The owl of Minerva takes its flight only when the shades of night are gathering

September 26, 2010 12:21 PM

Gamecontrollers: A History

Nicolas Nova has been collecting and documenting game controllers. Previously similar. (via Playful)

posted by johnny novak (15 comments total)

I miss gamepads that look like remote controls. Oh wait
posted by WhitenoisE at 12:47 PM on September 26, 2010

It's actually more interesting than the description would lead you to believe, as they are working on a book about game pads. The authors are trying to work out how to show the evolution of the various designs. Many of the posts are examples of how other people organized the same and similar information.
posted by IAmDrWorm at 1:27 PM on September 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

In tshirt form.<>
posted by dirtdirt at 1:51 PM on September 26, 2010

I’m excited for the actual book to come out, and that chart of TV remote button frequency-of-use vs duration-of-use was a really great way of looking at how we use tactile interfaces.

But good god, that poster is ugly.
posted by spitefulcrow at 4:01 PM on September 26, 2010

I think I might just pee myself.
posted by theichibun at 6:25 PM on September 26, 2010

I was always partial to sega's game controllers.
posted by AElfwine Evenstar at 8:16 PM on September 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

But what were they thinking with the Saturn controller?
posted by joedan at 9:30 PM on September 26, 2010

By that time I had moved on to PC gaming. But yeah it was shite compared to the genesis controller.
posted by AElfwine Evenstar at 10:08 PM on September 26, 2010

Man, know what I don't miss? The Intellivision controller. That thing was fucking awful, especially the overlays.
posted by signalnine at 10:15 PM on September 26, 2010

NES controllers are still the best in my mind. Simple and durable. My eight year old self chucked those things against many a cinder block wall in frustration at the latest Mario-swallowing bottomless pit or defeat at the hands of Walter Payton in Tecmo Bowl. I never could break one of those things, and I tried, really tried. When I got a PS2, years ago now, I threw the thing once and it rattled inside from that day forward. I guess the lesson here is that video games never lost their power to eternally piss me off. For this, and many other reasons, I hardly ever touch the things anymore.
posted by IvoShandor at 11:36 PM on September 26, 2010

I remember using alternative controllers for my original NES. They were all horrible, but the Power Glove did look cool at the time.
posted by Mijo Bijo at 11:36 PM on September 26, 2010

I remember using alternative controllers for my original NES. They were all horrible, but the Power Glove did look cool at the time.

Nice. I particularly remember the crappy NES Max (I think that's what it was called).
posted by IvoShandor at 11:45 PM on September 26, 2010

Original Neo Geo sticks. Nuff said.
posted by davemee at 2:24 AM on September 27, 2010

But what were they thinking with the Saturn controller?

They were thinking of making the best controller ever, surely. Pity they thought of something else for the Dreamcast one...
posted by Bangaioh at 2:50 AM on September 27, 2010

Yeah, the Saturn was seriously underrated and poorly marketed. The controller looked bulky, but it was a joy to use - much better than the contemporaneous PS1 controller. I had a PS1 and a Dreamcast at the same time, both gifts or I wouldn't have bothered, and I was playing the Saturn constantly, and the PS1 much less. Nights into Dreams and Virtual On sucked away vast portions of my life...
posted by Slap*Happy at 4:38 AM on September 27, 2010