Joy of sticks: 10 greatest video game controllers
From Atari’s CX joystick to the Oculus Touch, here are our favourites
Keith Stuart
@keefstuart
Main image: Xbox 360 controller. Photograph: Alamy
Fri 21 Jul 2017 07.57 EDT Last modified on Fri 3 Aug 2018 04.42 EDT
Atari CX joysticks (1977)
Originally bundled with the Atari VCS console in 1977, these sturdy, simple devices featured a stubby control stick and one fire button; a much simpler and cheaper product than most other controllers of the period. The 9-pin connector cable became an industry standard, boosting sales and allowing the later CX40 model to become an absolute icon of video game design. Left-handed players were at a considerable disadvantage though.
Photograph: Robee Shepherd#137248/FlickrVision
Quickshot II (1983)
The omnipresent controller of the home computer era, the Quickshot II was famed for its ergonomic joystick, its two chunky firebuttons, the four sucker pads on the base (to secure it to your Argos computer desk), and the auto-fire switch on the front, which let you cheat at shoot-’em-up games. Designed by US company Spectravideo (which also made its own home computers), it went through a series of iterations, but the second was the most famous. If you never broke one playing Daley Thompson’s Decathlon you didn’t do the 1980s properly.
Photograph: Werner/Wikipedia
Nintendo Entertainment System joypad (1985)
When Nintendo released its Game & Watch handhelds in the early 1980s, the company discovered that gamer’s found the D-pad and two-button layout very comfortable, allowing them to concentrate entirely on the screen. Consequently, the same design was brought to the Famicom and then the re-designed NES console. Apparently, when the pad was first released in the US, gamers who’d grown up using joysticks didn’t know how to use it, choosing to pinch the d-pad between their fingers.
Photograph: Adam Berry/Getty Images
Sega Mega Drive six-button controller (1993)
Launched in conjunction with the release of Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition, the six-button pad replaced the Mega Drive’s original three-button version, and became a huge hit thanks to its perfect replication of the Street Fighter arcade machine button layout. Also excellent for Mortal Kombat, the controller felt comfortable and weighty, with nicely sized buttons and slightly spongy feedback. A series of larger Arcade Power Sticks were also released, beginning Sega’s trend for producing pro versions of its joypads.
Photograph: Evan Amos
The mouse proved instrumental in the development and evolution of the strategy and adventure game genres in the early-1990s, but when paired with a keyboard “WASD” set up for movement, it became the default option for first-person shooters like Quake and Unreal, providing pinpoint control over the screen real estate. Whenever the console vs PC debate rears its unnecessary head, the mouse/keyboard vs joypad case closer is never far behind.
Photograph: Erik Tham/Getty Images
N64 (1996)
Nintendo’s R&D lab set out to upset all the conventions of joypad design with the N64, and it certainly achieved that. Designed to be held in three different ways, the tri-pronged device put analogue controls at the centre of the experience, ready for the spatially demanding Super Mario 64. The pad also introduced a z-trigger on the underside (great for shooters like GoldenEye) and rumble feedback, which would become a standard element going forward. It was ugly, it was sometimes uncomfortable, but it was packed with ideas and it told the world that 3D games were the future.
Playstation Dualshock series (1998-)
Based on the dual-pronged design of the original PlayStation pad, and following 1997’s Dual Analog iteration, the DualShock incorporated two analogue sticks for accurate movement within 3D space, revolutionising modern console controls, as well as rumble tech for tactile feedback. The Dualshock 3 combined rumble and motion controls, while the current DualShock 4 has its innovative swipe pad and “share” button, adding modern touchscreen and social media functionality. An ever-evolving design classic.
Photograph: Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images
Although never the most beautiful controller, the Xbox 360 pad felt comfortable in the hands thanks to its chubby form factor, featured excellent analogue sticks, a well-placed four-button array, and of course, the big X button in the middle to get you quickly back to the menu – an important step in the transition toward elaborate console user interfaces. Technically, it was a lot more reliable than the console it was attached to.
Wii remote (2006)
When setting out to design a controller for the Wii, Nintendo wanted something that felt intuitive and could be held with one hand. Mario creator Miyamoto would sit in design meetings and say “can’t it look like this?” pointing to his mobile phone or, on one occasion, the remote control for his car’s satnav system. The end result was the Wii remote, its motion controls and wireless design enabling anyone in the room to literally pick up and play. No one saw it coming, but it changed everything.
(2017)If consumer virtual reality is going to be “a thing” it needs less clunky head-mounted display units and better controls. The Oculus Rift has the latter sorted with its Touch controllers, packed with sensors that adequately interpret natural physical gestures, as well as enough buttons to give provide inputs from each finger. What you get is the very intricate, tactile control of virtual objects, adding greatly to the sense of immersion. Now, if they can just get those headsets sorted ...