Originally Posted by
TheSonicRetard
The original jaguar controller is awful for a number of reasons, but they're not immediately apparent. The size and shape of the controller isn't a problem actually - it has two grips on the back that your fingers fall into and it actually isn't that much different from a Saturn 3D pad or a Dreamcast controller, or even an Xbox 360 controller with the chatpad attached. The number pad also isn't a huge detriment - to the contrary, in a number of games that support it well, it's quite handy. It's way better to be able to select any weapon at a button press in doom than to have to cycle through them all.
The problems with the controller are three-fold. First, this was released during the fight gaming craze, when 6-button setups were neigh required. I've already explained how Primal Rage suffers because of the button arrangement.
Second, the actual placement of the 3 action buttons is horrid - they're more vertically oriented than horizonatally. Thus, to slide between buttons, you need to move your fingers up and down rather than left to right like on most controllers. It also makes hitting two buttons by simply extending the reach of your thumb cumbersome.
Finally, and most problematic is how shallow every button (save the number pad) is. The d-pad especially suffers from this. The buttons and d-pad don't feel like they depress, there is no motion in them. It feels like you're mashing against a mushy solid object. There's no tactile feedback to tell you that you actually pressed the button, and you find yourself wearing your fingers out by over compensating and slamming on the buttons. The d-pad is unresponsive on top of all this, which makes the mushiness feel even more noticable.
The Pro Controller (the 6-button one I posted above) is miles better. It's not a good or great controller, but it's servicable. Your fingers don't tire using it, and the button placement is more in common with the standard sega 6-button placement. The additional buttons (3 above the normal buttons, plus 2 shoulders) actually map to the number pad (I can't remember which numbers off the top of my head -- I want to say 4, 5, 6, with 1 and 3 being the shoulders) which means it's actually compatible with loads of Jaguar games beyond the ones created especially for it (namely Primal Rage). You can strafe in Alien vs Predator, for example, by using the shoulder buttons.
The problem with the pro controller is how uncommon and expensive they are. Expect to pay well over $100 for one. Still, if you want to try your damndest to actually enjoy a jaguar, price not withstanding, it's essential. Atari really, really screwed up with the normal pad, even though, again, the most often cited complaints are actually superficial and don't touch on the real problems with it.
