The best game controllers ever created for Xbox, Nintendo and PlayStation

You’ve had a good controller before. You know that feeling when you take that risk and buy a “fancy” controller, worried about how silly it is that you bought it, then you take it out of the box, get it charged or plugged in, play on it, and you just KNOW that you made the right choice? Like, every part of it feels like it was made specifically for you as if it was a hole that appeared in the side of a mountain?

But over the years, Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony had all provided us with many opportunities for controller greatness. They’ve also provided us with stinkers. Microsoft gave us the Duke while Nintendo gave us the Power Glove. And Sony? Okay, I honestly never encountered a Sony controller I didn’t love. Not being a fanboy, I’ve just never had a negative experience personally.

But today we’re talking about the best experience I’ve ever had with a controller from each of the big three. Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo. Sega had some good ones too but anyone who was a Sega fan already knows the arcade stick for the Dreamcast was the best it gets so we’ll leave that off.

Here we go. Let’s start with Microsoft.

Company: Microsoft
System: Original Xbox
Controller Name: Steel Battalion Controller

Pardon the dust, it’s been a minute since I actually hooked the game up but look at that controller. This controller, which Capcom made for Steel Battalion and ONLY for Steel Battalion, was three feet wide. And, as Wikipedia points out:

"The controller consists of 44 input points—mainly buttons—but also uses 2 joysticks, a throttle handle, a radio channel dial, 5 switches, an eject button, and 3 foot pedals."

I loved using this controller and over time, with repeated plays, I learned that controller like a piano and to this day have never had a similar at home experience. When you got into your mech and flicked the metal switches up turing on the fuel pumps, cooling fluid, and oxygen, it felt legit. When you adjusted the radio nob and found out you could hear the other team’s online communication, it felt great. Even the little things like hitting the extinguisher button when the cabin caught fire or using the windshield wipers if a bomb went off too close and you had dirt all over your display, everything felt right. Even the floor pedals were perfectly springy and actually made you feel like you were pushing forward your massive mech.

The common complaint about this controller was that no other games worked with it, but if you had this controller and played the game, you never needed another one. It just felt so organic.