4.  Original Xbox Controller

It’s funny that Microsoft is universally hailed with regards to their Xbox 360 controller, yet a few short years before were responsible for the planetoid otherwise known as the controller of the original Xbox.  This thing is huge, slippery, and unforgiving.  How the Xbox penetrated the video gaming world so deeply with a controller like this is beyond me.

Part of the Xbox controller’s massive frame can be attributed to the 2 slots in the top reserved for sharing and transferring save data.  Still, Microsoft could’ve left this chunk of empty space there and whittled down this input device considerably in other ways.  The size and shape are really my only issues here but so significant are they that it’s difficult to brush it to the side.  Xbox controllers don’t even pretend to try to fit in all but the very largest of hands.  A fair amount of effort must be devoted to keeping this thing stable.  Not only does its size preclude swift handling but its round shape also makes maintaining a grip a smidge tougher than it ought to be.  Also, with so much empty space on the outside of the shell it’s not always easy to execute button presses quickly, especially when it comes to the ill-placed Black and White buttons.

The extra long cables and breakaway sections were a great answer to the problem of wired controllers; even still, holding this bad boy is plain unpleasant.  Microsoft would go on to release a trimmed down version of the controller late in the Xbox’s life, though it’s these massive boulders that most of us remember most clearly.

Written by The Cubist

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