In defense of the Nintendo 64 controller

People often put on their rose-tinted glasses when it comes to video games of the past. It’s very easy forget the annoying bits of bygone eras, because the memories that we cherish are largely only positive in nature. Now that Nintendo 64 games are available to play via the Nintendo Switch online expansion pack, the 1996 console has found itself in the crosshairs of many Switch owners. Rose tints are seemingly in full effect for the games themselves as people don’t seem to be spouting off the usual easy-target complaints that arise when revisiting that era of gaming. Confusingly, it seems that the exact opposite of rose-tinted viewing is happening with the N64’s hardware. Since they made these games available again, Nintendo has been producing modernized N64 controllers compatible with the Nintendo Switch. Widespread complaints for the trident shaped controller belonging to the N64 continue to pile up as people rediscover it years later, or even for the first time ever. I’ve been hearing a lot of people have complaints along the lines of “I never liked the N64 controller, even back then” and that has come to be a bit of a surprise to me. What confuses me about these opinions is that they all seem like relatively recent opinions.  When people elaborate on their “longtime” hatred for the controller, the only complaints that feel valid are those against the poor build quality of the joystick. Amongst the list of common complaints that I am seeing floating around the web these days, none of them seem like they’re coming from people who’ve ever actually held the controller. In one variation or another, the following complaints are what I’ve witnessed most: “it’s shaped weirdly”, “It’s confusing to hold”, “The button layout is too busy”, “It’s not comfortable” and the most confusing of common complaints “Games play way better with modern controllers”. I am going to break down and refute these complaints against the Nintendo 64 controller, as I feel that it’s being wrongly treated by people who haven’t given it a fair shot.

“The controller is shaped weirdly.” Video game controllers have always been developed with functionality and innovation in mind before cosmetic appeal was ever considered. The earliest video game controllers were simple dials and joysticks, as that was all that was needed. Controllers had a slab/dog-bone design standard from the mid 80’s through the mid 90’s, as not much more was needed. Though these design shapes were standard, they weren’t exactly comfortable for most. For that decade or so, innovation in controller shape and button layouts largely stalled as there wasn’t much of a need for change. The standard was set for 2D gaming, but as 3D gaming rapidly became a reality in the mid 90’s, controllers needed to change for the incoming 3rd dimension. Innovation was informing the design when it came to the Nintendo 64 controller. It’s shaped weirdly in the sense that nothing else looks like it, but it is shaped the way it is because it was answering for “How do we do this in 3D?”. Nobody knew what was going to be best for 3D gaming, but Nintendo gave it their best guess when designing the controller. They couldn’t throw out everything they knew about controller design, but they could add to what they already knew worked. The N64 controller is essentially the preceding Super Nintendo Entertainment System controller design but “3D-ified” which is a safe bet from an engineering standpoint. Someone had to be first one to jump in the pool when it came to getting controller hardware to work in the 3rd dimension. Nintendo decided to shout “Cannonball!” while the companies contemporaries were only dipping their toes in. Sega Saturn’s initial controllers were largely the same as the previous generations Sega Genesis, and the PlayStation controller by design was heavily influenced by the SNES. Both of the N64’s contemporaries launched with safe bets for controllers, but would later need to revise their controllers and release new models that were more compatible with 3D gameplay. Yes, the N64 controller is shaped weirdly because it sort of had to be. Nobody makes fun of early airplanes for looking weird and having strange designs, do they? Of course not, people marvel at early aircraft as they sit in museums. The Nintendo 64 controller is shaped weirdly because it accounts for 2D and 3D gameplay in a world where 3D gameplay wasn’t standard. The Nintendo 64 controller is shaped that way because it didn’t have the benefit of a predecessor sticking its neck out first for others to refine upon.

                “The controller is confusing to hold” We already covered why the controller was shaped the way it was, but we haven’t yet explored the logistics of operating the games with it. The easiest way to determine how someone should hold the controller is based on movement. “How do I move my guy?” is the question that should be asked before people blame the controller. Once you have that answer, there shouldn’t be confusion left on how to hold the controller. There’s an old saying that states “a poor craftsman blames their tools for a job done badly”, and that is exactly the scenario that we are facing here when people claim confusion over operating the controller. I often wonder if the people who have this complaint have ever even played a Nintendo 64 game with a Nintendo 64 controller? Every single Nintendo 64 game comes with an instruction booklet stating on how to control your game, which informs the user on how to hold the controller. Even if you can’t locate the instructions, many games will show you the controls within the games menus. Almost every N64 game operates with the joystick as the primary means of motion, so you’ll almost always be holding the middle prong and right prong of the controller. I do not see what is so hard to understand about how to hold the controller, even if it’s your first time. I have a lot of experience with introducing new people to the Nintendo 64, as it was the console I played and shared the most with friends in college. I was in college from 2013-2017, firmly placing most of my peers in the category of “never played” for the Nintendo 64. Not only would brand new people often pick up the controller and use it just fine without question, but it was often intoxicated (because college) newcomers as well, adding a layer of lack of complexity required. The Nintendo 64 controller is confusing to hold if you don’t give it 30 seconds of thought and hand-time before you condemn it, but it’s not exactly a challenge otherwise.

“The button layout is too busy”. If we are to go off the number of action buttons on a controller, the N64 is very comparatively average with 9 buttons. PlayStation’s original controller design only had 8 buttons, while the Saturn had 8 buttons. Some of the bestselling consoles of all time feature button counts in the same range, such as the PlayStation 2. Number of buttons alone isn’t the best indicator, but size and layout can be major factors. The Saturn 6 button pad is 6in wide, the PlayStation controller is 5.83in, and the Nintendo 64 controller is 6.3in wide. The 64 controller has their buttons offset diagonally, which not only gives the player plenty of thumb space, but it also allows for a unique way to hold the controller. The 64 controller is spacious and respects your fingers by purposely getting out of the way with its diagonal button choice, where as you can easily mash all of the face buttons on a ps1 controller with just your thumb. Furthering in the out-of-the-way button placement, the N64 controller features a “Z” trigger located right under the middle prong. The “Z” trigger is conveniently placed in a spot where your hand already is while being completely isolated from other buttons, which is something that I’ve not seen other controllers do before or since. I don’t understand why people say the button layout is too busy, when it’s objectively the roomiest controller of the era. If your hands are too big for the 64 controllers, then you must hate most video game controllers!

“it’s not comfortable” – Comfort is entirely subjective, but it does seem like Nintendo took a “one size fits most” approach with the N64 controller. If you hold other controllers of the era in your hand, none will fill your hand the way that an N64 controller does. If you allow your hand to relax, it’ll naturally revery back to a soft open fist, and it seems like Nintendo used that native hand position as a building block for the controller. Other controllers of the era don’t feature much in the way of hand-filling but suggest that you support the controller in sort of a clawed grip which can cause hand strain over time. People talk poorly about the Nintendo Wii’s main controller, but almost nobody has a bad thing to say about the dongle-like Nunchuck controller attachment. I bring this up because the N64 controllers middle prong is basically the exact same thing as a Wii Nunchuck, which has a great track record and had far more people play it without complaint of comfort. Sure, your hands may very on either side of the size spectrum, but the ergonomics of the 64 controller coupled with the “one size fits most” approach was a breath of fresh air and comfort in an era where the claw grip was still standard. When people say that the N64 controller is uncomfortable, they’re usually unfairly comparing it to a modern controller such as the switch pro controller. Even though the 64 controller is old, I think it’s far more comfortable than many controllers that have come since it was modern.

“Games play better with modern controllers/the Switch pro pad” isn’t even a complaint, but people don’t realize this when they talk poorly about the 64 controller. Sure, they may mean this to be a slight against the controller but this is really a complaint-flavored compliment to the 25+ years of progress that game controllers have had thanks in part to the Nintendo 64 diving in to uncharted waters with their controller design. You’d never brag that a jet is a better vehicle than the aforementioned Wright Brothers first airplane, because not only is it obvious but it also ignores a chunk of history and innovation. This has to be the most “well, yeah?” of all the n64 controller complaints, but I love hearing it because it points out the knuckleheads just looking to complain over something and helps me avoid them.

Now that I’ve done my gushing about the N64 controller and it’s superiority, there is one very prominent design flaw: The analog stick. The centerpiece of the whole controller is its analog stick, which is made from plastic that is very prone to failure and degradation. It’s a real head scratcher as to why Nintendo thought that a thin plastic joystick would be a good long-term solution. Nearly all arcade joysticks by this point were made of metal and featured metal parts, because they were prone to wear and tear. The idea that a joystick would be made of metal seemed to be a standard not to question, yet Nintendo seemed to have reason to go against that standard. The Atari 2600 was a popular home console joystick that was prone to break down due to being made of plastic, but Nintendo didn’t take note of this when designing the 64 controller. It’s strange to think that Nintendo used Atari as example of “what not to do” when they cautiously entered the shattered American home gaming market in the mid 80’s, but forgot what they learned by the time the 64 controller was being designed. The problem with the N64’s stick was exasperated by two popular games on the platform. The first release in the Mario party  series featured various mini-games that required the users to rapidly spin the joystick in a clockwise motion. Normally, you control the joystick with a thumb, but using your palm to rapidly spin the joystick proved to be a way more effective method to win these minigames. Not only did the rapid spinning of Mario party cause extra stress on an already weak stick, but it often caused blisters on the palms of children’s hands. I’m sure this effected adults too, but I’d hope most would have the common sense to stop doing something that hurts. In addition to Mario Party being a popular game that wrecked joysticks, Super Smash Bros. was a game that could potentially lead to extra damage on joy sticks. Super Smash Bros is a fighting game where you can alter the power of your attacks in that game by rapidly pressing the stick in a certain direction causing a “smash” attack. Smash Bros. can get very heated and sweaty, but many people treated this control method as if it were based on intensity and not speed. The N64 controller was great, but it wasn’t measuring intensity of input like that. For those knuckleheads who were throwing their whole body in to smash attacks, it’s kind of your fault that you broke your controller. Since the game was so popular, it’s a common occurrence to find a limp sticked N64 controller that no longer self-centers as it should. To add my anecdotal evidence, I grew up without the first Mario Party game but I did grow up playing a ton of Smash Bros. and none of my controllers ever went fully limp despite playing with two rambunctious older siblings and a host of other 4th player over the years. The stick should have been able to take the abuse, but Nintendo also shouldn’t have relied on controller gimmicks that rely on you assaulting your controller. I think that if the game were called Super Quick Bros, instead of Super SMASH Bros, then people wouldn’t have been so rough with that game. Even if you didn’t play either of these two games, your controller would still accumulate a grey sort of dust in the corners of the joystick from regular wear and tear. This wasn’t generic dust you’d find in the house, it was actually little ground up bits of the crappy plastic joystick. The one thing that truly makes no sense to me is that Nintendo didn’t offer any sort of repair program for the faulty sticks. In the 80s and up until the early 00’s, you could send your Nintendo Entertainment Systems and Super Nintendo Entertainment Systems to authorized repair centers but you couldn’t send in faulty 64 controllers. You could even send in N64 consoles themselves, but there seemingly wasn’t a service for controller sticks. These repair centers were usually local TV and radio repair shops that had a little neon sign of Mario holding a screwdriver in the window, as a symbol of officially endorsed Nintendo repair shops. If someone can repair a TV or a radio, it’d take them maybe 10 minutes to swap out a joystick on the 64 controller. The N64 joystick is not only cheap, but it’s simple to remove basically just being a matter of removing a few screws.

The Nintendo 64 controller remains as the “missing link” between modern controllers and gaming controllers of the 2D era, and we should all present it with flowers for innovating when others were still scrambling to figure things out. If you’re someone who’s had a complaint that appeared in this article, I hope that I could change your mind with my point of view. It’s exciting that people are talking about the N64 again, and I’m thankful for that. Even if people are talking badly about the console, they’re at least talking about it again. I’d like to leave you with some food for thought: if the Nintendo 64 switch controllers are modelled after such “crappy” controllers, then why are they always sold out? The Nintendo 64 controller is a very good controller, and you should pick one up if you can for your Nintendo Switch.