10 of the ugliest controllers out there

«One of the ugliest controllers in the world. Hideous», user b.palvin writes about his bad buy. He ordered a PS4 controller which did not meet his expectations one bit. His contribution landed him a spot in our Community campaign.

Frankly, I wouldn’t give that thing houseroom either. But still, it’s far from joining the ugliest controllers in the world. Particularly if you look back in time. Design is a question of taste – say people with no taste. My selection of ultimate contenders may be less offensive in terms of colour, but their overall design sure makes up for it. Here goes:

Atari Jaguar

What’s this supposed to be? A pocket calculator? I have no idea what got into the designer of this monstrosity. Maybe said person had an inkling the console would be a flop and wanted to create a controller that would at least go down in history. Well done is all I can say.

Sega Saturn 3D Control Pad

This controller also begs the question if it was designed over a few too many after-work drinks and how on earth it made its way into the production centre. You can just imagine the comments when the pallets started to arrive at the warehouse: «Hey, if we’re lucky, the controller will be confused with a Discman.»

Colecovision

Back in 1982, the world of consoles was still in its infancy. With this in mind, you can kind of forgive this eyesore. But this doesn’t change the fact that it’s non-ergonomic and unsightly. What’s more, unlike the visually similar Intellivision controller, you couldn’t even insert colourful cards into its keypad. Fail!

Wii U

A controller made up of a tablet. Sounds promising. But believe me, when you’re holding this cumbersome plastic lump of a gamepad for Wii U in your own hands, a whole set of other words will come to mind.

Sega Dreamcast

The console was awesome and at the time I’m sure I thought the controller was stylish, too. Looking at the pictures of this clumsy thing today, an overweight Baterrang comes to mind.

Virtual Boy

If Virtual Boy passed me in a dark alley, I’d run away screaming. He looks like a hideous two-legged spider. Although the controller is quite nice ergonomically speaking, I still wouldn’t be seen dead with it.

Amiga CD32

The paper must’ve got caught up in the printer, turning straight into banana-shaped. However, this does not explain the other design decisions made. Just looking at the D-Pad has my hair standing on end. Having said that, the Amiga CD32 is over 25 year old. That was when stonewash jeans were fashionable – or are they back again?

Xbox The Duke

The original Xbox controller was a true fatso. Until the slimmer version hit the market, Xbox gamers had to put up with the «Duke». Unless you were blessed with hands like shovels, it was almost impossible to hold this controller.

N64

Opinions clash over the design of the N64 controller. Personally, those multi-coloured transparent models already repulsed me back in the day. I always made my younger siblings play with my N64 – or that friend who kept inviting himself over.

Spacetech SpaceOrb 360

And last but not least, a wild experiment of a design. Hey, the idea is not that crazy. Even today, many people swear by trackball steering. At the time, the Spacetech SpaceOrb 360 was advertised as a 6D controller and supported DOS and Windows 95. But I wouldn’t have dreamed of playing «Quake» or «Duke Nukem 3D» with it. Instead, I still have a strong urge to pop that oversized pimple.

Did I forget some design sins? Or do you completely disagree on some of them? Thanks for letting me know in the comments field!