A Hit & Miss Design
Written: Jan 12 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Comfortable, nice main button layout, cool new analogue sticks
Cons: Doesn't feel too solid, tiny D-pad, awkwardly placed Z-button
The Bottom Line: It's not bad to play with, actually quite comfortable, but 3rd parties have taken the good and improved on the not-so-good.
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| dopple's Full Review: Nintendo Controller- Spice for GameCube |
I tend to like Nintendo's controllers. The NES controller may have been a sharp square, but you got used to it. The SNES controller was nice and round, and very comfortable (so long as you placed your hands around the top like you were supposed to). And as big and odd as the N64 controller was, it was very cleverly designed and a pleasure to play with (from the nice trigger for realistic shooting action, to the side-wings and analogue stick).
The Gamecube is a bit of a break from tradition. As with the N64 controller, I looked at it and thought - "what the hell?" - unfortunately, the reaction kind of stuck even as I was playing with it.
Granted, it's not an awful piece of work. Like all the new video game controllers, it is designed after the Playstation duel-shock: two analogue sticks, an old-fashioned 4-way directional pad, 4 main buttons, and some shoulder buttons.
Nintendo has made some unique variations, some for the better, some for the confusion...
The better: the main button layout breaks from tradition. There are four right-thumb buttons, except it's one big one (the 'A' button) surrounded by 3 little ones. This is kind of cool, and decreases the need to look at your hand during gameplay because it's more obvious by the touch which button your thumb is on. The large 'A' button makes things more simple and direct. Also, unlike the Playstation controller, which your hand can nicely adapt to, the Gamecube controller was designed to nicely adapt to your hand by default. Very form-fitting. And the analogue sticks on this feel much more durable than those of the 64 controllers.
Worse/Confusing: Nintendo isn't ready to do away with the D-pad, but it seems the one they included on this controller is just an ornament. It's extremely tiny, about the size of the Gameboy Advance directional pad. Not very convenient at all, except maybe for toddlers. Unfortunately some games actually use it. Also, there is a Z-button which is oddly placed right above the right shoulder button on the top of the controller, which is very inconvenient to reach. And in comparison to the other game controllers on the market, the Gamecube one is a little small and doesn't feel quite as solidly built as the others (though it's more playable than the horrid Xbox controller!).
All in all, the Gamecube controller is decent - very form fitting - but not without it's irritations. I recommend you check out a third party controller, like MadCatz Cubicon, which are slightly cheaper and fix some of the official model's big mistakes (D-pad size, Z-button placement) and make it easier to grip for people with big hands.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
dopple
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Reviews written: 140
Trusted by: 6 members
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