Evolution of the game controller

Lincoln Russell 29 Dec, 2008 at 9:44am ET Article published in Gaming

A very cool diagram of every major video game controller over the last 25 years. The best part is the family tree they made, though. It’s an intriguing way of showing how they’ve evolved over time.

Comments

29 Dec 2008 ~ 10:59am jokerz4fun Im surprised they didn't have an intellivision controller.
29 Dec 2008 ~ 11:01am Thrax **** yeah intellivison! Atari blows.
29 Dec 2008 ~ 11:18am Linc I found this via http://daringfireball.net/linked/2008/12/26/game-controllers in which Gruber laments the same omission.
29 Dec 2008 ~ 12:45pm MiracleManS And, alas, ye handheld as been pretty damned consistent.
2 Jan 2009 ~ 2:02am bothered It's only half a job. Where are all the PC game controllers? Microsoft, Logitech, Saitek and all the rest should at least get a mention or the title needs 'Console' adding.
2 Jan 2009 ~ 12:33pm CB They did put 'keyboard/mouse on the one poster (not the tree), but I think the PC gamepads wouldn't be good inclusions because they are always direct copies, rather than derivative evolutions. I've personally only owned three PC game pads in my life: My Gravis GamePad looked exactly like a SNES game pad, my WingMan was just a N64 controller, and my current gamepad, the Saitek p2900, is just an XBox controller.

Notice that the chart also didn't include any console controllers that didn't make any improvements on the previous generation (for example, the NES controller that came with the 'new' NES was literally just a small SNES controller with fewer buttons, so it's not on the tree).