No 1 worst controller - apparently

[Guitari]

Came across this video review - go to 4m 23.

 

 

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/top-5-with-lisa-foiles/8506-Top-5-Worst-Controllers

[sh3-rg]

don't give them the clicks.

[Zerosquare]

It's nonsense, anyways. There are plenty of worse controllers on other consoles (Atari 5200, Philips CD-i, Amstrad GX4000...)

[Cobra Kai]

Always with the controller it's revolved around internet reputation and hearsay. Since there were only 250,000 consoles produced and even less sold, there simply isn't enough real world experience with these idiots to actually know if the controller is bad. Unfortunately the name Atari Jaguar has become the gaming world equivalent of Pavlov's Dog.

[+LS650]

I've never, ever understood the complaints about the Jaguar controllers. From the first moment I tried one I thought they were very comfortable, and as responsive as any other D-pad controller.

[KevinMos3]

^^^ Exactly. One of the most comfortable controllers ever made. It fits great to the contour of your hands and the buttons and D-pad are very responsive. There's absolutely nothing to complain about with it in my opinion. The pro controller is even better, although slightly less form fitting for the hands.

 

The only things I've heard clowns on the net complain about is the keypad. But there's nothing wrong with that either. It just gives more options for game programmers; perfect for in-game inventory switching and whatever. It's not even a bigger controller than many other modern systems; it just has the dead space between the two typical side handles filled with usable buttons. Complaining about that is idiocy IMO.

[Rex Dart]

Number keys, whatever. But only three action buttons? People complain about the 3DO having "only three buttons" when it actually had five, but will defend that goofy jag pad. I don't get it.

[Rick Dangerous]

As has been said said before, the people who make these lists see they keypad, or have read other lists, and think "that thing looks funny, lets put it on our list." Their total lifetime Jaguar play time probably averages out to about zero minutes.

[+madman]

Number keys, whatever. But only three action buttons? People complain about the 3DO having "only three buttons" when it actually had five, but will defend that goofy jag pad. I don't get it.

This is a criticism I do agree with. At the time the Jag was released, 3 action buttons was a joke. That aside, the Jag Pad isn't horrible and certainly not one of the worst controllers ever.

[+save2600]

Thought this topic was going to be about that new 3-button controller someone overseas is selling for $10.

[Rick Dangerous]

This is a criticism I do agree with. At the time the Jag was released, 3 action buttons was a joke. That aside, the Jag Pad isn't horrible and certainly not one of the worst controllers ever.

 

The system releasing with the pro controller would have certainly helped things, but there were a host of other factors that were more important. Games for one..

 

If you'd been playing SNES and Geneis for a few years, Dino Dudes wasn't going to blow your gourd exactly...

[Justin222]

As far as I know, some not very bright game editor proclaimed the Jag controller the worst ever and lots of copycat bloggers and wannabees have posted me-too pages.

 

It's not even a subjective matter. Objectively, there are far worse controllers. It can be measured scientifically if someone would want to make the effort. I will wager whatever anyone asks that the Intellivision controller, the CoCo joystick, the 5200 controller, or the Fairchild controller will lose against the Jag controller. That is assuming you can keep a 5200 controller working long enough to complete the test (as well as the Fairchild which loved to lose the ability to go forward due to thin wires).

 

I found the controller very comfortable. However, I do think Atari erred by not providing shoulder buttons. The Jag should have shipped with the pro controller and should have skipped the keypad. Who wants to mess with overlays?

 

 

Now that is a lousy controller.

 

 

Nice to look at, terrible to use. Not just the disc is awful. The hard tiny little side buttons are also no fun.

 

I think the CoCo joystick earns the title worst controller ever. The Intellivision and 5200 controllers at least looked cool. Plus, they had more buttons. The CoCo joystick has no redeeming features.

Edited January 25, 2015 by Justin222

[CGQuarterly]

I am certainly not the huge Jaguar fan that some of you are, but I've never understood the hatred for the Jag controller. I mean, the d-pad isn't the best, but it has a nice layout and is comfortable to hold.

 

My vote for worst controller would probably go to either the Colecovision or the Atari 5200...

[Justin222]

I am certainly not the huge Jaguar fan that some of you are, but I've never understood the hatred for the Jag controller. I mean, the d-pad isn't the best, but it has a nice layout and is comfortable to hold.

 

My vote for worst controller would probably go to either the Colecovision or the Atari 5200...

Someone else covered it. The Jaguar was a failure in the market so some editor at an online magazine decided to stupidly dub its controller the worst ever. It was a matter of kicking the dead horse. The Jaguar made for an easy target, especially when it comes to the outrage over the inclusion of a keypad (oh, the humanity). Perhaps the goal was to troll people who knew something about gaming and therefore had experience with much worse controllers. After all, online articles that are clickbait tend to make more money.

 

The Coleco controller was certainly bad, but it was still better than the Intellivision. The Coleco had large side buttons that were easy to press. The Intellivision's side buttons were small and hard. The Coleco joystick was difficult to use but it was still much easier to use than the Intellivision disc. It was also easier to hold than the thinner Intellivision controller. The 5200's three main problems were squishy thin side buttons and, the non-centering joystick, and its fragility. It's too bad the 5200 joystick has so many problems because it definitely looked cool back in the day.

 

If we ignore the CoCo joystick because it wasn't made for a console, I would rank the worst-ever controllers thusly:

 

1) 5200 — fragile, non-centering, mushy tiny side buttons, overlays are easily lost

2) Intellivision — thin (hard to hold), hard small side buttons, difficult to control disc, overlays are easily lost

3) Fairchild — thin wiring and hard-wired joysticks meant sending in console for repair, very sluggish push/pull/twist button instead of a proper button

 

I haven't used the aforementioned Philips CD-i and Amstrad GX4000 controllers, so I can't gauge how they fit, but I really doubt they're worse than those three.

 

It would be a good thing for someone to do a proper scientific usabiity study to counteract the absurd FUD about the Jaguar controller that Wikipedia refuses to get rid of (three references, including a picture just to bitch about it), even though someone astutely deleted it back in 2010. It's not hard to see the flaws in the Jaguar system, but its controller was a far cry from terrible. Its biggest flaw was that it just had three action buttons.

Edited January 25, 2015 by Justin222

[Thorsten Günther]

Regarding the CD-i: there's not "the" CD-i controller, there are quite a few, e.g. a Gravis built four-button one (considering that the CD-i only supports two buttons, they are wired somewhat awkwardly: the left one as a simultaneous press of both buttons, the right one as button II and both remaining ones as button I) and a larger three-button joypad (the third button again wired as a simultaneous I/II press) built by Logitech (later the shape was re-used by TecnoPlus for their six-button SNES and Mega Drive controllers), both intended for gaming, and a number of both IR and wired controllers for other uses (e.g. educational software, CD/VCD use, etc.) which of course suck for gaming.

 

It's a common misconception that the CD-i was a game console while in reality it was a pre-DVD attempt of introducing a versatile digital home entertainment device (there was a vast number of movies in CD-i and VCD format, many CD-i titles were educational rather than recreational). This considered, it is a much better game console than your average DVD player (Nuon players being the exception of that rule):

 

 

 

 

[BillyHW]

Why does she say Jagwire?

 

The Atari Jaguar controller was not that bad. The other controllers on this list were much worse.

[+LS650]

Jag-wire. Seems to be the way it's said in some places in the States.

[high voltage]

NES controller is the absolute worst.

 

Why include the 'special' controllers like Powerglove and Konami headset (which wasn't a controller, doh), should've included the Maestromusic Stick or the U-Force or the Hyper Boy instead. But anyway, all those are just gimmicks, not stock controllers so to speak.

Jaguar controller isn't that huge anyway, she should try the Keyboard Pad Mini from Sammy or the Ascii Gamecube Keyboard controller.

Mind you I bet she never even played a single Jag-wire game, she's just mouthing off from hear say. Personally I don't like any wrong way 'round controllers, long live the joystick

 

Anyway best was her other video in her low cut top.

Edited January 25, 2015 by high voltage

[108 Stars]

The controller is pretty bad. Ergonomically not well shaped, with shallow pressure points of dpad and fire buttons; and the numpad was a bad idea. But of course, it is still not the worst. I think what makes it stand out to people is that unlike other controllers, which fail mostly because of bad manufacturing, the Jag controller is actually well-made. In this case it is the design part where it fails. That makes it kind of special.

[Justin222]

Both the NES controller and the Jaguar controller are pinnacles of design and ergonomics when compared with the Intellivision controller. Can you imagine trying to play a game like Japanese Super Mario Mario 2 with an Intellivision controller? The same goes for the 5200 controller or the Coleco. It would be an exercise in futility. Even games with reasonable difficulty, like Metroid, would be painful.

 

Edited January 25, 2015 by Justin222

[+madman]

The NES dog bone controllers are definitely more ergonomic than the original NES pads, but the NES pads really revolutionized console controllers. After the NES was introduced, all (I'm sure there are some exceptions) consoles changed to a D-pad-like controller instead of a traditional joystick. Yeah, the 7800 is an exception, but it sat on the shelves for a couple years. I would agree that the 5200 controller, even when working properly, is garbage. I love the console, the games were amazing, but the controller was unusable with most games. Pole Position being one exception that comes to mind. I'd say the 7800 stick is worse than the Jag pad, and agree with the INTV as well. Even as a kid, my small hands would cramp up with the INTV controller and the disc controller was just not suitable for action games. The Jaguar had a lot of problems that led to its failure, but the controller isn't the sole scapegoat.

[BillyHW]

The NES dog bone controllers are definitely more ergonomic than the original NES pads, but the NES pads really revolutionized console controllers. After the NES was introduced, all (I'm sure there are some exceptions) consoles changed to a D-pad-like controller instead of a traditional joystick. Yeah, the 7800 is an exception, but it sat on the shelves for a couple years. I would agree that the 5200 controller, even when working properly, is garbage. I love the console, the games were amazing, but the controller was unusable with most games. Pole Position being one exception that comes to mind. I'd say the 7800 stick is worse than the Jag pad, and agree with the INTV as well. Even as a kid, my small hands would cramp up with the INTV controller and the disc controller was just not suitable for action games. The Jaguar had a lot of problems that led to its failure, but the controller isn't the sole scapegoat.

 

I disagree. The A and B buttons should either be laid out horizontally, or ideally, sloping downwards from left to right. That way you can run, jump and hold something and shoot it all at the same time (in Mario 3 for instance). That's why in Super Mario World on the SNES you could jump with B and run/shoot/hold with Y. It just made more sense.

 

I never understood the Gameboy or NES 2 dogbone layout, with the buttons sloping upwards from left to right. It looks better maybe, but is less useful. In this layout you need to let go of run/hold/shoot to jump, which is stupid.

 

As far as all the hate for Intellivision controller is concerned, you get used to it and I didn't seem to mind it so much. Most intellivision games were slow anyways so you didn't need a joystick. I dislike the side buttons more than the disc, which isn't the worst. My hands would cramp up more with a Colecovision controller, whereas the Intellivision disc had a serious problem with sweat buildup. I'd still take a Coleco controller over 5200 or INTV.

 

The best handheld joystick of that era probably belonged to Epix on the C64. Though I still prefer the SNES pad to anything else.

Edited January 25, 2015 by BillyHW

[Justin222]

 

I'd still take a Coleco controller over 5200 or INTV.

As would I. The 5200 is much worse, even though it's probably the coolest-looking controller ever.

 

The CoCo is the worst controller ever. It has a tiny non-centering joystick, has a tiny overall size that is not easy to hold, and just has one action button that's located in a less than optimal place. They scream "cheap" when you look them and use them, especially since the joysticks are rarely centered (making them look abused and broken), so they even fail at aesthetics. The Fairchild joystick was better-looking and centered (and felt solid and well-built) and the 5200's definitely was better-looking.

 

1) CoCo

2) 5200

3) Fairchild

4) Intellivision

5) 2600 and Coleco

 

I moved the Fairchild up because its flaws really are greater than the Intellivision's, especially the need to send the entire console in when the thin wires cause the joystick not to be able to move the player up and the lack of a quick action button. I also would rather use a Colecovision controller over a 2600 joystick, although I can see the two being debated because the 2600 joystick was a bit more ergonomic. It only has one action button, though, which is a big limitation — and it isn't that great of a joystick which is why there were so many 3rd-party alternatives.

 

Favorite controllers: SNES, PS1 (not dual shock), Dreamcast, NES, Jaguar Pro

 

I haven't used the Wii controllers except for the gesture model and I haven't used XBox controllers. However, I didn't like the location of the D-pad on one of the XBox controllers at all. It didn't look ergonomic. I am not a fan of the current design of having a D-pad and two tiny joysticks on the same controller.

Edited January 25, 2015 by Justin222

[Austin]

It's a common misconception that the CD-i was a game console while in reality it was a pre-DVD attempt of introducing a versatile digital home entertainment device (there was a vast number of movies in CD-i and VCD format, many CD-i titles were educational rather than recreational). This considered, it is a much better game console than your average DVD player (Nuon players being the exception of that rule):

 

The problem with the "the CD-I was not a game console" argument is that Philips made some big pushes to make it recognizable as a videogame player. Yes, it was a platform meant for many different types of markets (educational sector, live entertainment sector, home entertainment sector, etc), but it's hard not to call it a game console either.

 

As far as its games, I'll just say that if there's one library barely worth defending, it's the CD-i's library. Even its absolute best games (Dimo's Quest or the Apprentice) would have been seen as simply average on more mainstream platforms. The Jaguar library looks like pure gold in comparison, which is saying a lot.

[+madman]

 

The problem with the "the CD-I was not a game console" argument is that Philips made some big pushes to make it recognizable as a videogame player. Yes, it was a platform meant for many different types of markets (educational sector, live entertainment sector, home

The only times I remember seeing a CD-i back in the day, it was setup as a game console. The golf game with the trackball controller was hooked up to a big screen in a local Montgomery Wards store. I recall some buzz about its movie capabilities, but very little.