Favorite controller of the 8th gen

[Segata]

We all know the comfort of the plastic in your hands is very important to how a game can control and feel for you. So what controller this generation has been your favorite.

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I have to say I really liked the DualShock 4 last 2 years of use but something changed this past Friday. The Xenoblade 2 Switch Pro Controller arrived in the mail. This has to be the best controller Nintendo has ever made. At the very least best controller for the 3D era, they have made. It feels good to hold. The analog sticks movement is so smooth and slick. Much more so than the DS4. Playing Mario Odyssey and I don't think I have ever used a controller since analog became the standard that just feels so effortless and smooth to use. It's built like a tank and insane battery life. I still have a couple of issues with it. Needs a 3.5 headphone jack and the home button could be more prominent as I have to look down as those center buttons feel the same.

[ElkinFencer10]

Damn, I wish I could change my vote. I clicked DualShock 4 and the immediately realized that Switch Pro Controller was on there. Oh well; I'll just say it here.

Switch Pro controller is my favorite controller of this gen but the DualShock 4 is a close #2. Top 3 would be Switch Pro, DS4, Wii U Pro.

[alienjesus]

Switch Pro Controller is probably the comfiest controller ever made with the standard diamond control layout. It's up there with the Gamecube controller for me (which is the best controller made without the standard diamond layout imo).

The Dualshock 4 is a massive improvement over the previous Sony controllers, which all sucked imo, but it still feels cheap and overly light to me, and it's probably my least favourite controller from the big 3 console manufacturers this gen.

I have limited XBox One controller experience, but it seems comfy. I'd need more time to determine if it fixes the minor issues I had with the 360 pad.

[ElkinFencer10]

In terms of the "traditional" controllers for this gen's five consoles - Wii U pro, Switch pro, DualShock 4, and Xbox One - there aren't any bad controllers IMO. For once, we finally have a gen where I genuinely love every controller.

[Gunstar Green]

The only thing I never liked about any of Sony's Dual Shock designs was that they put both analog sticks on the bottom. It's not a big deal but it always trips me up if I've been playing something else for a while and then go back to a Sony controller.

[ElkinFencer10]

The only thing I never liked about any of Sony's Dual Shock designs was that they put both analog sticks on the bottom. It's not a big deal but it always trips me up if I've been playing something else for a while and then go back to a Sony controller.

I just prefer them parallel. I don't mind them at the bottom, but I did definitely prefer the Wii U's design of putting them at the top. The only thing I hated about the PS1/2/3 DualShocks was that the sticks always felt really shitty to me, and the sticks never felt particularly comfortable. They fixed that with the DualShock 4, so I love it now.

[Blu]

Hands down the Wii U Pro Controller. It's battery life is amazing. It's rock solid. The only detractor is that glossy plastic. Xbox One Controller comes in a somewhat distant second.

[alienjesus]

The only thing I never liked about any of Sony's Dual Shock designs was that they put both analog sticks on the bottom. It's not a big deal but it always trips me up if I've been playing something else for a while and then go back to a Sony controller.

I just prefer them parallel. I don't mind them at the bottom, but I did definitely prefer the Wii U's design of putting them at the top. The only thing I hated about the PS1/2/3 DualShocks was that the sticks always felt really shitty to me, and the sticks never felt particularly comfortable. They fixed that with the DualShock 4, so I love it now.

I think the primary controls should be where your thumb naturally sits. For the vast majority of modern games that I play, that means that the left thumbstick and the face buttons are what I want to be in the prime positions.

I'll take the Wii U's positioning of the thumbsticks both being up top over Sony's method though - I use the right thumbstick a lot, but I rarely use the D-Pad for modern games.

[Sarge]

I feel like I'd be doing a disservice to the thread to vote. I've never tried the Switch Pro controller, or the X1 controller. I think the Wii U Pro Controller is pretty decent, but I haven't actually used it for very long, and the d-pad seems overly stiff. The analog stick placement on the right side also throws me off a bit at times. There's no way the Joy-Cons win, the throw distance is too small on the sticks and the lack of a proper d-pad kills retro games. They are much better than the Vita, though.

I guess my choice by default is the DualShock 4; it has the best analogs of the controllers I've used, and is a marked improvement over the PS3. I still think the d-pad isn't great, though. I like d-pads bumped out a bit so I can "rock" them with the crook of my thumb. It's what kills me without a proper d-pad on the Switch. Ironically, though, if you give me a small enough d-pad, like on the Gamecube or GBA, then that's not an issue, because now the tip of my thumb is more than wide enough to bridge the gap.

Hmm... perhaps too much information. I actually suspect, though, that I'd prefer the X1 controller if I got my hands on it, if last generation is any indication. I've heard the d-pad is improved once again, and everything else about the 360 controller I preferred last-gen.

[isiolia]

I put in one for the Xbox One controller, though I'd really say it depends.

Some stuff, I'd default to keyboard/mouse for, easily. As mentioned earlier, all of the major controllers are pretty solid now (Pro Controllers in Nintendo's case, at least).

VR controllers are amazeballs in their intended environment.


However, I think the X1 controller comes out a bit ahead in a few key areas. First, it's the most flexible, since it's natively supported on Windows too (though Steam has support for many of the others) and the newer version that came out with the S is straight Bluetooth so it works on a lot of machines without a dongle.
While they can sort of be annoying, having the option to use AAs is kind of nice.

I find it to be a sturdier controller than the Dual Shock 4 (at least) while still packing in more features than at least the Wii U Pro Controller did. The shoulder buttons on the DS4 can easily get misaligned with the rubber pads and stuff...the X1s literally have rumble motors in them, which is neat. I also had a PS4 controller shell parts pop out of alignment in "normal" play. It does not strike me as a bastion of quality construction, though I haven't completely broken one yet.

On the downside, I think the X1 controller packs a bit less into the box than the DS4 does, for the same MSRP. The d-pad is still not that awesome - the number of times I've had double-inputs from it when just trying to enter my unlock code on the Xbox One is pretty bad (probably 50/50).


I like all of them well enough though. I'm not as fond of the standard Nintendo controllers as the size/alignment is less than ideal for both the Wii U and the Switch.