A good console is nothing without a good controller. It’s extremely hard to make something that everyone likes judging by the pieces of crap platform holders have made over the years. Here seven of the worst gaming controllers ever made!
1. Xbox Duke Controller
Microsoft’s attempt at jumping into the console business was fairly successful. Although one of their flaws was the decision to supply the console with the Xbox Duke Controller. The enormous size of the thing made it hard to handle for gamers with smaller hands. Microsoft reacted quickly by releasing the much smaller S-controller and has never looked back since.
2. Ouya Controller
The Ouya console started as a Kickstarter event which crowdfunded a completely new console. The controller that came with it was pitched as a love letter to gamers. Well it was a love letter you won’t wish upon your worst ex. The buttons felt extremely cheap and it was uncomfortable to hold for long periods of time. Which is pretty bad for a video game controller.
3. Atari Jaguar Controller
The Atari Jaguar controller looks like a hybrid of a controller and an old fashioned telephone. According to Atari this was a brilliant innovation because it let you put game-specific overlays over the buttons. Unfortunately nobody agreed with them and gamers bought other consoles like the Sony Playstation and Nintendo 64 instead. It didn’t take long for Atari to go bankrupt after this one.
4. Philips CDI Infrared Remote Controller
The Philips CDI was a pretty big fail and their infrared remote controller was a big part of that. Its multimedia aspect of the console didn’t manage to win over many consumers. The games were nothing to write home about either and the horrible controller made playing them feel like a chore. It didn’t take long before Philips pulled the plug on the whole thing and decided to stick to home electronics instead.
5. Atari 5200 Controller
What’s the deal with phone-shaped controllers, Atari? Although the Atari 5200 controller was released much earlier than the Jaguar, it also resembled a phone keypad and turned out to be a failure. The joystick it featured was a little old-fashioned too which resulted in bad sales numbers. It was a bad controller made for an average console made by a fading company.
6. SEGA Saturn 3D Controller
Can you believe that the SEGA Saturn 3D controller was made for a single game? Nights into Dreams came packaged with the disc shaped controller but it wasn’t a nice gift for gamers. It was awkward to use and wasn’t compatible with a lot of other games on the system. The joystick was revolutionary however. Such a shame it was attached to such a horrible controller.
7. SEGA Activator
Way before the Nintendo Wii and its motion controls existed, the SEGA activator stole the show. Well, not so much, because the device made playing games feel like punishment. The Activator worked with infrared but failed to register inputs half of the time making it nearly impossible to use. It also took up quite a bit of space in your living room. The whole thing simply was an epic fail.
Wanna read about a game that got almost destroyed by it’s controls? Click here to see what I am talking about!
This is a video script that has been modified in a video for ZoominGames.