Hail the controller

Over the years I have played many different games on a variety of devices, whether it's been on PC or console, from tapes to CDs, I've been there for them all. As we have progressed through the 'technology tree' these devices, although mainly consoles, have altered the controllers with which we play. 

After looking back at some of the controllers of 'yester-year' I have noticed just how much they have changed. Starting with a typical joystick used for PC gaming all the way to the console controllers we use today. And gone are the days of wrapping wires only to find that after a while the plastic coating splits and you find yourself desperately trying to find the other one. My thoughts are mainly on older controllers for the consoles that take cartridges (younger readers may get confused at this point). 

After looking back at some of them I have come to realise that the developers of the past must never have seen human hands before, the controllers always seemed to have extra handles to hold or too many buttons to operate without using your toes as well as fingers. Some consoles got it right, giving us three buttons on the right, usually operates using your thumb and a D-pad on the left, again your thumb was ample to operate. But then they went and made the casing in the most bizarre shapes, although it looked practical when first picked up it was near impossible to hold comfortably. And now, 'wands'. 

The 'wand' controller was a good attempt at making gaming a bit more of an active experience. An infrared (or similar) sensor would track the movement of it meaning you would have to phyisically move to play the game, good idea right? Not really as most of the gamers soon discovered that you could play to exactly the same extent by simply flicking it up and down from the comfort of your armchair. 

Keeping to the same kind of design some consoles have got it right, keeping the same amount of buttons, a sturdy and well crafted design and nicely spaced controller. However as the technology advances the consoles want to try and out do PC games, which usually offer a bit more of extensive control with use of both keyboard and mouse (would you look at that a control system that works), but in order to do that they must add extra functions. So shoulder buttons were added and extra buttons under the usual 'diamond' on the right hand side. In addition to the D-pad, 'sticks' were added, then they could be pressed down for additional functions. So as the world of gaming progresses we seem to be regressing to the days of old, misshapen controllers with too many buttons, when will the controller madness end and will we all be driven to PC gaming because of it, only time will tell...