The Best Ever Game Controller May Be Set for a Comeback | WIRED

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We recently told you why the Nintendo 64 controller was actually terrible, contrary to any flawed childhood memories you may have. Now let's take a look at why the GameCube controller is quite the opposite. In fact, it stands as one of the best joypads Nintendo has ever released, and a brilliant example of how much Nintendo could improve in just one console generation.

Launched alongside the diminutive GameCube in 2001, the controller beautifully refined the inputs of the N64's. Its main thumbstick and D-Pad were aligned for easy reach, while the four C-buttons of its predecessor evolved into their final form, the C-stick, a long-overdue second thumbstick that allowed for better camera controls.

The awkwardly placed Z-trigger of the N64 became the GameCube's Z-button, sitting atop the right shoulder trigger, while the left and right triggers themselves curved outwards to naturally hug players' fingers.

The classic, and much loved, GameCube pad.

The GameCube pad also offered some bold design choices of its own, such as the ultra prominent A button, surrounded by satellite B, X, and Y buttons—the latter two returning for the first time since the SNES. The asymmetry is still a bit odd to look at, but mechanically it works marvelously.

Making Mario jump, his raison d'etre, is mapped to that colossal A button in Super Mario Sunshine; it's the main interaction button for Luigi's Mansion or The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, the shoot button in Metroid Prime. It gently reminded players—and perhaps even developers—how often a single face button dominates control layouts, and how controls can often be simplified to minimize inputs in the first place.

Overall, it was an incredibly ergonomic controller, more comfortable to hold than its predecessor, and a better fit for the grip of homo sapiens—a species which, as previously discussed, evolved to typically have two hands, not three.

Nintendo even improved on the GameCube controller just a year later, with the glorious WaveBird model—a wireless upgrade that finally cut the cord for console gaming.

The GameCube wasn't the first console to introduce a cordless controller—that honor probably, technically, goes to the Atari 2600—but the WaveBird did make the idea finally viable. Many earlier efforts relied on an infrared detector (such as Nintendo's own NES Satellite, which allowed up to four players to connect to the humble NES from 4.5 meters away), but as the tech required a strict line-of-sight from controller to receiver to work, they often flopped. Others, such as this monstrosity Intel attempted as a wireless PC controller in 1999, required prominent base stations to be installed.

The The WaveBird was a wireless upgrade that finally cut the cord for console gaming.

The WaveBird instead used radio frequency tech to communicate with a receiver unit that simply plugged into one of the GameCube's regular controller ports. It kept the same layout as the corded GameCube controller, but filled in the empty space between thumbsticks with a battery pack and a dial to select frequency channels. Yes, that added some heft to the pad, but it was a small price to pay to finally be able to sit more than 6 feet away from your TV.

It was also hugely influential. Third-party peripheral makers would try to emulate the WaveBird's freedom for the PS2 and Xbox, but it wouldn't be until the PS3 and Xbox 360 launched that Sony and Microsoft would incorporate wireless controllers into their own families of products.

While the GameCube controller wasn't quite perfect—the tiny nub of the C-stick could uncomfortably dig into your thumb after a while; and there was always something a bit off in having a total of three shoulder buttons—it was a huge improvement.

More than two decades on from its releases, fans still frequently cite it as one of finest controllers—if not the finest—that Nintendo has ever made. A huge part of that is down to one game, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Nintendo's crossover brawler, that made such spectacular use of the controller's layout that it's still considered the definitive way to play even later entries in the series.

If anything, the GameCube controller's success far outstripped that of the console itself. The GameCube sold roughly 10 million fewer units globally than the N64, but its controller would go on to be compatible with every Nintendo console that followed.

Its direct successor, the Nintendo Wii, had four GameCube controller ports built into the hardware itself, a natural fit given the console was backwards compatible with GameCube games. Using a GameCube controller on Wii U was trickier, but possible—albeit limited exclusively for playing Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. There's similar support for using them on the Switch, in this case primarily for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

While nowadays, the Nintendo Switch Pro controller has arguably supplanted the GameCube as the best controller for functionality—it's essentially the same layout as an Xbox controller, as close to a default as modern gaming has across formats, ensuring multi-format games play the same—Nintendo has never forgotten the popularity of the GameCube joypad.

Killscreen has a "CubeSense" controller for the PlayStation 5, a customized version of the DualSense.

Although it's not re-released or updated the beloved pad itself (yet… more on that in a second) it has officially licenced third-party companies to do so over the years. There's the likes of PowerA's wireless controller for Switch, which adds a left shoulder button to match the Switch Pro, while more modern tech allows it to drop the WaveBird's bulky battery pack.

Similarly, HORI released a range of "Battle Pads" modelled on the GameCube's, also adding that crucial left shoulder button, which were branded and tailored for use in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Told you the fanbase considers that pad the GOAT for Smash Bros.)

Love for the GameCube controller continues outside of Nintendo circles. Third-party peripheral modder Killscreen has recently revealed its "CubeSense" controller design for the PlayStation 5, a customized version of the latter's DualSense controller kitted out in the GameCube's signature indigo color scheme. It goes beyond a reskin of the PS5's conventional pad though—it swaps out the right thumbstick for a nub-style C-stick, adds ridges to the left thumbstick to match the GameCube's, and makes the DualSense's R1 button an opaque purple to match its inspiration's Z-button.

It's not a spot-on match—the green of the GameCube's A-button is mapped to what would be the PS5's circle button, where the cross is the equivalent "does everything" button, and the D-Pad sticks with Sony's separated design. It also—presumably due to trademarks held by both Sony and Nintendo—lacks both the PlayStation icons on the face buttons and rotates the C of the C-stick into a "Smiley Stick". Still, it's a nostalgic love letter, albeit one with a steep price—the basic edition retails at $150, while modified versions with microswitch buttons go up to $180.

All of this praise for Nintendo's fourth home console and its joyful joypad isn't just waxing lyrical for the sake of it, but, crucially, because Nintendo might be bringing the GameCube controller back in some fashion.

Per rumors spotted by NintendoLife, a host of components used in the manufacture of the existing GameCube controller have supposedly seen a surge in shipments. While far from confirmed, consignments and shipping manifests appear to be a somewhat firmer basis for speculation, lending credence to the notion that Nintendo is doing something related to the classic GameCube controller.

Of course, rumors relating to anything even vaguely adjacent to Nintendo should always be taken with a mountain of salt—anyone remember the one about the Wii being a VR system, born from a fake "leaked" video ahead of its reveal? Or that the Wii would play game carts and discs from every previous Nintendo console, not just GameCube? How about the one that said the Wii U would feature an in-built LED projector? Or simply that its disc drive might play Blu-ray movies? All bunkum. Such is the unique fervor over Nintendo and its projects that rumors can get wild, especially when they tap into the nostalgia fans have for the company's earlier products.

However, there are perhaps more realistic grounds to suspect Nintendo may revive the GameCube controller in some form. The main one is the suspicion it's gearing up to add GameCube titles to the Switch Online retro gaming catalogue.

Again, this is a rumor, but one with a bit more substance if based only on Nintendo's own trajectory. When Switch Online added legacy games for subscribers, it started with NES titles, then slowly rolled out SNES and Game Boy games. In October 2021, when Nintendo launched the Switch Online Expansion Pack add-on subscription, it added titles from Sega Genesis/Mega Drive (much to the cognitive dissonance of '80s and '90s kids everywhere), Game Boy Advance, and N64.

With each addition of titles from its own home console history, Nintendo released modern, wireless controllers for the NES, SNES, and N64 to authentically control games from the respective systems—if GameCube titles are to be added, it seems to be inevitable that a controller to match will come along, too—which might explain those component orders.

The other is rooted in the "Switch 2", which we know for sure is coming, even if Nintendo hasn't officially confirmed specs, release date, or even an actual name for it. The transition to another console generation, making the GameCube feel even more retro, might be the just the reason the company needs to bring some of those classic games back in digital form.

Finally, while Nintendo fans are unlikely to need much convincing to adopt the company's next console, if GameCube legacy titles were potentially exclusive to Switch 2, that would likely seal the deal—and if a reissue or recreation of one of the greatest controllers of all time were available too, all the better.