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[maxcriden]

I thought this was an interesting article. Some choice excerpts:

The Nintendo 64 controller is one that has fallen out of favour with some gamers – its outdated control stick and limited number of buttons leaves it and its parent system in a state of being old but without necessarily being seen by the general public as 'retro'. You could easily say the same for Sony's original PlayStation – they're old, but perhaps not old enough. To say the PlayStation's controller hasn't had an impact on how modern controllers are designed would be foolhardy, even if the fact that Sony's controllers arguably haven't evolved a great deal is often ignored. The N64's role in defining modern controllers is perhaps a bit trickier to see, but it's certainly had its own influence.

The N64 was released in 1996, and its three-handled input device was a sight to behold – not only did it have the comfortable long handles similar to the original PlayStation controller, but it had something that no other controller had quite managed to pull off effectively, a thumb-controlled analogue stick.

There's a burning question that has been pestering gamers across the globe for years, however — why does the controller have three handles? The answer has never officially come to light, and whilst many younger gamers took the design for granted, it left many older gamers wondering. If we draw from what has been discussed above, it is entirely possible that the reason for the unusual design was simply as a safety net – no one had any idea whether or not 3D gaming would take off, and in order to make sure the N64 could perform as well as the competing consoles of the time it would have been very short-sighted for Nintendo not to also include an old-fashioned D-pad should the analogue stick have been poorly received. Nowadays we expect to have both available for a single position, but if the analogue stick was made redundant Nintendo would not have wanted a superfluous control method getting in the way of gamers' enjoyment; in order to make sure that there was no risk of this eventuality two hand positions and an additional handle solves all of these potential issues. It's not a new theory, but it's one that certainly holds water. Many people have grown rather fond of the peculiar design and some have even taken it to further extremes.

More at the link:

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/20...tendo_64_controller_and_the_rise_of_3d_gaming

I'd love to know what you all think of this controller.

 

[PreyingShark]

I think the space between the three grips is way too small. My hands, my haaaaaaaands...

 

[Anth0ny]

Limited number of buttons? It has the same amount as a Dual Shock...

N64 controller is great unless you were playing Mario Party.

 

[massoluk]

I felt N64 still has the best stick, weirdly enough.

 

[Ambition]

I actually liked the N64 controller. Had no problems playing Conker what so ever

 

[Oddduck]

Never had a problem with N64's controller.

 

[Manmademan]

The N64 was released in 1996, and its three-handled input device was a sight to behold – not only did it have the comfortable long handles similar to the original PlayStation controller, but it had something that no other controller had quite managed to pull off effectively, a thumb-controlled analogue stick.

Nope.

This was the O.G.

The Vectrex Controller, manufactured by milton bradley in 1983. Oddly enough it's actually superior to the N64 analog stick. much more durable and is self centering.

as for the N64 controller itself, it's fine and does what it's supposed to, but it seems to be a controller designed entirely around the needs of Super Mario 64. Some of the design decisions for it just aren't that good for other genres.

it is entirely possible that the reason for the unusual design was simply as a safety net – no one had any idea whether or not 3D gaming would take off, and in order to make sure the N64 could perform as well as the competing consoles of the time it would have been very short-sighted for Nintendo not to also include an old-fashioned D-pad should the analogue stick have been poorly received.

This is just bizarre. The N64 launched in 1996. The PS1 launched in japan in 1994. At that point 3D gaming absolutely exploded, and the PS1 rendered other CD based platforms that COULDNT do 3D well or at all (The 3D0, the Jag, the CDi) entirely irrelevant by the time the N64 launched. Designing an analog controller around 3D wasn't a risk at all- Japanese third parties had been making their own controllers (like Namco's negcon in 1995) and had been lobbying Sony to include one by default in the PS1.