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)
I’ve been enjoying the GameSir G7 for a while. It’s wired but I kind of prefer that. My first G7 had a faulty left stick in the first two months. I think it was faulty from the beginning but I just didn’t notice it. I sent them a video of the issue and they replaced it outright.
It’s a bit smaller than my Xbox elite controller and it feels pretty great. I like the clicky dpad and the two back buttons. Stick tension is nice as well.
I’d like to see trigger stops but they haven’t done that yet. I’d also like to have clicky face buttons so I’m considering one of their khaleid controllers. Those are minor nitpicks, though. This controller has been terrific.
Also using 8bitdo Pro 2, I like it. Bluetooth connection is somewhat crusty – for some reason, games think that I’m holding LT, despite me not pressing it. Maybe it’s a Linux Mint thing, I dunno. Works perfectly wired, though
It’s big enough for my long hands. And it has a ton of features and customizability.
What I don’t like is the right track pad when games expect a joystick. Depending on the game controls, it can be suboptimal. (configurable to a degree with center deadzone)
I really enjoy the Gulikit King Kong Pro 2 (and would assume the 3 is better) because it all runs on firmware. No software to install, it just works as it should. Also works on Linux without fuss.
On its functionality side it has hall effect triggers and joysticks plus nice buttons.
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’m using a Thrustmaster Eswap X Pro. The joystick and dpad modules are hot swappable and can be put in any orientation you prefer. They sell replacement joystick modules for $20, which is nice because you don’t have to replace the whole controller if one gets stick drift.
I recently upgraded my XBox 360 Wireless controller and got the Flydigi Vader 3 Pro. Hall Effect Sensors trigger guqrd. Picked it up for und er 50 bucks on Aliexpress. They are available on Amazon US, but not in Europe.
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.
PS5 controller. Bought a broken one to fix and replace my xBox 360 controller I’d been using and it feels so much better. The trackpad is also useful for games with partial controller support like My Summer Car.
PS3 (that’s the Dualshock iirc?), Wii U Pro Controller (I quite like the two analog sticks at the top), and the Steam Controller. In that order probably.
I really liked the wavebird for the gamecube, unfortunately mine went into the aether on my last move, got bluetooth adapters to pair modern controllers with it but the wavebird was really cool at the time, was really amazing to not have to be tethered to the console and it being first party, though at the time the madcatz stuff was decent.
For recent controllers, I’ve been using a knockoff 360 controller for moonlight recently and after a lot of back and forth I really think MS nailed the controller setup back then (OG Xbox being decent but not a preference, I hated the duke, s controller was solid though), I like the xbone controllers as well, but IMO they’re just iterations on the 360 controller, easily my preference as an all rounder controller layout.
I have a steam controller, used it for a while but it’s been some time now, had some really great ideas, I’d totally go for an updated steamdeck style layout on that, probably a second for me.
I’ve had so much drift issues with ds4s that I personally don’t reach for a ds4 or dualsense for non playstation games, I like being able to swap batteries and the Xbox/Steam controllers all seem to have way better battery life in general, I keep a stock of rechargeables around so not generating piles of waste.
Totally was, it didn’t have rumble for battery life reasons, but didn’t miss it much at the time, barely used the rumble pack on the n64, think I got mine at EB games to try out the OOT secret hint feature (it’d buzz the pack if you were near a hidden secret), feedback has come a LONG way since then in terms of immersion.
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
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.
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