10 Ways The Sega Dreamcast Was Ahead Of Its Time

Let's get one thing clear straight away: the Dreamcast controller is not good. Whilst it's not abject on the level of the Atari Jaguar pad, nor the original Xbox's sasquatch-sized hunk of plastic (which seemingly took the Dreamcast's effort, painted it black, and somehow made it worse), it's not exactly a bastion of ergonomic excellence.

Its circular shape makes one feel as though they are driving a bus, whilst the analogue stick is as slippy as a greasy toad on a banana skin. And that wire coming out the bottom? All the Gods wept (yes, I know it is because of the VMU, and yes, I know it can be clipped to the top).

So how exactly is the Dreamcast's much-maligned pad "ahead of its time"?

The answer comes in the form of two triggers hidden on its inverse. Few things feel as satisfying as depressing the spongy buttons to their limit. Tactile titillation aside, the triggers, being fully analogue, revolutionised the way some of the industry's most enduring genres were controlled.

Acceleration in driving sims was shifted from face-buttons to a perfectly precise throttle on the prong's underside. Shooting people now felt all the more realistic, and therefore all the more fun. In-game cameras were given the perfect dolly. Magellan-like, the Dreamcast controller remapped the gaming landscape.

Admittedly, the controller wasn't the first to feature trigger buttons of this ilk: the design was largely based on Sega's own 3D pad released alongside NiGHTs three years earlier. However, the Dreamcast made them standard. Three years later, the Xbox's clone-controller made them universal.