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How do you hold your NES controller?

koam said:
I'd like to bring to the court my surprise witness and proper way of holding an NES controller:

#4
nes.jpg


The index fingers go behind the controller.

That's the only correct way.
 
jiji said:
There are still people out there who call game cartridges "tapes." Wouldn't be surprised if they did it with disc-based games, too.

The CORRECT way is defined by the games. Index and middle fingers of left hand on D pad. Index and middle fingers of right hand on A and B buttons. Controller held inverted and flipped towards body for comfort. Now I can rapidly press A and B for say, Gradius or indepednently hold Mario's "gas" button in Super Mario, while always being able to jump. That's it.
 
I had a knock off famicom console that had a control pad with 4 buttons; 2 standard A,B and 2 turbo A,B buttons, set in a diamond shape formation.

... those pirates back then knew what they were doing I tell you.
 
Coming from an arcade background I always used #2, from back in the NES days even up to today's consoles.

Although with the newer consoles I only play that way in fighters, shmups or other arcade style games.

I really need to get a Virtua Stick for the PS2 one of these days. I loved the DC one and also the Namco PSone stick.
 
My reactions were "wtf i never held the controller like that" until I saw koam's post


I held it like #4.
 
Yeah, #4 it is, the first three all look awkward. I don't even hold controls with shoulder buttons like that, I move my finger up when necessary, otherwise I keep my hands like #4
 
Why would you curl your fingers around the top of a controller, if it doesn't have shoulder buttons? Some of you were retarded kids =P
 
I held it like #4, but for games where you had to tap the buttons as fast as possible I used it like #2.

Even numbers ftw!
 
#6

Without the tips of my thumbs.

In fact, I don't use the tips of my thumbs on any gamepad. Always the joint.

...Who uses the tips?
 
#4, occasionally #2 as demanded by the game. In fact, I still use variations of the #2 position on today's controllers for a game every now and then.
 
Tsubaki said:
Yeah... #3s are winning by a landslide for the reasons mentioned. Games from NES to even today require holding down one button while hitting another. There is no other option.

That's why #2 was the best option for any games on NES.
 
#4 for me too. I didn't approach the controller from the diagnonals, unlike modern console controllers, as the corners would dig into my hand.
 
I had a friend who used to play NES games with the controller backward.

Let's see if I can explain this. Have the controller in front of you, facing away from you, so that the cord hangs down on the bottom. Put both hands on top of the controller (the controller's actual bottom), with your hands draped over it, so that your thumbs press against the back of the controller, and your fingers can reach the dpad and buttons. He played like that, with the controller facing away from him the entire time.
 
shidoshi said:
I had a friend who used to play NES games with the controller backward.

Let's see if I can explain this. Have the controller in front of you, facing away from you, so that the cord hangs down on the bottom. Put both hands on top of the controller (the controller's actual bottom), with your hands draped over it, so that your thumbs press against the back of the controller, and your fingers can reach the dpad and buttons. He played like that, with the controller facing away from him the entire time.

I frequently play RPGs this way. It's a nice way to rest your thumbs after you've been playing for a couple of hours. It's not like you need mad speed to play DQVIII anyways.
 
Yep, 4 is definitely me. But that seems to be the case for most people...
 
koam said:
I'd like to bring to the court my surprise witness and proper way of holding an NES controller:

#4
nes.jpg


The index fingers go behind the controller. Putting them on top (Snes-style) will hurn your fingers on an NES pad. Also, the left hand is positioned horizontally in #4 not vertically which makes more sense since you run left/right more often then you do up/down (you tilt your thumb a bit up/down to press up/down).

I agree 100%. That's pretty much the only way I ever held an NES pad, unless the game called for button mashing or something (Track & Field for example).
 
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