Control knobs or gamepads have become standardized over time and from having various forms and configurations we have come to have a more or less common standard. Of course, there are certain nuances that give personality to each brand, such as the position of the analog joysticks or the name of the front buttons. However, the history of video games is full of controllers of all kinds, some great and others great aberrations. That is why we have compiled some of the most uncomfortable game controllers in history.
Interacting with video games has had a curious evolution, we have seen all kinds of controllers and we have even seen standards disappear completely. As is the case with the classic joystick, which popularized the first Atari console to later be replaced by the gamepad of a lifetime and its continuous evolution. We’ve also seen things like the Wii motion controller, which, while not successful in mainstream games, is the forerunner of VR. However, this time we bring you a series of peripherals to control games that were not exactly designed with comfort and usability in mind.
The most uncomfortable controls to play that have ever existed
The history of home video games goes back precisely this year to half a century, since it was the year in which, in the United States, Magnavox launched its Odyssey designed by Raph Baer, so you can imagine the number of peripherals to play video games that have existed. However, we have decided to collect the worst of them all.
The joystick of the Atari 5200
Normally the standard controllers that come with a console are usually decent, but this is not the case with the 5200’s . Does it look functional at first glance? Well, it wasn’t, users had to return the stick to the central position since it couldn’t do it. What made the experience a horror and to top it off was a huge hulk as you can see. The number pad? It was supposed to be due to the fact that certain games had pre-programmed macros and you could power cards with the corresponding actions, but it was such a big fiasco that no one used it.
Intel Wireless Series Gamepad
You just have to see the position of the buttons, the shape of the controller and the lack of certain features such as the analog sticks to see why this controller was at least horrible to have in your hands to play long games with it or even be able to use it daily from today. It was released in the year 2000, by which time real-time 3D games already existed on PC and there were already four consoles with analog sticks on the console market.
nintendo power glove
Product of the late 80s, in full control of Nintendo, it may seem to us that the concept of a glove controller could be revolutionary. However, you can’t ask an 8-bit CPU for a human interface at less than 2 MHz, and it was just an awkward controller in that it didn’t work and using it was a lottery to say the least . What it did was change buttons for movements, of the hand and it could be considered a very unsuccessful predecessor of the Wii remote.
Kinect
Our last representative of the uncomfortable controls to play is not even one, since he sought to do without them. The idea of using cameras to interact with games wasn’t started by Microsoft, however, Kinect is what happens when you want to exaggerate a trend towards the ridiculous and sell a technology that can’t deliver what it promises. The concept is none other than a camera interpreting your movements 1:1 and allowing you to interact with the games without a controller. Reality? It only picks up predefined moves, the games had hardly any interactivity and not to mention huge latency.
It was a huge disappointment, but its promises sold so well that an enhanced version was included as standard on Xbox One, causing the console to be cursed by its presence. Microsoft wasted no time consigning it to the trash can of history, and today, if you ask them what was one of their most awkward controllers ever, they just look the other way.
