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Top 5 Worst Old School Controllers in Gaming History

Top 5 Worst Old School Controllers in Gaming History

I had a brief moment of video game clarity the other night while taking on my little cousin in Mortal Kombat X on the Xbox One. In between my younger likeness absolutely dirt napping me with impressive combinations and equally impressive finishing moves, I couldn’t help but marvel at the design of the Xbox One controller. Yes, I definitely am a huge fan of the PS4 DualShock 4, especially since Sony made some great changes to the most recent version, but the Xbox One controller really blew me away. This brief experience had me reminiscing about the terrible game pad experiences I’ve had in the past. Thus, comes the top five worst controllers in gaming history- enjoy!

The Xbox Fatty, aka Duke

The Xbox Fatty, aka Duke

The original Xbox controller, code named “Duke”, was without a doubt one of the worst gaming pads to ever hit the market when it debuted in the fall of 2001. Its enormous design, and the equally enormous Xbox logo stretched across the middle, made it difficult for most gamers to handle. I can remember feeling overwhelmed by the sheer size of the controller and its awkwardly positioned buttons. Thankfully, Microsoft responded to growing number of complaints and released the much-improved “Controller S” the following year.

Turbo Touch 360 for Sega Genesis

Turbo Touch 360 for Sega Genesis

This one was just awful! The folks over at Triax thought it would be a good idea to replace this perfectly functional D-pad with an overly sensitive touch-pad that really had a mind of its own. To complement its terrible replacement choice, the actually design of the controller was an uncomfortable one to say the least. Hey, at least their awful pad had an equally awful commercial, overly pushy sales guy and all!

Sega Dreamcast Controller

Sega Dreamcast Controller

This one is still mind boggling for me, even years after spending so much time with the system. Yes, the Sega Dreamcast was a great console and provided a lot great memories, especially with Crazy Taxi and all of its psychotic goodness. However, the design of the controller was anything but a pleasant experience. For starters, the thing made your hand cramp up after a few minutes of gameplay, probably because it wasn’t designed to fit in a human’s hand. Secondly, the connector cable came out of the bottom of the controller and forced players to bend and twist it around in order for it to be plugged in properly. Not only did players have to fumble with this terrible design, but also Sega didn’t provide the extra six inches of cord needed to compensate for the bending of the cord, which forced players to be that much closer to the TV – nice one, guys.

Super Pad 64

Super Pad 64

The Super Pad 64 was synonymous for being just plain terrible – the design was awkward, the thumb stick never worked properly, and handling it felt like trying to hold water in the palm of your hand. It seems like the stupid thing would always pop up while gaming with a group of guys and gals at a friend’s house. Of course, no one ever had four official Nintendo 64 controllers, unless you were the rich kid down the block, which meant someone always got stuck with that failed prototype of cheap plastic. I can remember drawing last nearly every time and being stuck with that hunk of terribleness.

Wii Motion Controller (New School Dishonorable Mention)

Wii Motion Controller (New School Dishonorable Mention)

OK, Nintendo fans, hear me out before you blow up the comments section and thrash me into oblivion. I was way excited when the Nintendo Wii finally launched during the winter of 2006 – the South Park Wii episode was pretty close to how I was feeling in regards to the gaming system at the time. I had scored a pretty sweet come-up from my manager at the local electronics retailer – he was nice enough to hold one aside until the end of my shift so that I could purchase it off the clock. Anyway, I sped home in the freezing cold to unpack my newest companion. After about 30 minutes of swinging that stupid stick around, I was toast. Don’t get me wrong, the system was awesome, but video games have always been a relaxing getaway for me, and this was anything but a recline. After nearly two weeks of running through Wii Sports and a few other games, I sold the entire thing on eBay and never looked back. The concept was great, but only as a leisurely activity and most certainly not at the suggested retail price.

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