[Vorgot]

The Gamecube Wavebird for me, brilliant controller.

 

I've been dealing with the PS3 DualShock for a a few years now looking forward to getting a PS4 in 2 weeks. I'm used to it, but it is just doesn't connect you to the games the same way Nintendo and MS (360 onwards) controllers do. Sounds a weird thing to say, but the PS3 controller makes you aware you are holding it. The 360, GC, N64, Wii controllers all felt natural. And I've only heard good things about the DualShock 4, so looking forward to that.

 

Not counting the SNES ones and before as they were not as engineered much as they are now , but I loved the SNES pad. Don't have a mini so can't say how it feels now, but I don't think it would touch the later controllers,

[Revival]

Still has the best dpad ever made.

 

 

Best modern all-rounder thanks to the analogue stick position and triggers that feel nice and responsive.

 

[Lyrical Donut]

Per generation:

 

 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 

 

Nintendo wins

 

 

[Paulando]

3 minutes ago, Down by Law said:

 

 

The matt effect feels so nice in the hand,

 

3 minutes ago, Down by Law said:

 

Also not a pad but...

 

 

So comfortable to hold, that stick felt so good to use, better than any D-Pad I've ever come across. 

 

CLICK CLICK CLICK-CLICK

 

CLICK

 

CLICK-CLICK

[Benny]

Okay I'll try to add a poll, let me know if I need to add any or miss any you want to vote for...

[Camel]

 

 

[Benny]

Pfft casual stick that. This is the one:

 

 

 

 

Bonus bullshit:

 

[spanky debrest]

50 minutes ago, Jamie John said:

 

Dpad was shite though.

 

GC D-Pad was fine - it was the same one found on the GBA - it was the placement that was an afterthought and made it really crappy in real world use. It's the main reason why I prefer legit handheld GBA playing over using the GBA Player.

 

My all time favourites are the Saturn Mk2 pad (the zenith for all digital pads IMO) and the standard SNES one (US model with the concave X & Y buttons). I wouldn't have said the SNES one a few weeks ago but thanks in part to SNES fever recently and realising how versatile it is with so many other systems it has to be there.  

[Camel]

God no, the Speed King was dire.  My favourite 8-bit stick was probably The Arcade, but I still love the Atari stick.

[Benny]

1 minute ago, Camel said:

God no, the Speed King was dire.  My favourite 8-bit stick was probably The Arcade, but I still love the Atari stick.

 

I might be confusing it with a different one I had. It was held in the same way but had buttons on the front for your first two fingers? Blueish maybe? You held it like a wine glass.