My, how video game controllers have changed from their early days. Just take a look at very old controllers like the Atari 2600 single button and single joystick setup to something like, say, your standard PlayStation 5 controller. They’re so different from each other! But before we got to how video game controllers are now, there was a very slow process of fine-tuning and adding features to the controllers of yesteryear. The evolutionary process of today’s controllers was a long road and we’re probably not done with seeing things get added or even removed to them yet.

But while we wait for the future to happen, let’s go look at the greatest evolutionary moments in video game controller’s history. I’ll be looking at, in my opinion, the biggest contribution to each video game console generation’s contribution to the humble video game controller and how we got from the simplicity of the standard Atari 2600 single button joystick to the button monsters we have today.

First Generation to Second Generation: Mattel Intellivision’s “Disc” Controller

Well, look who beat Nintendo to the invention of the D-Pad… kinda.

I will admit the Mattel Intellivision’s controller is one of the ugliest controllers made. To be fair, it was made when ergonomics weren’t of much importance but jamming as many buttons as possible was. Hence, Mattel thought it was a good idea for the Intellivision’s controller to look more like a phone handset that something you wanna play game with.

Still, the folks over at Mattel were pretty forward thinking as the accidentally made the first pseudo directional pad before Nintendo did. Well, the directional “disc” the Mattel Intellivision had was more like a very flat joystick that could be twisted to mimic 2D movement as well as work like the paddle controllers when every home video game systems were Pong consoles. Most other video game consoles used joysticks to copy the feel of the arcades but Mattel went a different direction. Sure, it didn’t work well but the idea was there.

Second Generation to Third Generation: Nintendo NES’ Start Button

Now you can go to the bathroom instead of having to pee in a bottle!

Even if the Mattel Intellivision beat Nintendo to the “kind of” creation of the D-Pad for video game consoles, the NES’ controller had another innovation that no one really talks about: the Start button. It may seem silly today as we all have our video games declare that you could just “press any button” to start the game nowadays. On paper, this was the Start button’s only function. But, thankfully, the folks over at Nintendo knew it could do so much more.

The Start button served more like a third button that performed auxiliary tasks, like pausing the game in an action game like Castlevania or bringing up an additional menu in games like Mega Man or even your inventory like in the Legend of Zelda. Sure, there was the Select button as well but the Start button was more of the tertiary workhouse button and showed the rest of the gaming industry that gamers wanted more buttons on their controllers in the future.

Third Generation to Fourth Generation: Nintendo Super NES’ Shoulder Buttons

Just because we wanted more buttons, that didn’t mean we wanted them all plastered on the face of the controller!

So Nintendo made it known that gamers needed more buttons. What happened was companies like Sega and NEC/Hudson Soft gladly obliged by… doing what Nintendo did with the NES. When the 16-bit console wars erupted, Sega’s Genesis had a three button controller along with a Start button (it’s catching on) and NEC’s TurboGraphx-16 basically photocopied the NES’ controller design and it too had a Start button!

Nintendo were smart and upped their button game by revealing their 16-bit system, the Super NES would have a total of eight buttons! However, they used their heads and realized having all the buttons on the face of the controller was too much. So, they designed the Super NES controller with two shoulder buttons, one for both the left and right sides on the “top” part of the controller. This did give gamers access to all the buttons easily… even though pushing the L Shoulder button was a bit cramp inducing. Still, this was brilliant and led to other video game console designers to once again follow suit in their future systems.

Fourth Generation to Fifth Generation: Nintendo N64 Analog Controls

What? Nintendo innovating controller design again? Yep, them again!

Nintendo’s streak of adding innovative features to the humble video game controller still reigned supreme when it came to the Fifth generation of the console wars. I will say, however, that this is the generation where Nintendo’s controller design game started to slip. The N64’s default controller is this weird three pronged monstrosity, where you need to switch how you hold it to get access to the directional inputs. The right side still had all the face buttons but the left and middle portions/handles now had, on the left, the standard D-Pad and, in the middle, the heralded first analog joystick in video game console history.

You would think that having anything analog in a digital medium was counterintuitive. But the analog stick on the N64 was a brilliant addition as it gave gamers precise control for movement. This allowed Mario in Super Mario 64 to either walk or run, depending on how much you push the analog thumbstick. This became a much needed feature which, once again, other video game console makers took note of. Soon, even the Sony PlayStation tried to one-up Nintendo with the Dual Analog Controller first and then the Dual Shock controller by having two analog sticks instead of one!

Fifth Generation to Sixth Generation: Sega Dreamcast Pressure Sensitive Analog Triggers

Finally! Someone other than Nintendo thought of something!

I will say the Sega Dreamcast is one of my favorite consoles of all time so there was some impetus to include the system in this list in some way. Thankfully, it was pretty easy as Sega went all out in designing the Dreamcast’s controller to be as innovative as possible. While I initially wanted to say the VMU and the screen was the greatest contribution to console controllers, that would be a lie because as this is not the standard and the only other console who tried to imitate this, the Wii U, flopped.

However, the Sega Dreamcast’s controller had another trick up its sleeve with the analog triggers which were its shoulder buttons. These were extremely satisfying to press as the springs inside had some really good resistance to them. You could also push them in quite a degree, making it actually possible to “feel” how much you’re pressing on them. This became a feature that, yet again, other console makers aped. Sony did go overboard by making all of the buttons on the Dual Shock 2 pressure sensitive. But even they realized the error and opted for analog shoulder buttons, which is still standard for most modern controllers today.

Sixth Generation to Seventh Generation: Nintendo Wii’s Wii-Mote Motion Controls (kinda)

Initially a hit… but now kind of a miss.

I think Nintendo’s thirst to innovate on controllers hit its peak when the unveiled the Wii. They really thought out of the box with this one as, instead of going back to what worked, Nintendo thought what gamers really wanted was to flail their arms around. This is the reason why the Wii’s controller was shaped more like a remote. Ah, but this remote was special because it could detect how you were flailing your arms around! This actually did Nintendo an edge during the Seventh Generation as the Nintendo Wii could be played by anyone who didn’t want to memorize which button did what! All they just needed to remember is how to flail their arms in the right way to do whatever!

Motion controls really caught fire afterwards, with Sony and Microsoft playing catch up. Sony soon developed the PlayStation Move, a remote with a glowing ball on the top, and Microsoft made the Kinect, a camera which tries to translate your awkward movements into the game. But, while motion controls were white hot for a while, the fad slowly fizzled out, with Sony, Microsoft and even Nintendo going back to standard controller layouts. They still would include some motion controls in their systems but, for the most part, we’re still using the tried and true method of pushing buttons.

Seventh Generation to Eight Generation: Nintendo Wii U’s Gamepad touchscreen

Once again, another hit and a miss from Nintendo!

By this time, Nintendo knew the Wii was a hit because of a lot of casual gamers taking a shining to motion controls. However, motion controls appeared to be a fad. So, Nintendo once again look at other crazy things they thought they could cram into their controller. What they came up with was, because of how popular smartphone gaming and their very own 3DS systems were, to cram an entire screen into their new controller. Thus, the Wii U Gamepad was born. This was a risk and, well, it was a risk that didn’t pay off.

However, the Wii U Gamepad’s touchscreen was a pretty neat idea as this was slowly becoming a preferred way to interact with technology. Which is probably why they still included a touchscreen on the Nintendo Switch. Sony, once again, tried to copy the idea with the Dual Shock 4 as it too had a touch interface. Not like a lot of games use it… but it is there!

Eight Generation to Ninth Generation: Sony PlayStation 5’s Dual Shock 5’s Adaptive Triggers

I can’t say if this is the new big thing… but it’s the only real innovation for this console generation!

We’ve finally made it to the current generation of video game controllers and, well, nothing’s really changed for the most part. Microsoft hadn’t really added anything major to their controllers since the Xbox 360’s addition of wireless connection. Sony has mostly been copying whatever Nintendo had, which is admittedly pretty lame. So, finally, Sony finally made a minor tweak of their own with the Dual Shock 5 with Adaptive Triggers.

The idea behind Adaptive Triggers is that the L2 and R2 shoulder buttons will have varying levels of resistance depending on what’s happening in the game. I’m not sure of how many games are utilizing this to its fullest nor if future controllers will be following suit but, hey! At last Sony tried doing something for themselves, right?

What would you say is the most innovative addition to the humble video game controller? Let me know in the comments section below!