Controller Rankings - The Apple Market

Controllers are physical objects that collapse space and time. Therefore, they are the coolest piece of any setup. Below are some fave buttons of mine:

Nintendo:

Famicom A/B (see: North American SNES X and Y): Concave buttons are indisputable. I will admit that they probably wouldn't scale (imagine a Saturn 6-button with all concave buttons), or lend themselves to games that need more than 2 face butons. But what if...?

N64 face buttons: Maybe the greatest start button of all time? ALL START BUTTONS SHOULD BE ROUND, PLASTIC, AND NEAR FLUSH. (Saturn 3D almost gets to greatness on its start button, but the mush kills the dream.). Great size, shape, and colors that translate to many of the game UIs. The C-buttons need no introduction, fun to fiddle with and design an inventory/spell system around.

N64 L and R: These are so good (long, perfect amount of travel) that I'm convinced that we should have never moved on to full triggers (GameCube and Saturn 3D pad excluded...).

Wiimote A button: Looks great, feels great. Most people attribute the Wii's success to this or that (audience appetite, price point, marketing, motion controls, Wii Bowling) but I'd like to think that the main hangup for the ~80 million people who skipped the Gamecube for the Wii was that the Gamecube's A button was too loud for their tastes.

Wii Nunchuck C button: Can't decide if this belongs here, but it's a tiny hidden bean with a good press feeling. The loose wiggle of the Z button right next to it is really good, even if pressing Z doesn't really feel like much.

Wii Classic Controller d-pad: A bit stiff, but BIG. Between this and the DSi, Nintendo was cooking with d-pad gas (also including Wii U gamepad in this).

Wii Classic Controller Pro ZL and ZR: These might not belong here, but in an age where every L2 and R2 is a trigger, it's fun to have a big ol' button there. It could be argued there is some lineage to the Switch Joycon and Pro ZL/ZR, as those are no-travel triggers with a membrane click.

Wii U Gamepad start and select buttons: The platonic ideal of mushy/small buttons. Great feeling: pressing these down so they're flush with the pad surface.

Switch Pro L3/R3: I like the click here. It's minor, like the ZL/ZR on the same pad. Totally understand if someone prefers Xbox/PS2 over this click.

THE GAMECUBE CONTROLLER:

My favorite controller across any console. It gets it own section. Ranking the buttons from worst to best (excluding the sticks):

D-Pad (Least Favorite)
Start
Z
L/R (digital)
L/R (analog)
B
X
Y
A (Most Favorite)

NEC:

PC Engine I and II: See: Famicom A/B. Concave buttons!

Sega:

Sega Pico face button and d-pad: This is my one nostalgia pick I swear. Don't ask me to describe it or back it up.

Sega Genesis/Mega Drive d-pad: The technical term I would use is "mush intent", meaning that you can mash a thumb as soon as your brain fires the neuron, and it will guarantee your in-game movment will match. Phenomenal mush intent. I would also include 8bitdo's M30 in this category.

Sega Saturn (JPN) C button: In the same tier as the GameCube X button - dangerously near the edge, big impact.

Sega Saturn 3D Pad Analog to Digital toggle: See: Dualshock "Analog" button.

Sega Saturn 3D Pad d-pad: This d-pad makes you feel like you're out of control. I think it's because of how incongurous it is to the whole idea of the 3D pad. Gives it a magic presence. Why is it raised so high?

Dreamcast L and R triggers: These are awful and weightless, but in a way that I love.

Dreamcast d-pad: Again, why is it raised so much? Also how did the fine folks at Sega find a way to make a worthy successor to the mushy-king of the Saturn 3D pad without the webbing inbetween the wings of the d-pad?! Whole thing feels like it's resting on a single ball bearing

Sony:

PS1 L1 and R1: Not a click, not a mush. Perfect for the reduced frequency that L1/R1 are used compared to the face buttons. Feels like you're making a meaningful choice to press them.

PS1 Analog/Dualshock "Analog" button: This is my favorite mush button, with a button well so deep it feels like you can flip it inside-out through the back of the controller. Also it will always feel good to toggle base controller functions with on-controller buttons (PC Engine turbos, etc.)

PS2 Dualshock face buttons: I really like pressing square. I think I go (from least to most favorite): X, Circle, Triange, Square

Sixaxis PS button: The lightest and chintziest Sony controller, but it has an odd aura that suggests an essence of "luxury" with the logo set behind clear plastic. What a weird thing. A deep press that feels good.

Playstation Move Motion Controller "Move" button: They way it's recessed deep in the body of the controller is inspired.

Playstation Move face buttons: These are the only micro face buttons allowed here. They are little cute, clicky Playstation buttons that are raised so high that it feels like a mistake. Absolutely pitiful, weightless trigger on these, and that's why you won't see that on this list.

SNK:

Neo Geo CD joystick: Throwing an arcade stick box gate into a conroller is fun and you feel like you're playing something special with it.

Atari:

Jaguar C B A buttons: It may be heresy to disregard the other Ataris here, but throwing keyboard keycaps in a controller is cool.

Milton Bradley:

Connect Four Electronic Hand-Held direction buttons: I suspect this is where my love of mushy d-pads come from. Rubber buttons with membrane activation!

Microsoft:

Xbox (non-s) White and Black buttons: Every time you reach for them, it feels like you shouldn't be there. It's so funny that they just took the Saturn 3D six-button layout and rotated it a near 90-degrees. Love that Halo mapped the flashlight to white.

Microsoft SideWinder Precision 2 lever: I remember the lever (used for throttle in old versions of Microsoft Flight Sim) having a very nice resistance to it.

Valve:

Steam Controller all buttons: A very ODD one here. The bulbus face buttons, the dinky analog stick. Love the thick L1/R1 and the mushy forward/back standins for Start/Select. The one thing I don't really gel with is the Steam button itself, just a bit too plastic-y

Some notable Third-Party mentions:

EA Rock Band Drums for PS3 face buttons: Oddly close to the Steam Controller face buttons? Small, smooth, cheap plastic that I can still only describe as "bulbus". Just odd little buttons that I liked pressing, even more odd considering the drum pads replicated their functionality for Confirm/Cancel.

iBuffalo Famicom USB Gamepad L and R: Many of 8bitdo's controllers are anachronistic - i.e. adding L and R buttons on their Sega Genesis facsimile makes sense for modern compatibility, but has always made them feel a bit "off". HOWEVER, iBuffalo's Famicom pad throws some nasty "pipes" on the top of the controller, breaking reality and accidentally providing a vision of the past where Nintendo actually had shoulder buttons in the early 80s but didn't have the design totally down yet. A fascinating paradox and truly bizarre buttons. They depress straight down, leaving a sharp 90 degree bump where they previously were flush with the top-of-controller bump.