At the moment I use my 8bitdo pro2. It was kinda expensive but its a huge upgrade from my no name switch controllers and awful gamesube one from powera.
Also, the 3ds had really good controls (we don’t talk about the c stick)
DualSense is the best right now IMO due to the features. If you don’t believe me, actually play Astro’s Playroom.
But I love the Steam Deck’s layout (so I guess I’d probably like the Steam Controller as well). A lot of that has to do with Steam Input being fucking awesome, but it’s also possible to get relatively good at using the touchpads as mouse, and the “touch right stick to enable gyro” is an awesome feature that has made FPS games playable on console for me.
I had a dualsense before, bought it thinking of those features. Turns out that a few games had support for it on PC, and most were shooters so I wouldn’t play using a controller.
The battery was abysmal too, it would barely last 4 hours. I’ve heard on some places that it was due to the touchpad being polled for input all the time, draining the battery.
Moved over to a 8bitdo ultimate Bluetooth with Hall sticks and couldn’t be happier
I have read that early DualSense units had a bug that affected battery life. If you still have yours, it might be worth updating the firmware.
PC game for decades with a recent (5 years?) Switch purchase. I was never a fan of controllers and still aren’t for anything to do with aiming, but the Switch Pro Controller impressed me as a real nice piece of hardware. Battery life is phenomenal too.
I hated the Xbox controller when it first came out, probably because my child-sized hands couldn’t reach the buttons comfortably. So it was Playstation style for a long time.
Now as an adult I’ve switched over to the Xbox style (easier to plug and play for Steam gaming) and I like it a lot. It feels a lot more durable than any other controller I can remember using. Though I feel the size and weight of the controller makes it slightly more difficult to use the bumper and trigger buttons compared to PS controllers, it’s not a big deal because I’m not playing FPS these days.
Both styles are cool. Tho I have a slight preference for symmetrical sticks
Steam Controller is a flawed masterpiece that I wish we had gotten another iteration of.
Also, speaking of the 8bitdo Pro 2 line, the wired Xbox version of the Pro 2 is pretty great. It’s similar to the regular Pro 2, but it has analog triggers, uses Xinput, and has Xbox coloring and branding. It’s like they took the best parts of Xbox, SNES, and Playstation controllers and mushed them all together.
I’m still using an old PS4 Dual Shock, as I prefer its ergonomics to the Microsoft one… But I have to say the rechargeable AA’s of Microsoft are a big plus.
I tried a ps4 one. Those are damn good controllers.
I do not know what the industry wide obsession is with connected D-pads, but my chunky thumbs do not appreciate it.
And with that in mind, the Playstation style of controllers are the closest thing to my ideal controller currently on the market.
Also, I prefer thumbstick under D-pad just in case I need to hit one of those buttons regularly I have a few options.
Yea, the pro2 is PlayStation shaped. I actuslyl prefer it.
Yeah, I just wish they’d split the directionals.
What do you mean “split the directionals” you mean staggered sticks?
The directional pad is four separate buttons. Up down left right. I want them to be like the c buttons on the Nintendo 64 controller. Separate.
Why?
The point of a dpad is that you can roll it
Edited to clarify. And you can roll separated buttons just as easily… I know because I’d do it a lot on the psp with dj max.
What is the pro2 you’re referring to here?
Another vote for the steam controller - it’s versatile enough to work comfortably with every game I’ve wanted to play.
Not practical with anything else, but the Gamcube controller was so comfy. Def part of the 8bitdo ultimate gang now.
Given that the only console games I play are old Nintendo platformers, I’m gonna have to go with the NES Controller.
Trying to play Megaman 2 with analog sticks is an exercise in anger management. XD
Retro games with analogs are pain, I love dpads
Also, I think you might like the 8bitdo sn30
Its a SNES shaped one with small analogs.
Dpads are cool
I quite like a good ps4 controller
Have you tried the ps5 controller? Genuinely my favourite thing about the ps5. The adaptive triggers and the haptics are so good. The battery life feels better too. That was my biggest complaint about the 4s especially compared to the ps3s, those lasted for weeks.
Yeah if they like the PS4 controller, then they’ll 100% love the DualSense.
Just play Astro’s Playroom and you’ll get it.
I have both PS4 and PS5 controllers for use with my PC, and I prefer the PS4 one because it feels more comfortable in my hands.
I have and it was amazing but I don’t own one and I’ve never used it as a controller on the Linux PC.
8bitdo ultimate. Already lasted more than a couple of months, as opposed to the last two Xbox controllers I had. I just wanted hall effect joysticks and Xbox layout.
Nice
Yea, 8 bitdo have good controllers.
How much was the ultimate? My pro2 was about 50 euro
I recently upgraded my XBox 360 Wireless controller and got the Flydigi Vader 3 Pro. Hall Effect Sensors trigger guard. Picked it up for und er 50 bucks on Aliexpress. They are available on Amazon US, but not in Europe.
Really happy with it so far.
Steam Controller is of course an unbeatable classic, almost it’s own category with the weird but charming touchpads.
Of the more conventional controllers I’m a big fan of my current Gulikit KK3 Max. I was looking for a controller with Hall-effect joysticks, and this one looked like one of quality, so I decided why not eh. Feels like a good controller when I use it, so I’m content with it.
I would love to see a Steam deck like version. It really needed a right analog stick and a touchpad.
The steam controller. I love the trackpad!
I hugely regret not buying 10 of them when they were liquidating their stock and selling them for $5. I love mine and am really worried about what I’ll do when it inevitably breaks.
That trackpad was a game changer for playing KB+M games with a controller, but to be honest sometimes I really miss the right joystick. The trackpad can fake it, but it’s not the same.
If they ever do another standalone controller I’d want it to be like a screen-less Deck. Both joysticks and trackpads and a couple more grips.
I agree with the direction of the v2 controller. Im honestly a trackpad fiend as i never got the hang of the joystick.
If Steam controller also had joysticks, it would be the ultimate controller.
I always thought the GameCube controller was ridiculously comfortable and ergonomic, so that’s my choice. The C stick might not be for everyone though.
Any Dreamcast fans here? Those controllers had similar ergonomics in the hand, although the lack of a second analog stick was a pretty big drawback in hindsight.
Honestly the 2nd analog stick I didn’t mind too much because the face-buttons made a decent D-pad for the tiny handful of shooters on the DC. The bigger flaw was the lack of 2nd shoulder-buttons.
Also that putting a screen into a controller has always been a solution looking for a problem. It was on the DC, it was on the Wii-U, and there’s a good reason they abandoned the idea to put a screen on the PS4 touchpad controller.
