Kickin' it old skool style (RetroCon Controller)

[zabuni]

I don't know how comfortable this controller is, but I'm almost tempted to buy one on looks alone:

http://www.ebgames.com/ebx_assets/product_images/238154.jpg

http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/238154.asp

I'm a sucker for the old 8 bit controller, even if my thumbs are already getting calluses from just looking at it.

[quatoria]

I freely disclose that I work for Mad Catz (as a freelance writer), so take that into account beforehand. We got a chance to look at a couple of these during the lengthy periods we were crashing at the Mad Catz booth at E3 this year. It really seemed to be a pretty sweet controller, and I didn't find the old-style configuration at all unpleasant on the hands.

[Brad Grenz]

Well, they've at least rounded off the corners which is a big improvement over the original NES controller.

[Dave Long]

Why do rounded corners matter on the old NES controller? I never held it in such a way that corners were poking my hands or anything.

It makes sense in this case since it has to have buttons along the top.

--Dave

[Kalle]

Uh, Dave, either you must have some really weird hands or you have discovered the art of subtle Zen mastery over control pads. I found it impossible to hold it in any way that did not involve having the corners pressed into my palms.

[Aleck]

Uh, Dave, either you must have some really weird hands or you have discovered the art of subtle Zen mastery over control pads. I found it impossible to hold it in any way that did not involve having the corners pressed into my palms.

No, Brad's mistake was to criticize anything Nintendo. Sheesh! :wink:

Aleck

[Brad Grenz]

There's really no denying how much more ergonomic the SNES controller was than the NES standard. Luckily my NES controllers died and I mostly used a turbo controller with a weird round directional pad thing and a horse shoe shape with extended grips.

[Lavoris]

As long as we're talking about old skool controllers, why hasn't anyone ever gotten the idea to reproduce or create another version of the neo-gecon controlller? One that's more comfortable to use? It seems so obvious. Am I all alone in my field on this one?

[Kalle]

Uh, Dave, either you must have some really weird hands or you have discovered the art of subtle Zen mastery over control pads. I found it impossible to hold it in any way that did not involve having the corners pressed into my palms.

No, Brad's mistake was to criticize anything Nintendo. Sheesh! :wink:

Aleck

Oh right, I forgot. When it comes to Nintendo products *he* never has a problem, even if the rest of humanity does, and he can't understand why other people think there's a problem in the first place. :roll:

Nintendo could release a controller with buttons covered in broken glass and Dave would say "You have to get used to the feeling, but really it's no problem, and if it really bothers you that much wear gloves." :P

[Dave Long]

I pulled the damn things out last night and the corners didn't even touch my palms or my hands while playing games. I honestly have no idea what you guys are doing with them that makes them dig into your hands.

You're going to get pictures of my hands holding the damn things next! :P

--Dave

[Kalle]

I pulled the damn things out last night and the corners didn't even touch my palms or my hands while playing games. I honestly have no idea what you guys are doing with them that makes them dig into your hands.

You're going to get pictures of my hands holding the damn things next! :P

--Dave

To be fair, when I last played my NES I was 11 years old. I suspect my hands have grown a bit since then, but I distinctly remember the controls being very uncomfortable after three hours playing Super Mario 3.

[bmulligan]

looks cool, I may have to buy one of these on looks and novelty alone. But I seem to remember serious bouts of hand cramping with the NES controller. In fact, I just played Metroid a little while ago. While the corners didn't affect me, the hand cramping forced me to quit for the night.

[Aleck]

I pulled the damn things out last night and the corners didn't even touch my palms or my hands while playing games. I honestly have no idea what you guys are doing with them that makes them dig into your hands.

You're going to get pictures of my hands holding the damn things next! :P

--Dave

To be fair, when I last played my NES I was 11 years old. I suspect my hands have grown a bit since then, but I distinctly remember the controls being very uncomfortable after three hours playing Super Mario 3.

I was recently at the house of a family member who still has both an NES and SNES. The NES controller was digging into my hands pretty badly after about 45 minutes of button mashing -- largely because you needed to dig the corners into your hands in order to stabilize it for some solid button mashing goodness. :) So, Dave, I'm gonna disagree with ya, but we can agree to disagree.

And no, I don't have freakishly small (or large) hands, just to nip that line of speculation in the bud.

Aleck