Your Favourite Game Pad (or other controllers)

[Escape]

16 minutes ago, DukeOfEarlsfield said:

It’s bloody criminal that it [neGcon] wasn’t a huge success.

 

It still has a loyal following in the WipEout community (alongside a lot of us d-padders), with some even modifying them to work with PS3s for WipEout HD.

[Shimmyhill]

I wish the Elite pad didn’t kill my hands, I wanted to love it but had to sell it on as it was so uncomfortable for me but build quality and adjustability of sticks and triggers was amazing.

[Benny]

10 minutes ago, SimonC said:

The poll doesn't include the Xbox elite controller but does include the switch joycons? :confused:

 

It wouldn't let me add any more questions unfortunately. I'll put an "other" section.

[Spartan]

Not my favourite but it feels damn nice, even if it makes no sense, just like the machine

[Escape]

I expected to love the U Pro, because I've always liked the idea of prioritising the position of the analogues, and I don't like them offset. But then I bought a U for Breath of the Wild and my brain couldn't get the hang of the GamePad's buttons being below. I spent a lot of hours with Uncharted 2's multiplayer, where it was vital to find the buttons quickly, and flicking my thumb up-right feels a lot more natural than down-left. It's the orientation, not the distance.

[Boozy The Clown]

4 minutes ago, Shimmyhill said:

I wish the Elite pad didn’t kill my hands, I wanted to love it but had to sell it on as it was so uncomfortable for me but build quality and adjustability of sticks and triggers was amazing.

 

[Escape]

I'm a bit stronger than average, but I'm another who preferred the weight of the Sixaxis to the DS3.

 

One thing that interested me about the Six is that mine had a slightly faster turnspeed in Uncharted 2, and I can't think of a logical reason for it (unless it had Hall sensors, maybe). When you quickly push the right analogue all the way left or right, the game recognises that you're on +/- 127 and accelerates to its maximum turnspeed at a preset compensated rate. In visual terms it takes about a quarter of a turn, but this was slightly reduced with my Sixaxis. All other DS3s were the same.

 

So I'm a bit partial to it for the tiny advantage it offered. (Game sensitivity was always on the maximum 10, so my only guess is that Naughty Dog used the DS3 as their test controller and something slipped through in their coding. After all, the PS3 was compatible with more third-party controllers than any other machine since the 9-pin days.)

[Benny]

Poor Megadrive controller... No votes yet.

 

I mean come on, it at least had chunky buttons.

[Camel]

The 6-button MD pad was considerably better than the 3-button version.  Maybe you need both in there?

[Benny]

Probably a bit late but I've edited it to say 3 or 6 button. (Can't add another option to poll.)

[Benny]

I forgot about this badboy:

 

[Shimmyhill]

And you missed the Jaguar pad let alone the 3DO  

[Benny]

Done.

[elmo]

It would have been the DS4 but I picked up a switch pro controller this weekend and my word. I wish I could use it to play everything.

[Captain Kelsten]

I like both the PS4 pad and the Xbox one pad. Both reassuringly chunky. I liked the 360 pad and never had a problem with the PS3 pad. 

 

I hated the Wii nunchuck remote thing. 

[Gotters]

I know people love them but I’ve always hated the PS pads, all iterations right up to the PS4.

 

Triggers are rubbish and the analogue sticks are too.

 

The d-pad is nice though.

 

Switch pro controller all the way for me, melts into my hands and seems to have some infinite energy drive powering it.

[Nick R]

Favourite game-specific/novelty controller? The Guitar Hero 2 Xplorer is still my Rock Band/Guitar Hero controller of choice. Maybe other guitar controllers are more accurate for high-level play (I don't know if my missed notes are due to my mistakes or phantom double-strums from the controller), but IIRC it has the widest range of compatibility of all the guitar controllers. 

 

 

 

(Hmm not sure why images aren't embedding: "The link could not be embedded because of an unexpected error: Internal Server Error: "The table 'core_cache' is full".")

[Illyria]

Aw man I voted before all these new options showed up.

 

I don't have a lot of experience with controllers so it's not like I can compare, but I have the Elite Pad and I love it.

[CovisGod]

It’s probably been mentioned but in recent years I loved this controller with my Raspberry Pi

 

 

[Broken Thumbs]

Growing up with the Commodore Amiga, I was very attached to the Zipstick:

 

 

I take this over the stiff, hand-ache inducing Competition Pro any day. To this day, I find it impossible to play Sensible Soccer any other way. Could use it on a Megadrive, too (only one button, mind). 

 

On my old PC, I used to play the original 2D Grand Theft Auto, and used this little beauty: Saitek Megapad

 

 

The d-pad had a lovely clickly action, just felt high quality for a 3rd party. 

 

As for more modern machines, although really its a 360 pad that I've used the most (and still use on PC), this comes a close second:

 

 

My first wireless controller. Sure, it didn't have rumble, but man it felt good having no wire. 

[HoiOimMarkBrown]

The Saitek! Now that takes me way back - had totally forgotten about it until I saw it.

[womblingfree]

It’s forcing me to vote in the last two categories, despite the fact I never used any of those controllers apart from keyboard/mouse. That’ll make the results of those sections pretty suspect if it’s more than a few of us. 

[matt0]

It was always considered "entry level" but I love my old Ex2.

 

 

[smac]

Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback Pro 2... Came in a box a big as my head.

 

 

Yes, I believe that's a figure-of-eight power lead connector at the bottom, there. A joystick with its own mains power supply...

[DarhkFox]

7 minutes ago, smac said:

Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback Pro 2... Came in a box a big as my head.

 

 

Yes, I believe that's a figure-of-eight power lead connector at the bottom, there. A joystick with its own mains power supply...

 

The force is strong with this one.

[smac]

Especially playing Crimson Skies on the PC - a perfect match of game and controller.

 

But yeah. Those joysticks and swans. Renowned for breaking arms.

[Benny]

Looks like Xbox 360 and GameCube pads are the joint winners!

 

And the Xbox Elite pad is the favourite for those with more money than sense.

[Shimmyhill]

On 23/10/2017 at 15:05, smac said:

Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback Pro 2... Came in a box a big as my head.

 

 

Yes, I believe that's a figure-of-eight power lead connector at the bottom, there. A joystick with its own mains power supply...

 

Thats brought back some meteorites, I had that and the Sidewinder FF wheel plus a decide for switching audio between headset and speakers, quite the MS fanboy for their hardware I was!

[Benny]

13 minutes ago, Shimmyhill said:

 

Thats brought back some meteorites

 

And I thought interest in the thread had cratered.

[Superunknown]

The revised Xbox One controller with the improved bumpers and textured grips is my favourite, as is the Elite controller.

 

Unfortunately I can't stand the DS4. I like the tension of the sticks and the face buttons but the thing itself is just too small for me - it gives me cramp. My kids like the DS4 though and I've recently noticed that they've started to wear the labels away on the back from where their fingers rest - something I've seen people complain about the in PS4 thread but which didn't happen from my use of it over the years since launch. It just goes to show what a difference the shape and size each persons hands make to the grip used and therefore the comfort of a particular design.