The best video game controllers are the ones you do n’t even think about . They let you fully plunge yourself in the game and let you leave you ’re even hold them . Thebest controllerstoday all follow a mostly standard invention , but in the earlyconsole generations , each system claim a completely unique approaching . In fact , many consoles would experiment with multiple types of controllers of various frame , sizes , and stimulus methods . Most of them were unfit , and there were a few that were even awful . No matter how amazing the game was to act or howgreat the graphicswere , a bad controller would completely tank the experience . search back from the daytime of theNESup to thePS5 , we ’ve recalled the very worst telecasting biz controllers of all fourth dimension .
Dreamcast controller
We ’re bug out off with a tame one here before working our way of life up . The Dreamcast controller look fairly standard for the time — it has an analog stick , D - domiciliation , triggers , and four face buttons . The problem with it is everything else . This thing is somehow bulkier and less well-situated to hold than the original Xbox ’s Duke controller but made bad because the cable length comes out of the bottom rather than the back or top . This made it awkward to manage for any distance of metre , and even the D - inkpad and button were hard on the thumbs . It was n’t bad enough to have the console to die the other demise it did , but it by no means helped .
Power Glove
The NES restrainer was amazing for its time , but Nintendo has never been a company to rest on its honor . There were plenty of peripherals for the NES , but none quite as bad as the Power Glove . In trueness , Nintendo was just a few decades early with the estimation of motion control as we would see with the smash hitof the Wii . Back in the early ’ XC , however , the technology was nowhere most innovative enough to work . You ’d be lucky if the biz recognized even half your inputs proceed this thing around , but it was also a vast pain to even get set up since it required you to typecast in prospicient codes for each game . Using this was an exercise in frustration that only made it harder to enjoy your games . It did look nerveless , but that ’s about the only positively charged we can say about it .
Atari Jaguar Pro controller
The Atari Jaguar Pro controller is proof that more is n’t better . game were getting more advanced and required more than the distinctive two to four buttons most controllers had come with up to this full point . Somehow this loathing is n’t even Atari ’s worst control since it at least has a D - lodgings and three buttons you’re able to bid without act your hands . How Atari expected us to use an intact num pad while diddle is a mystery we may never resolve . Even ignoring how windy the full bottom section is , the “ beneficial ” part is n’t even made well . holding the controller at the top is awkward and hard to get a grip on , plus the buttons and cholecalciferol - launchpad are mushy and knockout to actually iron out correctly . Thankfully not many mass make a Jaguar and had to be subjected to this monster .
SEGA Activator
Remember how we said the Power Glove was beforehand of its time ? Well , Sega somehow think that it could make full eubstance tracking oeuvre in the early ’ 90s . The Activator was an octagon that you set on the ground and used to control a game , or that was the construct , anyway . In practice , it coerce you to memorise a completely new “ restraint ” scheme base on which sensor you make a motion over . For deterrent example , to pause the game you would need to move over panels 4 and 6 at the same sentence . So , once you knew what push button you wanted to press you would then have to interpret that into what panel that represented on the Activator , remember where that panel is , and then move your body over it . Oh , and pray that it reads you at all . That last part failed more often than it knead , making the entire struggle pointless .
Atari 5200 controller
Sorry , Atari , but your accountant are dread . Unlike most other accountant we observe , Atari ’s worst ones are the nonpayment options , and the 5200 controller is the bad . This affair depend like a TV remote with an awkward joystick at the top . The entire layout feel like it was n’t design for human hands , let alone comfort . There was no way to hold the gadget , use the joystick , and press any of the buttons at the same sentence . It fails in every aspect of a comptroller without even utter about how plastered and undependable the joystick is . The only notable thing this controller brought to the mesa was a consecrated pause button , but that alone is n’t worth much praise .
Resident Evil 4 Chainsaw controller
The GameCube and PS2 had fantastic controller with no need for any major changes . However , this was the epoch where third - political party and gewgaw controllers started flooding the marketplace . Of all the experimental controllers we ’ve see , none can vie with the chainsaw controller released alongsideResident Evil 4.Instead of crap some variety of lightgun accountant , Capcom think the best form broker for a accountant would be a bulky chainsaw . The consequence is bad than whatever you had in your mind . Besides just being big and bulky , it is wildly impracticable . There ’s no way to contain this affair and have access code to all the buttons and pin at once . The only agency you could sort of make it work is to use it on a table like some variety of arcade stick , but even that is concentrated on your wrist with how the joystick are placed . Hopefully , anyone who purchased this only wanted it for showing purposes because it is perfectly useless as a restrainer .
Tony Hawk: RIDE Skateboard controller
It ’s one thing for a comptroller to be uncomfortable , and another for it to not function , but this “ controller ” is so much worse . Designed only forTony Hawk : RIDE , this skateboard controller contain thing to a new level by being actually dangerous to use . Speeding up demand you to slip your foot along the side , mime the motion of press a skateboard , but pull off tricks really requires you to get up and tilt the board around . lean back to do a manual of arms , as one case , can easily terminate up with you flat on your back . This was during the height ofGuitar Herowhich popularise gimmick control like this , but thankfullyRIDEwas a bomb calorimeter , and not that many people purchased this death trap .
