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What was your initial reaction to the N64 controller?

O

OG_Original Gamer

Member
What did you think of the analog thumbstick?

If Nintendo had not unveiled the controller with Mario 64, do you think you would have viewed it differently?

I ask these questions, because there seem to be some similarities in how Nintendo plan to introduce the advantages of the Revolution controller to gamers, devs, gaming media. Compared to the unveiling of the N64 controller.
 
I was kind of baffled by the klunky thing. I don't really like it as a controller. 4 buttons is probably the most I'd want my right thumb to deal with - and it's why I like the playstation triggers a lot.

The analog stick was quite good - I liked how it was so accurate/sensative not only in the direction it was facing, but how far you had pushed the stick.

Mario really did help it gain acceptance.
 
I wouldn't have been sold on it if it wasn't for that promo video Nintendo sent out a month or two before launch. The one with Ken Lobb controlling Mario with the analog stick. Holy SHIT that got me pumped.
 
To be quite honest, it scared the hell outta me at first. And I thought using the analogue stick was weird. But I got used to it quickly enough.
 
I thought it looked horrid, using it didn't do much to change my opinion. Analog stick was nice though.
 
When my buddy with 1 functioning hand (his left) could suddenly start playing games again, I thought the N64 controller was pretty cool. The rumble pack combined with Goldeneye and Zelda:OoT, it became one of my favorites. When I tried to play a fighting game or one of EA's many sports titles, I discovered the beauty of Dual Shock and my love for the N64 faded. But I still remember my friend's smile.
 
Thought it looked a bit strange when I saw the first accurate artists mockups for it. Once I saw the actual thing, I dug it. Once I picked it up I loved it.
 
DenogginizerOS said:
When my buddy with 1 functioning hand (his left) could suddenly start playing games again, I thought the N64 controller was pretty cool. The rumble pack combined with Goldeneye and Zelda:OoT, it became one of my favorites. When I tried to play a fighting game or one of EA's many sports titles, I discovered the beauty of Dual Shock and my love for the N64 faded. But I still remember my friend's smile.
Click to expand...

Revolution sales +1
 
DenogginizerOS said:
When my buddy with 1 functioning hand (his left) could suddenly start playing games again, I thought the N64 controller was pretty cool. The rumble pack combined with Goldeneye and Zelda:OoT, it became one of my favorites. When I tried to play a fighting game or one of EA's many sports titles, I discovered the beauty of Dual Shock and my love for the N64 faded. But I still remember my friend's smile.
Click to expand...
wait how'd he still play? You still needed two hands
 
I didn't put much attention on the controller.
I wasn't able to think on another thing but Mario 64, once i hold it, it was like putting a glove on my hand.
 
Is that how some of guys reacted to Revolution controller?

At what stage do you think gaming would be if the analog thumbstick had not been introduce at the time it was?
 
I loved it. Still do, but it takes some time to get adjusted to it.

Seriously, Super Mario 64 made me love the damn thing.
 
My reaction was "WOHA!"

I showed a pic of the controller in EGM to my friends at school...they thought it was the console itself :lol

When I told them it was the controller they were like: "No way!" - "This thing is huge!" - "HAHAH!"

Good times.
 
The analog stick itself-a nice concept that heralded tons of innovative gameplay

The fact that the controller was built around one game only (Mario 64) and had poor ergonomics-No clue what the R&D department was smoking when they designed the rest of the pad...
 
pretty much the same reaction seeing the revolution controller....

"what the?"

just at the time I was heavly into street fighter and thought the Playstation wasn't going to be so great I mean nintendo was a powerhouse then, I kept thinking how are you supposed to play SF on this crap. Well I got used to it and still think it was one of the best analogs out there.
 
Calidor said:
I didn't put much attention on the controller.
I wasn't able to think on another thing but Mario 64, once i hold it, it was like putting a glove on my hand.
Click to expand...
Seriously. Mario 64 was all I could think for the six months prior to the console launch. The pad was just a tool to play t that game. Everyday I would stay in front of the TV watching a promo video with Mario 64 and other early Nintendo titles. But heck, it was all about Mario 64.

I remember the first time I saw it live. I was standing tall like one hour just watching someone play that damn game. And when it was my turn, when it was my turn I picked up the controller and discovered the stick was broken! That kid playing broke the damn analog stick and I was furious, because I couldn´t play the game and because that damn kid broke the stick. I hated and thought of seeking him, but I was so devastated that i coulde hardly just go back home...

(some details might have been changed to add some dramatism to the story).
 
trilobyte said:
wait how'd he still play? You still needed two hands
Click to expand...
You could play WaveRace 64 entirely with one hand.


When I first saw the N64, I thought "Holy crap! Mario 64 looks like it's going to be amazing!" When I first played the N64 (a Japanese version, before the American release), I thought "Holy crap! Mario 64 IS amazing!"

The N64 hardware and the controller were entirely integrated with Mario 64 in my mind at the time. The N64 was simply "the Mario 64 generator" and that was more than it needed to be.
 
"Oh man, with so many control options, the games on this system are going to be great!"

And with months of playing the Japanese system before the US launch, I rushed to get a launch system and played the hell out of Mario 64, and waited for the rest of the great games that I knew were coming, because the magazines told me they were coming.

And waited.

And waited.
 
I thought: "DAMN! That looks nothing like a remote control at all."

I played the Japanese version of Mario 64 like six months before it came out in the US while my friend's mom was screaming at us to hurry up and leave the store. Then we went to my friend's house and beat Turtles In Time in like an hour and he was pissed off he spent thirty dollars for just a used cartridge for a game we beat in an hour.
 
The first time I saw it was also the first time I held it, and since I was playing Mario 64, it was by far the greatest thing in the entire history of the world.
 
I don't remember. I was too distracted drooling at Mario 64.

I didn't have a problem with when I first hold it though. My hands just blended with it perfectly. :P When I played Wave Race 64 for the first time I just KNEW the analog stick was the future of game controllers.
 
I was first introduced to the n64 when I bought Mario 64 for my Super Nintendo. :lol
I took it home, impressed by the graphics (didn't really understand that it was in 3D) and I couldn't fit the cartridge in the SNES.. man I was pissed! So I went out and bought the n64 to play Mario 64 and my first impression of the controller was "WTF... how is mario moving into the tv..oh.. I'm doing that". I loved my n64 :).
 
I was like WTF? Three prongs? I still think the same way. The only game it was good for was Goldeneye. Every other game could have been done with a modified SNES controller... What a brilliant idea! I think I'll call it a "Dual Shock"!
 
I didn't really get it at first, until I saw the diagrams of the ways that you could hold it.

It's not really a favorite controller of mine though, so I'm not sure that I ever fully came along. As much as I like Nintendo, the N64 was awful in my eyes.
 
I remember the first time I saw it, I was just enamoured to have my hands on it. After all, I had been reading all the previews in the major mags with baited breath.

When I got to actually play it, I had just started working for KB Toys. A few weeks before the system launched, they got a kiosk in with Mario 64. My manager knew I was a huge gaming nut, so after we closed and I had done my cashier duties (sweeping the store, taking out trash, etc.), he let me go up front and play it while he finished up his managerial stuff. Good times!
 
My first thought was HOLY CRAP DID YOU SEE MARIO 64?!?!

I didn't like it at first because I was so used to using a D-pad, i just pushed the analog stick all the way to the edges. Luckly Mario 64 made you learn how to use it. It's actually something I wish more games did these days. If you watch casuals play, a lot of times they will still tend to use the analog stick like a digital joystick, always pushing it as far as they can in any direction they press.
 
First Hands-On Impression:

"Wow, Mario 64 controls really great for this. Looks weird, but man..."

Second Hands-On Impression with [Insert any other N64 game here except Rare platformers and Wave Race]:

"Jesus fuck this controller is horrible."
 
When I saw the N64 controller I was like "WTF is this shit?". Then I played with it and was like this is the lamest controller I have held in my life.
 
genjiZERO said:
I was like WTF? Three prongs? I still think the same way. The only game it was good for was Goldeneye. Every other game could have been done with a modified SNES controller... What a brilliant idea! I think I'll call it a "Dual Shock"!
Click to expand...
You said everything I was going to, and you said it well.
 
dog$ said:
"Oh man, with so many control options, the games on this system are going to be great!"

And with months of playing the Japanese system before the US launch, I rushed to get a launch system and played the hell out of Mario 64, and waited for the rest of the great games that I knew were coming, because the magazines told me they were coming.

And waited.

And waited.
Click to expand...

Ocarina was worth the wait, though. ;)
 
I liked the analog stick and the Z-trigger, but hated everything else. The three prong designed was horrible...
 
It often goes unmentioned .. but the controller kicked ass for the Zelda game. When you start off in that little bog, and you LOCK ON to an opponent.

**mind is blown**
 
I thought the N64 controller had been designed only with Mario 64 in mind when I first saw it, and for a while, it seemed like that's all the system had been designed for, too. We used to call the system the "Mario 64" when we were selling the import units, and that changed to the "Nintendo Goldeneye" later on. :)

The N64 controller worked well for games that only needed to use the analogue stick; it wasn't the best controller for d-pad based games.
 
Y'know, I honestly don't remember having much of a reaction to it. No WTF!?!? or OMG!?!?!

Did we have hyperbole on the internet back then? I don't remember. Probably not in my area, at least.
 
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