[BurritoBeans]

So I have to ask, what's the worst controller that you've ever used?

I felt like asking this as recently as good 'ol IdiotBeans struck again and I bought my third Atari console, the 5200 - a nice A1 two-port model from the late years of the system (1985 on this unit) when Atari was under the Tramiel family as it was only $60 at a convention with a controller, PSU, and game - they usually go for $100 anyways.

The library of games is absolutely amazing - there's very few titles which are considered bad compared to the other ports of the time - but there's one thing that the system is known for, the controllers, which overshadow every good aspect of the system to most people. If you've ever laid your hands on these you know that they're awkward - four side buttons, a phone keypad, an analog stick with a weak centering mechanism, etc.

Now, the design may be bad, but that's not the worst part of it - that goes to the internals. These things behave differently on pretty much every system in my experience with them, making it so you have to adjust the pots on the stick so that they stay still while centered, and the carbon dots used on the buttons wear down quickly also which means you have to go in and clean them all every other month or replace them with a new set. This has already caused me headaches - the controller with the system just had the stick quit working in an hour of play meaning I had to adjust a few parts, and then the second between having messy contacts making it unreliable also was constantly moving to the right. Shortly after the second had been fixed, it had the same issue of just dying requiring another adjustment. I'm tempted to just order a fresh mylar flexboard and modern carbon dots, but it'd be $90 which is more than the system itself and extra stack of games had cost me.

Here's a quick image of the system, games, and controllers in case you wanted to see/have never seen it before:

Spoiler: Image

The reason the strip is a pink shade instead of silver as it's supposed to be is due to the fact that whoever owned this specific system had never pulled the plastic protector layer off of it - kinda cool or so I think, and I'll probably leave it that way.

TL;DR - What's the worst controller you've ever used? My vote goes to the Atari 5200 controllers as these things in a matter of a few days have caused me multiple headaches and are just awkward as hell to hold.

[Skullmeat]

Apple Bandai PiP PiN controller.

[BurritoBeans]

Apple Bandai PiP PiN controller.

Myself, I'm not too sure if this one beats the 5200 controller for "worst" as for the twelve hours or so I've used one of these, I'd put it up with say the Colecovision phone pad - sure the design is a bit wonky, almost like holding a banana with buttons and a trackball, but it manages to stay comfortable after a while of use.

Maybe one of the CDi controllers could be considered worse? After all, apart from the Gravis Gamepad clone and Mega Drive three-button ripoff, they're pretty much TV remotes.

Spoiler: Image

They expected you to play a serious game (If something like Hotel Mario is "Serious" anyways...) with something along the lines of that if you couldn't find a proper gamepad, and even then that's one of the better remotes - it's still a mess of bad buttons and IR, but it sort of works.

[Bish0pQ]

The WII controller. I have used several consoles but I even prefer the N64's controller over the WII controller, I think the design and build of that controller was really bad.

[JackCN]

worst controller hands down is the xbox one controller.

[BurritoBeans]

The WII controller. I have used several consoles but I even prefer the N64's controller over the WII controller, I think the design and build of that controller was really bad.

Yeah, I could see that as being one of the worse controllers out there - I always opted for a Gamecube Controller whenever possible on Wii, and the general remote was a bit poor. What really doesn't help (at least for me) is the fact that the large amount of shovelware on the system has lazily made control schemes, making the whole "motion control" aspect a pain in the ass.

worst controller hands down is the xbox one controller.

I do have to ask, why do you say that? I've never used an Xbox One controller for more than maybe ten minutes every month, but for what I understand it's considered to be really good by a lot of people - it's usually not compared to the likes of an Atari 5200 Controller anyways.

[JackCN]

The WII controller. I have used several consoles but I even prefer the N64's controller over the WII controller, I think the design and build of that controller was really bad.

Yeah, I could see that as being one of the worse controllers out there - I always opted for a Gamecube Controller whenever possible on Wii, and the general remote was a bit poor. What really doesn't help (at least for me) is the fact that the large amount of shovelware on the system has lazily made control schemes, making the whole "motion control" aspect a pain in the ass.

worst controller hands down is the xbox one controller.

I do have to ask, why do you say that? I've never used an Xbox One controller for more than maybe ten minutes every month, but for what I understand it's considered to be really good by a lot of people - it's usually not compared to the likes of an Atari 5200 Controller anyways.

Xbox 360 controller was perfect, PS3 one was Perfect, PS4 one was perfect, Xbox One just was big and i don't like the L2 R2 or whatever they are it just feels weird holding it and i cannot play how i usually play with it.

PS4 has the best controller imo

[Saikou]

this piece of garbage, absolutely horrifying

[Oni]

Steam controller was pretty bad for any FPS. Gimmicky as hell.

[themakokid]

Worst for comfort: Dreamcast. I swear it gave me carpal tunnel.
Worst for gaming: Wii U. I hated how Super Mario 3D World required the gamepad to play only occasionally.