20 Best Video Game Controllers Ever

You can't save the world without the right hardware.

By Vynny Ward /

Video game controllers come in many forms - gamepads, joysticks, steering wheels, dance mats, musical instruments, guns, paddles, head tracking VR and these days even body movements. They've been evolving for decades and along the way designers have occasionally come up with something new, innovative, something brilliant - be it in the shape of technology, form, function and complexity. During this evolution mice lost their balls and gained optics, leaf switches turned into microswitches, hardwired controllers cut their tails and thousands of smart folk played with all manner of shapes, sizes, colours and ergonomics. What differentiates a good controller from bad is subjective, but sometimes a device comes along that is universally lauded and loved. From the single button gear stick from Atari to the familiar multi-buttoned Xbox and Playstation controllers, today is the day to showcase the best controllers from the annals of gaming history. Regardless of whether it was designed for a single game or versatile enough to be used for anything from sports to driving - if it's a winner then it's on this list. So it's time to get the trackball rolling and avoid repetitive strain injury - what's your favourite controller of all time?