25 Best Video Game Controllers #5 – #1

No matter what anyone says, the keyboard and mouse is still one of the best controller interfaces for video games, period. Not only is it the interface that first-person shooters were essentially designed for, it’s also far more flexible because ... well, it has more buttons. Imagine playing World of Warcraft without the number bar. Imagine playing a text adventure without actually being able to type words. Imagine playing SimCity without a mouse. For PC gaming, a keyboard and mouse is where it’s at.

The Super Nintendo controller is the prototype controller for all modern day video game controllers that are currently in use. It was the first controller to use the cross layout for face buttons, and the first controller to make use of shoulder triggers. Sure, later controllers may have added more buttons and joysticks but the SNES controller started it all.

Earlier we said that the keyboard and mouse is the best way to control PC games, especially first person shooters. While that is certainly true, the Xbox 360 controller is the next best thing. With triggers that are incredibly responsive yet large enough to simulate an actual trigger pull, the Xbox 360 controller essentially solidified the consoles place as shooter console of choice for this generation.

The Dualshock 2 was as close to controller perfection as we are going to get, for conventional controllers at least. It was everything that the original Dualshock was, but greater, and standardized for all PS2 games. The Dualshock 2’s layout was so good, Sony hasn’t had to change it. The Six Axis and Dualshock 3 used the exact same layout with the exact same analog sticks and exact same buttons as the Dualshock 2, and the new Dualshock 4 for the PS4 will do the same.

Finally, we have true gaming excellence in controller form. The Gamecube controller changed its button layout according to the actual usage of the buttons themselves. The A button, for example, was the most commonly used button, and thus was the biggest. The B button was another “main” button but was used less than the A button and usually was used to cancel choices so it was red and smaller. The X and Y buttons tended to be auxiliary functions or menus so they had straighter shapes and were included along the perimeter of the A button. The C-stick was usually used for the camera and thus was loser and smaller than the analog stick. The d-pad was located below the analog stick as most games used analog movement on the Gamecube. The Z button was a faster digital alternative to the L and R triggers, which had lots of pull distance but were incredibly fast to respond and fit the contour of your fingers. The Gamecube controller was good game design condensed to fit in the palm of your hand, that's why it's #1 on our list of the 25 Best Videogame Controllers.