The Atari Jaguar controller makes a comeback!

[S1500]

Will we ever learn from history?

Actually, this doesn't look as uncomfortable as the Jag controller. The company website says nothing.

The Grippity!

[Gregory DG]

The Jaguar controller wasn't uncomfortable.

[Hyper_Eye]

The Jaguar controller was quite comfortable. It was shaped very well to fit into the hands. It is certainly more comfortable than a PS controller.

[Albert]

The Jaguar controller was quite comfortable. It was shaped very well to fit into the hands. It is certainly more comfortable than a PS controller.

Agreed, the Jaguar controller was certainly the best of all the controllers Atari produced for their various systems. And probably the only one where ergonomics actually came into consideration.

 

..Al

[+RandomPerson]

The Jaguar controller was quite comfortable. It was shaped very well to fit into the hands. It is certainly more comfortable than a PS controller.

Agreed, the Jaguar controller was certainly the best of all the controller Atari produced for their various systems. And probably the only one where ergonomics actually came into consideration.

 

..Al

 

 

I also agree, I have huge hands and the Jag controller is perfect for us folks with big paws.

[Lord Helmet]

Will we ever learn from history?

Actually, this doesn't look as uncomfortable as the Jag controller. The company website says nothing.

The Grippity!

 

Looks a lot like the 360 controller with the chatpad attached.

[Bill Loguidice]

I have to throw my hat into the ring for the Atari Jaguar controllers being uncomfortable and poorly designed. Interestingly, while I ended up standardizing on Epyx 500xj's during prime 80's gaming time, in recent years I've gotten used to the original Atari CX40 again and would have to vote that as the best Atari joystick overall. Certainly the relatively short throw seems like a plus.

[S1500]

It seems one lesson learned before the crash, but not by Atari was that a telephone-like numeric keypad has no place on a video game controller. Too much real estate taken up. Atari with the 2600 & 7800 had too few buttons, now they go as far as too many buttons on the 5200 & Jag. Move the buttons around a bit, don't make 'em so uncomfortable in a 3x4 grid. Explore around!

[ls650]

I always liked the Jaguar controller. Very comfy to hold, good placement of the D-pad and the three main buttons, etc. People complain about the number pad, but I always thought that was a good idea. The amount of pissing and moaning over the numpad is silly: you don't see people who play games on their cellphones complaining, do you?

[Ze_ro]

It seems one lesson learned before the crash, but not by Atari was that a telephone-like numeric keypad has no place on a video game controller. Too much real estate taken up.

Yeah, what kind of stupid company would ever put that many buttons on a controller?

 

 

--Zero

[Albert]

Weird, I've never seen that Gamecube controller before..

 

..Al

[+Cobra Kai]

lol. You'd think every gamer on the internet actually playtested a Jagpad for themselves with the reputation that poor controller has. With only around 250,000 Jaguars sold, I'd say it's a good chance most people who say the Jaguar controller was crap, never actually used one.

[moycon]

lol. You'd think every gamer on the internet actually playtested a Jagpad for themselves with the reputation that poor controller has. With only around 250,000 Jaguars sold, I'd say it's a good chance most people who say the Jaguar controller was crap, never actually used one.

 

I used one and still have one and don't really like it too well. Certainly not one of my favorites anyways. Too bulky and just felt cheap to me. You'd expect something that big to have some substance and weight to it. Still, It's probably my favorite Atari controller after the standard Atari 2600 joystick.

 

I dunno about the bottom GC keyboard/controller, but the other two posted are add-ons to a standard controller that take about 5 seconds to install and remove so I'm not sure they are comparable to the The Grippity which appears to have a non-removable pad. I agree, bad idea to include a chat-pad/numeric-pad on a video-game controller and have it built in.

 

On a side note, a giant keyboard that's rarely used is one of the reasons I went with the Sony eBook over the Kindle.

Edited January 13, 2009 by moycon

[PacManPlus]

Hmmm....

 

This would make a good controller for a portable Odyssey2

[S1500]

lol. You'd think every gamer on the internet actually playtested a Jagpad for themselves with the reputation that poor controller has. With only around 250,000 Jaguars sold, I'd say it's a good chance most people who say the Jaguar controller was crap, never actually used one.

 

I had a Jaguar, and did not like the big "cylinders" on the side to hold it. So I'm going to go against the atariage grain here and put my vote in for disliking it.

[Bill Loguidice]

I dunno about the bottom GC keyboard/controller, but the other two posted are add-ons to a standard controller that take about 5 seconds to install and remove so I'm not sure they are comparable to the The Grippity which appears to have a non-removable pad. I agree, bad idea to include a chat-pad/numeric-pad on a video-game controller and have it built in.

 

That GameCube controller is essentially a one-off, designed for use with Phantasy Star Online.

 

I personally always liked the idea of a keypad on a controller, and I particularly like overlays, so it's unfortunate that the Jaguar itself wasn't a success, let alone having a better controller design, as I would have liked to have seen the keypad catch back on. Of course as the keyboard add-ons for the 360 and PS3 controllers show, the basic spirit of the idea does live on to a degree, though certainly the purposes of these latter day keypads is to provide a mini keyboard to enter text in non-gaming situations rather than as a gaming adjunct. With the popularity of texting and the relatively transparent nature of these add-ons (meaning they don't really affect the balance or feel of the controllers), there's an outside chance they may be incorporated into the next generation of controllers ("PS4" and "Xbox 720"), but it's highly unlikely as the push in that generation will be towards embracing user friendliness and approachability a la the Wii moreso than something intimidating to the general public like a keypad. Again, though, the argument can be made that as more and more cell phones come with mini keyboards, the idea may still yet be viable if a good gaming case can be made (or something compelling to the general public)...

[MCHufnagel]

It seems one lesson learned before the crash, but not by Atari was that a telephone-like numeric keypad has no place on a video game controller. Too much real estate taken up.

Yeah, what kind of stupid company would ever put that many buttons on a controller?

 

 

--Zero

Duh, those aren't for controlling games. Those are for online chats.

 

And they're not standard at all, like the "too many button" controllers Atari and others had. To me at least, using overlays suck.

[S1500]

I actually like that Xbox 360 controller with the keyboard on it. I could talk to my bff Jill. Maybe if I was more social on Xbox Live, it would be useful to me. Better yet, why can't we surf the web with a 360, yet Sega consoles can? Why?

[Bill Loguidice]

I actually like that Xbox 360 controller with the keyboard on it. I could talk to my bff Jill. Maybe if I was more social on Xbox Live, it would be useful to me. Better yet, why can't we surf the web with a 360, yet Sega consoles can? Why?

 

I personally don't see a great deal of value in those keyboard controller add-ons for a lot of people, as there's universal voice chat, and in the rare instances where you have to type a lot of text it's easy enough to plug in a USB keyboard. I agree it's something of an odd omission that the 360 doesn't offer a Web browser, but I can honestly say that I rarely use it on the PS3 or Wii, and only on the former when I want to show the family something on Youtube on the big TV.

 

Again, the way the market has spoken, I just don't see console controllers getting any more complex (i.e., more buttons) than they already have. This is probably the peak. If anything, they'll become simplified, transferring more complex functionality to other areas rather than multiple buttons.

[Atariman]

And they're not standard at all, like the "too many button" controllers Atari and others had. To me at least, using overlays suck.

 

Actually, I preferred having the numeric keypad on the Jaguar controller - and that has to be one of the few systems I ever found any real use for one (I love my 5200, but I rarely ever touch the keypad).

 

For me, it made games like Theme Park feasible as I didn't have to dig through a bunch of menus to do simple tasks such as opening and closing the main gates. It was also nice to be able to delete rides/walks using a single button, too.

[Atariman]

lol. You'd think every gamer on the internet actually playtested a Jagpad for themselves with the reputation that poor controller has. With only around 250,000 Jaguars sold, I'd say it's a good chance most people who say the Jaguar controller was crap, never actually used one.

 

I had a Jaguar, and did not like the big "cylinders" on the side to hold it. So I'm going to go against the atariage grain here and put my vote in for disliking it.

 

... that's like, what... your third vote against it in this thread?

[Ze_ro]

Well, I for one loved the Jaguar controller. The keypad never complicates anything at all... it's just auxiliary buttons for things like changing weapons, or controlling multiple groups of characters in Cannon Fodder. It's not like there's 12 buttons right under your right thumb or anything like that. A lot of games don't even use it, and those that do use an overlay so you know exactly what buttons are used for what functions and you don't need to sift through in-game menus.

 

I can see why some people might not like the size, but I have bigger hands, and the Jaguar controller is a perfect fit for me. The ProController is probably my second favourite controller of all time (First being the Xbox 360 controller).

 

--Zero

[Warriorisabouttodie]

The Jaguar controller wasn't uncomfortable.

 

 

are you kidding me? Maybe you had the right hand/wrist combo for them, but I used to get serious cramps in my wrists after playing tempest 2000. In my opinion they were some of the worst controllers ever.

[atarian63]

The Jaguar controller wasn't uncomfortable.

Got to agree, I liked it, the controllers I disliked were the MS Xbox and ps/2 controllers.

[Royalshin]

For Japan these controllers are great products but for Us consumers....

 

Nope, no way, no how.

 

 

The thing is the so called Jaguar design has been used in the past with many PC game controllers. In fact a couple of the

regular 16-32 bit game system have controllers of the same related design.

 

Again unlike Japanese people who words are in representive format, the English language has to have every word spelled with letters as in Japanese that is the childrens langauge. So the person would use this would be a AOL talking like

 

[email protected]: whts ur A/S/L

 

Daddyeskingo: y shld ey tll u

 

[email protected]: i dnt wnt 2 tlk 2 pedohs

 

Daddyeskingo: I m 14/M/CA

 

[email protected]: ur two yng 4 me

 

Daddyeskingo: eye dnt wnt 2 gt in2 yr pnties. I just wnna chat

 

[email protected]: Im 47/F/TX

 

Daddyeskingo: grnny pnties

 

Aol chat Admin [[ Getwithma0023 ]] walked into the room.

 

Getwithma0023: anybdy lks SF

 

 

Do you really want to back to that?

Edited January 14, 2009 by Royalshin