BaronSamedi3's Full Review: Sega Dreamcast Controller
There's something about video game controllers that I'm starting to think I'm never going to understand. I hate all the controllers people loved (Super NES and Saturn) and loved a lot of controllers people hated (hello, Nintendo 64). As I stated in my last review, I have an immobile wrist and two missing fingers on my right arm. Maybe it has something to do with that. Anyhow. The Dreamcast controller is another one of the more unusual controllers I've run into. It's not really a bad controller, but I just couldn't warm up to it the way most other owners of Sega's hardware swan song could.
The first thing you have to notice about the Dreamcast controller is its shape. It isn't the funny-looking tri-pod you used to play Super Mario 64. But fellow game reviewer Alkaiser compared its design to a trilobite. The first image it invoked in me was that of a starfighter from the George Lucas universe. From the top, it really does look like the pending secret new fighter craft the Rebel Alliance will be using to blow up the Empire's latest Death Star. The analog stick even looks like the spot the R2 unit would be sitting in, and the place where the memory card screen is viewed looks like it would be the cockpit. White three, standing by!
A lot of the Dreamcast controller is just wasted space. If the Start button was only placed a little bit higher, Sega could have safely hacked off around 20 percent of the plastic used in its design. The lowest-located button above the Start button is the d-pad, which is location only a little bit down the halfway point top-to-bottom. The action buttons are even more horrific: The lowest is the A button, which is located slightly above the halfway mark and has nothing underneath it. The hand grips could easily have been moved forward a little. It would have saved space and plastic.
In my recent review of the Nintendo 64 controller, I argued that the much-reviled tri-pod had a greater impact on gaming than most people realize or appreciate. The Dreamcast controller is the first instance of Nintendo's innovations becoming commonplace. There's an analog stick to go with the d-pad on this thing, and the d-pad is conveniently located right below the analog so the whole side of the controller in in use. The analog is about the size of the top of one's thumb, but I have small hands. It rests on top of a large ball which springs back into place very smoothly. The d-pad is an excellent size, but Sega got stupid again and this time they removed circular plate their d-pads usually sat on in the past. This means all you get for directions is up, down, left, and right and it's a real pain to move diagonally. Unlike the Nintendo 64's controller, most games for the Dreamcast actually do try to make use of the d-pad. Since there are two grips, there aren't any wasted shoulder buttons.
The other aspect of the Nintendo 64 controller copied by Sega is the underneath triggers. There are two of them, and they act as the shoulder buttons. The grips are made so that most hands grip the triggers naturally. While Nintendo's first trigger was merely a button, Sega took that a step further and made the triggers into analog tools themselves, which means the more pressure you put on the the trigger, the more the onscreen characters react.
Sega also decided to copy the idea of memory cards into the controllers, but they did something very unique with the idea: They turned the memory cards into little accessory consoles themselves, with little screens and buttons. They managed to incorporate the use of the screens into Dreamcast games, and so there's a window inside the Dreamcast controller to see the memory card screen through. Unfortunately, this is an idea that never really caught on. I liked it as an idea, but there are so few games in which you could get any kind of calculated advantage through using it that it's barely even worth mentioning. Underneath the memory card slot is a second slot for things like rumble packs, and this is another waste because it is generally very, very useless.
The most infamous aspect of the Dreamcast controller has been rightfully condemned even by the controller's staunchest champions. I am of course talking about the way the wire comes out of the bottom of the controller instead of the top. For all the wasted plastic on the controller itself, this is the worst way in which the Dreamcast controller wastes space. There is a good six inches of wire here to be used, and instead of allowing you to reduces your television radiation intake, it actually forces you to sit a little bit closer to the screen. That's six inches which has to be wrapped underneath the controller to allow you to play games. You could try to wrap it over the controller, but the wire might get in the path of the analog stick and cause control problems. Plus it makes you wonder just how strong the soldering is. For some reason, I have this deep lingering doubt that the wires powering video game controllers is made to last forever.
The only real good things about the Sega Dreamcast controller are the cool-looking, triangular Start button and the action buttons which are made in four Easter egg colors. It's not a bad thing to hold, even despite my mutation. And hell, Microsoft thought highly enough of the thing to emulate its basic design to a very large extent, including the dual triggers, and d-pad and analog placements. But really, the best part of the Sega Dreamcast controller is that it does its job. There are two accessory slots in it, one of which is virtually useless. There's a way to see the screen on the memory cards, which never even came close to its potential. There's a lot more plastic in it than is really warranted. One thing is for sure: If you decide to track down a used Dreamcast, one of your reasons won't be because the controller is such a masterpiece of game handling.
Designed to ergonomic perfection, the Dreamcast controller nestles comfortably in your hands yet offers amazingly fast response. Connect up to four co...More at vpgames.com
The Dreamcast controller offers an analog stick, a D-pad, a Start button, four gaming buttons (labeled A, B, X, and Y), and two analog index finger tr...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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