Week 9! you got the touch!

The controller, whether it be the joystick or the high tech wizardry of the wii mote, is an essential piece of equipment for any gamer, lets face it games would be a lot less interesting if you couldn't move.

the early controllers were essentially a stick on a box, i am of course referring to the humble joystick. it was the joystick which provided the interaction in my early gamer days on my Atari ST. Though not always the most reliable, functional or practical pieces of equipment, it sure did come into its own on those early flight Sims.

Nintendo NES brought with the "pad" and consoles have never looked back. The now standard D-pad soon became the control method of choice for most manufacturers. of the early pads i used i seem to remember preferring the SNES pad to its Sega rival. i always thought the megadrive pad, a little too bulky. On the subject of these particular consoles, though they may not have the sleek design of some of today's machines but I personally like them for their pure ease of use, and how robust and heavy duty they were along with the cartridges. No need to worry about a scratch on the disk in them days.

The introduction of the analog stick on the N64 again stuck as another standard feature. I think put to best use on the PlayStation controllers. Particularly the PlayStation 2, dual shock 2 which now i think about it has probably been one of the best.

having fairly recently purchased an Xbox 360 i may be slightly behind the game but i am enjoying the whole wireless remote experience. it is such a huge relief not to be constrained by that pesky wire. having never owned an xbox i have also got the used to the controller fairly quickly which is testament to it really.

Of all the consoles though, purely on looks alone the PS3 does slightly edge it over the 360, though it is a close run thing. i do like the taper of the 360 but the PS3 is so sleek it looks like it could fly.

Then there is of course the Wii and the now infamous Wii mote. I have not used said equipment but it has been a huge success and with it being such a success it has possibly opened the door for more obscure and innovative ways to interact with games in the future. Has it spelled the end for the game pad? i think its success may have, as history has taught us that after one company (Nintendo) has done it, all the other companies follow.