CONTROLLER design has been refined over the years, so it’s hard to think of a world where it wasn’t easy to control your game.
Both PlayStation and Xbox have refined their designs, giving us double thumbsticks, and easy grip and access to buttons.
There is no confortable way in which you can hold this.
However, video games aren’t that old, and there have been some rough designs on the road to where we are now.
Here are five of the worst video game controller designs of all time.
5. Nintendo Switch Dragon Quest slime controller
The slimes from Dragon Quest are adorable little fellows, and when you’re not using it, this controller looks quite sweet.
However, there is nowhere on a slime that you could comfortably place thumbsticks or buttons, and compromises have been made.
The controls are on the bottom, meaning the controller is completely round with a spike sticking out the top.
It has its own charms but is pretty much unusable if you want to play a game.
4. Resident Evil 4 chainsaw controller
Looks cool to hold but how could you even play with it.
Coming in suitably at number four, is the promotional chainsaw-shaped controller that came with the game on PS2 and GameCube.
While it looks cool to wield around, there is no way you can hold it and play a game.
The controls are shrunk into the corner, meaning you’d have to balance the weight of the saw from the very edge.
The alternative is to put it on a table to play like an arcade fight stick.
3. Reflex Paradox trackball controller
We see what they were going for but it just doesn’t work.
Just looking at this one gives the ‘what were they thinking?’ vibe, but the trackball was actually introduced to let PC players use a controller.
Many games are better on PC due to the precision of input you get with a mouse and keyboard.
The Reflex Paradox tried to give gamers the best of both worlds, combining the precision of a mouse with the ease of control of a controller.
It ended up as an abomination, one that has few contenders for worst-ever controller.
2. Nintendo Power Glove
The idea was there but the tech just wasn’t.
Nintendo is often ahead of its time, but in all the wrong ways. Much like how the Virtual Boy was a predecessor to VR headsets.
The Power Glove was supposed to function like the Wiimote or VR controllers do today, where you could control your characters through movements in your hands.
It just didn’t work though. Many games also required you to also have a controller in order to play, or couldn’t understand the Power Glove’s inputs.
As with most things that required a sensor bar or camera in the early days of video games, it just didn’t work.
1. U-Force
Another neat idea that failed to hit the mark.
The theremin is an extremely weird and difficult instrument to play, but it is one that has been around for over a century.
Based on the electromagnetic field, it makes sounds based on where your hands are in reference to it.
This was the science behind the U-Force, which was supposed to read your hand movements, to allow for actions like punches to be transferred directly into the game.
It didn’t work though, much like a lot of innovative tech this early example was temperamental at best.
Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.
