Controller

The humble controller. Sadly, often the most over looked component of a system. Which is a shame, seeing as the controller is the physical interface with which you use to interact with the virtual world. It is the gate way between the physical tangible world and the virtual digital world. Good graphics and beautiful gameplay mechanics don't mean shit if you cant interact with the world through fault of the controller.

With this mind, many people are visually taken back upon first inspection of the controller, often making the same kind of noise as someone discovering they have cold caramel fudge in their favourite hat (don't ask). But as soon as the controller slips with ease into the waiting hands of the to be gamer, all initial aprehension is quickly dissolved.

Nintendos design ethic was to design a controller where you didn't have to think about what you were doing, and didn't have to search for the buttons. I'm happy to say they succeeded with flying colours. Although the button shape and placement is quite unorthodox, after a few short minutes you will be performing like a pro. The X and Y buttons are well within reach, without being to small or to far away, and the kidney shape of the two buttons means that both are instantly recognizable by touch alone.
The A button looks as if is going to dominate the controller, and in a way it does, but without getting in the way of the other controllers. As long as the A button is assigned to the most important or main function (as it has been by default, in all the games I have played so far), no problems arise.
The B button by comparison is dwarfed by the A button, but is again, expertly placed.

The L and R buttons are the first analogue buttons (that I know of) for any Nintendo console. They have a huge amount of travel, allowing for greater precision, and a very identifiable click, when they are fully depressed, which is very useful indeed.

The joystick takes the Nintendo 64 stick, and the PSX stick, and combines the best elements of the two. We shouldn't have anymore problems with broken or worn out sticks either. It provides the perfect amount of resistence and the octagonal shape around the stick means that you know exactly which way the stick is facing, and true north is easy to find. This is a big problem in the Sony sticks, as walking in a perfect line forward was often made much more difficult than it should of been, thanks to the lack of directional awareness when using the stick.
The C stick is much the same, only smaller, and will make camera control a breeze in platformers.

The D-Pad is back. The main function so far is that it acts as a set of hotkeys for commands, much like the D-Pad in Jet Force Gemini. A very useful addition indeed, and will make all the difference in FPS's allowing you to configure your favourite weapons to the hotkeys.

The Z button, in my opinion, single handedly made the 64 controller the best available controller at the time. Any one could of sworn the 64 was designed for FPS, and FPS alone. Unfortunately the Z button doesn't make quite as big a splash in this case. Infact, I would go as far to say I have a DISLIKE for this button (*hides*). It is far to small, and doesn't have an identifiable click when depressed, as is needed on a trigger. Also, positioning and the way it is hinged makes it even worse. The R-Button makes a much better gun trigger.

The Prongs. They are a tiny bit to thin and tall for my hands, but other than that, they are perfectly fine.

Finally the built in rumble feature is a welcome addition. The best thing is that it actually feels like force feedback, rather than simply vibrating in your hand. The weight spins much more slowly and smoothly, and the speed is varied quite alot to produce a whole different range of feels.

How will it handle the different genres? Heres my opinion.

First Person Shooter- The C-Stick could be used to control the crosshair (much like the mouse on PC) but whether this will work well or not is anyones guess. The C stick will mean that the controller is either an astounding success or an amazing flop for those who crave ultimate control in their FPS's.
The D-Pad will be a great addition. I'm intending to configure it as hotkeys to my favourite weapons, which will be an incredible aid, especially in multiplayer.

Platformer- This Controller was MADE for platformers. The C stick will solve all the camera hassles and the Control Stick will allow very precise control.

RPGer- Controls have never benn that big an issue in RPG's but the D Pad again could act as an invaluable hotkey device for regular functions that must be repeated over and over and over and...

Third Person Shooter- Again, the C-Stick will come into its own with camera control. The main reason I've never like TPS's is because of the camera, hopefully the controller will mean i can have another genre on my regular playlist.

Racing Gamer- The L and R buttons mean we can finally have analogue accelerators and brakes! Hurrah! Will make all the difference in sim racing games.

RUN DOWN (out of 10 in every case)

A, B, X, and Y buttons- 9
Z button- 4
D-Pad- 8
Control Stick- 10
C-Stick- 8
R and L buttons- 10
Overall- 9.5
Comment- The best controller by far from all the other next-gen offerings.

Reviewer: MrP