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Discussion What would be your dream controller?

Candescence

Candescence

Inky Futurist
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Exactly what it says on the tin. What form factor would it be in? What features would you want from it? Go as wild as you want.

As for me, well... I'm gonna use the Steam Deck as a starting point.

rJ087E4.jpg


Basically? Take the Steam Deck's control layout and features, put it on a controller frame (with or without the screen), and add:

  • Scroll wheel shoulder buttons
  • Triggers that can be set to either be hair-trigger or proper analog
  • Hall effect sticks
  • Two extra face buttons if they can fit on the controller
Anything else like improved haptic features are optional but nice to have. At this point it would have everything I could ever want in a "traditional" controller format.

(Basically I'm asking Valve to make a Steam Controller 2 like this, and I hope to the heavens they do.)
 
  • Switch Pro/Xbox layout (I'm kinda indifferent to where A/B and X/Y actually are)
  • multi-colored face buttons
  • analog triggers
  • Steam Deck-style back buttons
  • gyro
  • hall effect sticks
  • ring around the sticks that's some kind of polygon with corners (think N64 or Gamecube)
  • I've always liked the DS Lite d-pad, so let's go with that but a little bigger
  • WiiU Pro controller-tier battery life

I would also accept a wireless Gamecube controller with clickable sticks, a second Z button on the left, a Select button, and gyro
 
As much as I generally prefer symmetrical wii u stick placement, overall as a package PS4 is pretty great and even has the (finally being used over the last couple of years) Gryo, even on some PC ports. Thats pretty nice. Not ideal battery though, sticks are slightly small and its harder to have all 4 fingers on the shoulder than Dualshock2/3. Reasonable dpad (not ideal for 2d platformers though certainly not unplayable, its not a 360 controller). Not much to complain about.

I feel like controllers were mostly solved with the dualshock 1 and most things have been very iterative or subjective. I'd trade all the bells and whistles to remove stick drift and have a decent battery/dpad (or even just get the price down, yeesh controllers are expensive now). The differences are mostly miniscule unless you need an elite/competitive controller.

Although getting the back buttons on newer controllers are kind of nice, especially for pc/software support, same for trackpads.
 
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dolpic said:
A controller with a good dpad that also has two control sticks (impossible apparently)
Click to expand...
I know it’s a bit divisive, but I love PlayStation’s dpad. So for me, every PlaySation controller fits that criteria. I think the current Xbox Series controller has a good dpad.

The Dualsense is pretty much the perfect controller in my opinion. There’s nothing that can be improved except battery life, and that’s not even a problem for me because I never play long enough to drain it.
 
Hall effect left stick with octagonal gates, and I think ideally the right stick should be replaced with something like a trackball that can replicate the precision of IR pointer, touch screen, or mouse controls. This makes gyro irrelevant. The stick is above the D-pad and the trackball-like thing is also above the face buttons. The face buttons are heavily de-emphasized similar to the D-pad post-N64, and mostly used as an option for 2D games or for games like BotW that need a million buttons. Most 3D games primarily use the shoulder buttons and newly introduced back buttons so that you can keep controlling the camera with your thumb at all times. L3/R3 are on the back now instead of stick clicking. I'm going to say analog triggers aren't worth including just for the racing sims that might want them. I find them worse for normal use the few times I've interacted with them.

The center buttons are all too small and annoying to hit these days (except that stupid thing in the middle of the PS controller), and there are way too many of them. The Home button needs to be like on a Wii Remote and not the Switch Pro where it's just among the rest of them, but a dedicated screenshot button just feels like a waste of space to me, I've never been a fan of that addition. That should definitely be a combination or something. If my cell phone doesn't have a dedicated screenshot button, my game controller definitely doesn't need one. Anyway Start and Select (or whatever they're called these days) need to be bigger and stick out more like on the GameCube controller, they're already way out of the way, if I'm reaching over there at all it's because I want to hit them.

Also it should have long battery life and feel good, I want buttons that are "soft" and don't dig into my fingers like the hard little Wii Remote D-pad, the Switch Pro face buttons are in the general direction I think buttons should lean, but I don't know much about ergonomics stuff.
 
Nintendo Switch Pro Controller with the following:
  • Hall effect analog sticks
  • SNES-style and quality +ControlPad and membrane
  • Replace ZL/ZR with GameCube-style analog triggers with digital click
  • More easily replaceable rechargeable battery
  • Move the Capture and Home buttons farther from Start/Select (to reduce/prevent accidental presses)
  • Colored face buttons (as a treat)
  • Spice and indigo variants
  • Optional: Concave X/Y
 
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Give me something like a Switch Pro Controller with an improved D-Pad, hall effect sticks, better gyro internals and back buttons and we're set. Or a Dualsense that's lighter without the ridiculous trigger motors and battery life that doesn't suck lol
 
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This but with a good battery life:

Wii_U_Gamepad_schwarz_transparent.png


And I'm not kidding.

Stick placement was perfect, buttons were comfy and snappy, great D-pad, wide enough that my wrists didn't cramp by being twisted at near 90° angles to hold it, and a little shelf along the back that made it comfy to grip. It's seriously the most comfortable controller for my shoulder width and hand size, and if someone made a replica or something similar that connected to the Switch I'd toss my Pro Controller in the bin. I miss this thing.
 
Modular
Central unit a la Joy-Con grip, but houses most of the guts
Can swap out configurations to your heart's content
Sticks, d-pads, buttons, track balls, spinners, maybe even touch pads
Multiple finish options, crystal, metallic etc

Just something that pays homage to the past, but encourages fresh (revitalised?) ways to play in the future.

Kinda sick of every controller being the same, tbh.
 
This would have been a much more complicated question for me up until recently. Now I realize my dream controller is here: the DualSense! Great size and shape for my hands, I personally like the d-pad, and the haptics are unreal.
 
BowserIsMyFather said:
Modular
Central unit a la Joy-Con grip, but houses most of the guts
Can swap out configurations to your heart's content
Sticks, d-pads, buttons, track balls, spinners, maybe even touch pads
Multiple finish options, crystal, metallic etc

Just something that pays homage to the past, but encourages fresh (revitalised?) ways to play in the future.

Kinda sick of every controller being the same, tbh.
Click to expand...
There's a controller by Thrustmaster that does most of that, actually.

For me, idk... this modular thingamajic sounds fun enough, but at the end of the day, I just want the DualShock3 with adaptable triggers (I hated playing action games with the OG triggers and their long travel).
 
Joy-cons with more robust parts and advances to the gyro to reduce drift. Basically, joy-cons with improvements to eliminate drifting of any kind.

That's it.

Maybe being a tiny bit bigger wouldn't hurt. But just a tiny bit.
 
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freedomseekr said:
There's a controller by Thrustmaster that does most of that, actually.

For me, idk... this modular thingamajic sounds fun enough, but at the end of the day, I just want the DualShock3 with adaptable triggers (I hated playing action games with the OG triggers and their long travel).
Click to expand...

I saw the Thrustmaster one, and it didn't go far enough for my liking. The beast I have in my head is the stuff of Frankenstein fever dreams, made to give retro enthusiasts a ton of workable options as well as open up the control methods to indie devs. Something totally left of the field, but encourages creativity and outside,-the-box thinking. I dunno, it's hard to vocalise never mind visualise.

But there's nothing wrong with 'normal' controllers. Everything has it's place, but at this point it's just refinement that's needed. The DS3/4 and Pro Controller are great examples of things that are a few steps away from greatness.
 
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it’s the Switch Pro controller. I’d only want futuristic adjustments after they were proven out after five years. Maybe even Wii U Pro Controller battery life… but also with a microphone exclusively for weird game gimmicks!
 
I want the Saturn controller with the 6 face buttons A/B/C/X/Y/Z and with the aframentioned D pad in the shape of the dualsense with all the same features except R1 and L1 become scrolling wheel buttons. There you have it.
 
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I don't think there can be a singular "best" or "dream" controller. The features that make a controller good for a particular genre (or even game) are what makes it less than ideal for another.

240aa915-9509-467e-9407-fd28aaf2c878.jpg


If I had to choose, though, I'd start with an Xbox Elite 2 controller, swap in a SNES d-pad, switch to low-travel digital shoulder buttons, replace the sticks with Hall effect versions, and add two additional face buttons.
 
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Standard modern controller layout, no stick layout preference.
Universal compatibility with all current consoles.
Hall effect sticks and analog triggers.
HD Rumble or similar technology, plus haptic triggers.
All buttons use clicky mechanical or optical switches. Analog triggers can be switched to digital mode, also using clicky mechanical/optical switches.
Gyro support through Xinput, so I can use both gyro and analog triggers for PC games.
Back paddles that aren't just mirrors of face buttons.
Wired communication through USB, wireless communication through Bluetooth.
Easy cleaning and disassembly.
Customizable face plates, including analog stick gates (8-way for fighting and arcade games, square for flight sims).
All parts including battery are user-replaceable and readily available. Some parts such as the sticks and button modules are socketed.
 
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OP said “go as wild as you want” and most of y’all out here asking for a regular-ass controller with Hall effect sticks and paddles. That is so boring. Is this really a Nintendo board?

One of my dream features on a modern controller would be something that completely eliminates the need to control the camera with the right stick in anything that isn’t an FPS or TPS. This would allow you to focus entirely on the action instead of constantly having to fiddle with the camera. You could probably achieve this with a combination of eye-tracking and machine learning.

Another more advanced feature would be haptic trackpads that can accurately mimic the feel of traditional buttons, among other things.
 
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I recently bought a DualSense Edge, and it's easily the best controller I've ever used. I was initially hesitant, due to the $200 asking price, but I don't regret pulling the trigger. It fulfills all of my criteria: comes with classic PS1/2/3 style domed analog sticks, has adjustable trigger stops (functionally turning L2 / R2 into buttons, if desired), and has back buttons, of which you can choose to use SCUF / Xbox Elite style paddles, or these really neat half domes, which are my preferred pick. This is in addition to everything the base DualSense already nailed: a headphone jack, haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, and solid build quality.

My only, only real complaint: the thing is slightly too bulky for me. I favor smaller controllers, so I'd have preferred something the size of the DualShock 4. That, and some color options would've been real nice, 'cuz I just don't vibe with the PS5's black and white aesthetic. Outside of that though, the thing rules, so my dream controller would simply be a slightly smaller DualSense Edge.
 
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chocolate_supra said:
This but with a good battery life:

Wii_U_Gamepad_schwarz_transparent.png


And I'm not kidding.

Stick placement was perfect, buttons were comfy and snappy, great D-pad, wide enough that my wrists didn't cramp by being twisted at near 90° angles to hold it, and a little shelf along the back that made it comfy to grip. It's seriously the most comfortable controller for my shoulder width and hand size, and if someone made a replica or something similar that connected to the Switch I'd toss my Pro Controller in the bin. I miss this thing.
Click to expand...
Not knocking your preference at all and I especially agree with how comfortable that controller is to hold (seriously the finger rest in the back?!?!) but the button placement on this was not great
 
AngryAlchemist said:
Not knocking your preference at all and I especially agree with how comfortable that controller is to hold (seriously the finger rest in the back?!?!) but the button placement on this was not great
Click to expand...
I think it worked well for me because I play a ton of 2D games so having a thumb on the D-pad and a thumb on the face buttons had everything feel aligned. Then on 3D games (especially BotW) I'm mostly running and working the camera so thumbs on the sticks kept my hands aligned. With something like the Pro Controller (which is honestly mostly great) I end up feeling like I'm holding it diagonally a bunch because I'll have one thumb on the D-pad (lower) and one thumb on the face buttons (higher) and it leads to me holding it with a tilt. Or when playing TotK with both thumbs on the sticks I tilt the other way. It's weird!

Not that the controller is weird, I mean my reaction to it is weird. 😅 Most of them, really. PlayStation controllers really don't feel right in my hands, the Xbox ones are okay (except for the Duke, which I loved but everyone else really didn't 🤣), really before the gamepad the only ones I consistently liked were Sega's.

Oooooh what'd be rad is if Sega got into making accessories. Hooooooooly shit I'd buy a Sega-designed modern controller.
 
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Gamecube controller as the base; keep the analog triggers and bean button layout for ABXY. This is most critical.

Replace the Z button with the Switch pro controller bumper triggers that are softer to press.

Full size SNES D-Pad to replace mini D-Pad (this would likely remove the gap between the D-pad and C-stick)

Copy full size joystick to replace C-stick nub (keep it yellow, though). Octagonal gates need to be kept

Start, select, home, screenshot buttons. Gyro. HD rumble. Etc.

And yes I have heard of the NYXI Wizard and might pick it up later when I have the money to burn
 
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Basically this with 2 changes:

doyoky-gamecube-joycon-finished-product-v0-y4jocqvrg7na1.png


Replace the GCN face buttons for a SNES layout, and make the ZL/ZR triggers analog like the GameCube had. Otherwise this controller is fantastic and yes you can swap out that smaller yellow nub on the second analog for a larger regular yellow nub.
 
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Joycons that don't drift or disconnect and can be used far away from the Switch. I play the vast majority of the time with the Switch docked and love being able to rest my hands and arms wherever I want but I've never had a pair of joycons that didn't have some issue.
 
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Literally just the Switch Pro Controller with analog triggers and maybe some better color options (and a headphone jack would be good)
 
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I'm waiting for thst rumored new xbox controller. If it has hall effekt sticks, I'm buying it.
 
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Wireless ergonomic controllers with full size HAL joysticks that can work similar to joycons (seperate) with each controller also having a touchpad and motion support, but can also be clicked together for a traditional controller experience.

Analog triggers and macro buttons would be the cherry on top
 
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