Evolution of the Controller
Control pads are arguably, the most important components of any console platform, as it is the primary input which connects the player with their on screen character. A control pad can form the basis of whether or not players are attached to the system, and if implemented badly (as with the original Xbox controller), can bring wanton criticism to the console. The control pad has changed the way players interact, starting of as a very simple input device consisting of a couple of buttons, and either a paddle or joystick, and then with later systems the introduction of the d-pad. As games grew in size, and required more interaction by the player, more buttons were needed, and in came Nintendo with the introduction of the shoulder buttons for the SNES.
Once the gaming scene moved onto 3D with the N64 and Playstation, players were required to navigate around an extra dimension, so they had to introduce another radical change to the inputs, by the introduction of an analog stick, which was seen as the next step in gaming control. Sony took it one step further and added two analog sticks to their Playstation controllers, allowing players to control their character with one stick, and the camera with the other. The dual analog stick is now customary with most console hardware.
There aren't that many new ways to change the controllers these days, other than adding new buttons or making them wireless (as has been seen with all next generation consoles), however it is once again Nintendo who are trying to evolve the players experience by adding a motion sensing capability with the Nintendo Wii. Using a remote and a nunchuk, players are able to input movement instead of pressing buttons.
Pictures below show the many different incarnations of various controllers over the years. There are some missing, but I have included the main ones which are necessary to see its evolution process.
Magnavox Odyssey
Atari 2600 (Paddle)
Colecovision
Atari 5200
Vectrex
NES
Sega Master System
Atari 7800
NES (Max Controller)
NEC TurboGrafx 16
Sega Genesis/Mega Drive
NeoGeo AES/MVS
SNK NeoGeo CD
SNES
Philips CDi
FM Towns Marty
Panasonic 3DO
Amiga CD32
Atari Jaguar
Nintendo Virtual Boy
Sega Saturn
Sega Saturn 3D
Sony Playstation
Microsoft Sidewinder (PC)
Nintendo 64
Sony Playstation (Dual Analog)
Sony Playstation (DualShock)
Sega Dreamcast
Sony Playstation 2 (Dualshock 2)
Nintendo Gamecube
Nintendo Gamecube (Wavebird)
Microsoft Xbox
Microsoft Xbox (S Controller)
Microsoft Xbox 360
Nintendo Wii (Classic Controller)
Sony Playstation 3 (Sixaxis)
Nintendo Wii (Remote and nunchuk)
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26 comments:
Yo, where's the NES Advantage??
@stephen -
The NES Advantage was in the original list made, but decided against putting it in as I was looking to list the standard controllers for the systems - hence why you don't see any lightguns, steering wheels, and other random accessories such as the Powerglove etc.
Stupid. How can the Sixaxis be the highest evolutionary step? How can the PS controller with analog show up before the N64 controller when the N64 controller INSPIRED analog. Makes no damn sense.
i agree, n64 was before dual analog, and wii also inpired sixaxis... BTW wii is also better in every aspect... doinga little research doesnt hurt anyone....
Yo, post a real SNES controller, none of that SuperPad bullshit...
Nice work man... Kudos to you for taking the time to do this... however I also agree with many of the other comments. The N64 pad should come before the dual-shock and I would have put the sixaxis before the Wiimote/Nunchuck but AFTER the Classic Controller.
Well done tho... makes me want to get my Vectrex out and blast through a few levels of Mine Storm!
you need to fix the order and set the layout more like the console evolution tree. then it would be good. sif ps3 is the highest on the list. also you forgot KB+mouse
As others have already said, the Dual Analog came out a year after the N64's "unprecedented" analog stick.
Also the PS3 Sixaxis should not be the last step in the evolution, it should be the Wii controller, i would of thought that would have been pretty damn obvious to
A few problems with this list. If you are sticking with only the controllers that shipped with the system then some of these do not belong. The NES Max was a first party controller but was sold separately. If you you are going to include it you should have the powerpad, the zapper, and R.O.B. since at different times they were all included with the NES.
The CDI controller you show was not the controller the system shipped with to begin with. The first controller was similar to a TV remote with an analog stick in the middle. The gamepad controller was created later and then system bundles were created that included the gamepad.
As much as I like the wavebird it was never shipped with the system. It was only sold separately.
The same goes for the classic controller for the Wii.
Now for the ones you missed. You included the neogeo CD controller but left out the arcade stick style controller of the original neogeo units.
You included the Magnavox Odyssey but left out the Magnavox Odyssey 2?
Colecovision but no Intellivision?
I can forgive the lack of the Apple/Bandai Pippin since it was a VERY limited release but in that case why the inclusion of the FM Towns Marty which was released only in Japan. If you are going to include the stuff released only in Japan then you missed a LOT of systems/controllers.
OK guys, criticism taken into account and have rearranged the list slightly .
Fairly obvious the order is nothing more than chronological.
You guys getting huffy should not be getting worked up over it.
Where's that infernal Intellivision disk?
What about the SpaceOrb ?
http://www.mindflux.com.au/products/spacetec/sorb360.html
If the Sidewinder can make into this list, I believe the SpaceOrb also qualifies.
the SNES was 2-4 years before the NeoGeo CD (depending on which market you're looking at). Sources:
http://www.answers.com/topic/neo-geo-cd
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNES
Also, I'm not so sure the wiimote should be below the sixaxis, since the wiimote obviously inspired the sixaxis, not the other way around! (this being a list showing evolution, you can't claim that the sixaxis evolved into the wiimote, the sixaxis is more of a spinoff)
Vectrex rocked my socks.
That's all I have to say.
If this list is in order of most advanced, the gamecube controller should be first, it is by far the worst design ever. The Wii should be like 2nd because its a fucking remote. N64 is the best controller by far followed by ps dual analog or 360.
the person above me obviously could not be any older then a damn teenager to realize how truely horrible the earlier controllers are in the "advanced" field
What about the NES PowerGlove and Captain N's belt?
Nice assemblage of pix, thanks.
Chronological order is inarguably logical. Any other order has subjective elements. All you picky b*****s should try to say thanks before you start your nasty grousing.
what about the 6 button controllers that came packed in with later genesis units?
if your going to include 4 psx controllers with slight variations you gotta include a controller with twice as many buttons as the original...
rollypolly: the psx controllers didnt have slight varitations: 1 included one included dual analog and the other dual rumble. tbh they're more important than adding 3 extra buttons to a controller!!!
Those measely 3 extra buttons were added so as to be able to play Street Fighter 2! Which was the hottest game around back then. Also the Sega Genesis 6 button pad is what the Saturn pad evolved from and those 2 pads have the greatest directional pads for 2-D gaming. There's a reason the Saturn pad was later brought over to the PC and made for the PS2. It was the best 2-D game pad around. To not include the Genny 6-button pad is pure BS.
is it safe to say that every time nintendo innovates new and better controllers, sega tries to take a step back? the master system's square directional was ass compared to the NES controller, the genesis controller was bulky and prone to buttons sticking, and that star trek enterprise looking thing.. yuck. and then they kept a variation of it for the saturn. sega made great systems and fantastic games. too bad they gave the controller development to the short bus riders.
nope, it's not safe to say since the genesis came out like a couple of years before the snes and the DC VMU idea was pretty unique, even though modules were existed on the n64 i'd say it's evolution rather than a step back
HI, I "stumbled Upon" your Post here and thought you might want to take a look at This guys page. Link
All the pictures are clickable and have detailed info on the controllers.
Personally, I can't argue with that dude on controller evolution.
Colecovision was a bad ugly clone of Intellivision controller.
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