Most and Least Comfortable Controllers

[VideoGameCritic]

I was thinking about writing a special page rating the console controllers from best to worst in terms of comfort.
I think the Genesis would be near the top, if not at the top, and probably the Intellivision at the bottom.
What do you think?

[MoarRipter]

My votes are the Saturn's standard gamepad (MK-80116, JPN or US rev.2 model) or the Dualshock 4 as the most comfortable. The 360's wired controller is up there in my rankings too.

My vote for worse controller is the Atari 7800, mainly because I haven't played with the consoles older than that (aside from the 2600) but my brother had a 7800 and I remember how much I hated that stiff uncomfortable POS controller with its stupid big knob on top. Atari should have brought the 7800 gamepads to the US.

Also, I am not a fan of the Wii Remote. It's great for Wii Sports bowling or tennis but for some other games or just navigating around the system I find it gets pretty tiring holding out my arm pointing at the TV. I love Nintendo games but one of the things I hate about certain Wii games is the forced waggling or shaking of the Wii Remote that some games force you to do when a simple button press would've been better, easier, and more comfortable. I am pleased that motion control fad has pretty much died out for the most part, good riddance!

[mbd36]

Most comfortable: Genesis, SNES, Playstation. From the NES and and onwards, most pads are pretty comfortable.

Least comfortable: Controllers with side buttons such as the Atari 7800 and Intellivision are least comfortable for games that require a lot of button presses. I don't know why they thought that was a good idea. The NES finally got it right.

[Rev]

Most comfortable controllers:
Saturn 2, Xbox Controller S, Genesis, PS2, SNES, Xbox 360, Gamecube,



Least Comfortable controllers:
Intellivision, Colecovision, Atari 5200, Jaguar, CDI,


Not Good, Not bad:
Wii (standard remote, sideways), Wii U gamepad, Turbografx/TurboDuo,

[Hardcore Sadism]

Most Comfortable would have to go to...

Atari Flashback's joypad absolutely destroys the OG model in this regard, the button doesn't feel like its intentionally jammed either. Plus you can remove the stick for optimal storage in small spaces.

NES Dogbone fit the simplicity better than a jagged rectangle that cuts between the joints (Ouch!).

The Lynx generation 2 has the best grip to button layout ratio in my opinion, even if its a hulking monster.

Xbox S all the way, perfect for long grinds.

The 3DO has surprisingly comfy controllers though they are shameless Genesis wannabes.

Least Comfortable would have to go to...

Colecovision's controllers are infinitely worse than the Intellivision controllers because of how stubborn the knob is (insert witty humor here) and the pointless addition of redundant action buttons.

The Nintendo 64 controller is the only controller I have used aside from the Jaguars which make me eyeball the buttons before pressing.

Gamecube also comes to mind, I have longer fingers rather than built palms. So this presents an issue with the handles, as it feels like I've put my joints at an awkward angle. Kinda hurts.

The Wii-Remote is horribly inconsistent. It's not the imprecision of the motion but rather how forced the 'NES Mode' is. I bought an over-shell for the remote because I cannot stand using it naked when playing the ever-sparse Virtual Console titles.

The PS3 controllers L2 buttons are the devil.

[Teddybear]

Put me down for the NES dogbone as being the most comfortable. And it is the perfect size, too. You can play long sessions of Nintendo and be oblivious to holding onto the controller. That is a true sign of a comfortable controller.

In terms of comfort, I'd rank the 7800 dead last. In addition to being ultra-stiff they are the most cheap-feeling controllers. Thank goodness you can use other Atari joysticks for most of the 7800 games.

While I love the Intellivison controllers (original and II) I can understand the hate they gather. But I'd still rank them above Colecovision........that thing is too wide for my enjoyment and those side buttons are not very user-friendly for long play. Having a y-adapter that allows you to use an Atari-style joystick while being able to use the Coleco keypad is a great thing to have.

[Sut]

Agree on the Genesis (especially the 6 button version) and Saturn. I'm also a big fan of the Channel F joysticks, remarkable things. Dualshock 4 is in my opinion the best 'modern' controller.

I dislike the Dreamcast with the sharp d-pad and that damn cable coming out the bottom. I also never got in with the N64 the placements just seem odd.

[mbd36]

In terms of comfort, I'd rank the 7800 dead last. In addition to being ultra-stiff they are the most cheap-feeling controllers. Thank goodness you can use other Atari joysticks for most of the 7800 games.

Not to mentioin 7800 pack-in title requires you to hold down a button the entire time you're playing. I still remember the pain.

[Shapur]

I always thought the Genesis three button was actually more comfortable than the six.

The best controller ever, no contest has gotta be the Xbox Controller S. It just feels perfect in my hands, never understood why they changed the shape for the 360.

Worst controller that I've personally used was probably the Atari 5200 but it probably didn't help that the joystick felt pretty used up.

trangely even with the PlayStation dominating for like 20 years now, I still can't get used to triangle square circle x as buttons. Why couldn't they just use A,B,X,Y like everybody else

[Rev]

The best controller ever, no contest has gotta be the Xbox Controller S. It just feels perfect in my hands, never understood why they changed the shape for the 360.

I agree. I think it is the most well rounded controller ever made. It works great for 2D and 3D games and is incredibly comfortable. It's one of the main reasons I try and buy cross platformer 6th gen games on the original Xbox.