Nintendo is currently riding a tremendous wave of success thanks to the Nintendo Switch's immense popularity. The first party lineup for the hybrid console has also helped it maintain momentum, with 2020 still bringing monster exclusives likeAnimal Crossing: New Horizons.
Related: 10 Memes About The Nintendo Switch Being Sold Out In Stores
In terms of design, the Switch is solid and comfortable. It was not always like this, however. Many fans fondly remember how bizarre some of the console maker's controllers were, starting mostly with the Nintendo 64. It should be noted; they were not always bad designs. Anybody who has been with Nintendo since the beginning can likely relate to any of the memes below.
10 The Proper Way To Play
N64 controller proper use meme copy
The N64 feels like the first controller that requires an instruction manual to use. Most other controllers are pretty intuitive, but the three prongs confused many people as to where to put their hands.
Anybody lucky enough to have three hands was truly in luck. While the design choices were questionable, certain games likeSuper Mario 64 controlled extremely well and were made for the console from the ground up.
9 Room For Improvement
Nintendo Drunk meme
As the photo shows, Sony and Microsoft are into small adjustments when it comes to making new controllers. The DualSense and the Series X controller are both the best controller for each respective company.
Nintendo does not adhere to this philosophy. Each controller is wildly different from the last. Curiously, this picture forgot to bring up the Wii U's gamepad, which had its own screen. The controllers usually work well with first-party exclusives, but third-party games often suffer.
8 Nintendon't Do Normal
Nintendo weird controller copy
Normal is so overrated, and Nintendo understands this perfectly. If game companies just gave consumers the norm, then we'd still all be playing without vibration and analog sticks. Sometimes you have to shoot for the stars.
Nintendo has sometimes fallen flat, but when it does something right, it changes the way we play. It does cause an issue when updating older games, however. Porting Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is more work than an average port because of its reliance on motion controls.
7 We Believe It
Iwata Meme
What we see here is the late Satoru Iwata, former Nintendo president and legend in the gaming industry, holding bananas in one of the famous skits he would do during Nintendo presentations. However, if he held up these fruits and told us it was the new Nintendo controller, we would believe it.
Related: 10 Best Games Satoru Iwata Worked On (According To Metacritic)
Nintendo believes in lateral thinking, using currently existing tech in new ways rather than searching for the cutting edge. What is more reliable, tried and true tech than crop growing? It is perhaps one of the oldest sciences humans have been regularly practicing.
6 Don't Be A Gatekeeper
anime and manga meme
As much as people bemoan the GameCube controller's wacky design, Nintendo continues to reissue it for one reason; Super Smash Bros.The classic Nintendo fighting game franchise works perfectly with the weirdly designed gamepad and just about nothing else.
Yet, the game is so popular and enough fans are willing to buy a new controller just for it. Older Super Smash Bros. fans are probably sitting back in judgment of those who play with newer controllers.
5 Evolution, Or A Mutation?
nintendo controller
Controllers are often built upon subtle changes from each generation, almost like evolution. However, the jump from the SNES to the N64 feels more like an unforeseen mutation, as if the N64 was built in the middle of a nuclear dump soaking in radiation.
New competition from Sony might have pressured Nintendo into some big changes. While they ultimately lost this generation, at least people remember the N64 more than the Saturn or Dreamcast.
4 Set Your Sticks On Fire
mario party analog stick meme
Leave it up to Nintendo to make a game that totally obliterates your controller. Mario Party has a famous minigame where you are forced to quickly rotate the analog stick.
Unfortunately, it absolutely destroys the stick after a while. Considering the game's poor critical reception, many do not find it worth the loss. Controllers were not cheap, either, so any kids with limited budgets were upset to lose one to some party game.
3 Reuse, Repurpose
Nintendo nunchuck meme
The above picture explains why the Nintendo Wii had such a weird controller. It turns out, they were just ripping off the middle prong to use for the Nunchuck.
Related: 10 GameCube Games You Didn't Realize Were Remade On The Wii
For the first part of the Wiimote, we suppose Shigeru Miyamoto had a bunch of old TV remotes laying around and decided to paint them white. While we love to joke about the Wii, its impact on gaming is undeniable. It significantly widened the medium's audience.
2 Nintendo 64, Fixed
Nintendo fixed controller memes
It is easy to look back on the N64's controller and see how it could be improved. You have to put yourself back in the mid-90s, however.
The standard controller design was not yet a thing, so Nintendo was exploring uncharted territory by adding an analog stick and making a controller for 3D games. Despite its problems, it has to be commended for what it did right and for doing some important things first.
1 The Controller Hierarchy
Controllers to your friends and brother
It is only right for you, as the console owner, to play with the best controller. Of course your friend gets the next best thing, being a trusted ally. Your little brother, who is here because he has nowhere else to go and your parents are forcing you to watch him, gets the dual Joy-Cons, the least comfortable option.
Playing and becoming skilled at games with the worst controller will ultimately work out in the brother's favor, however. It's like how most people recommend your first guitar being a cheap piece of junk, because playing well on that will make playing on a fine instrument a true work of art.
Next: 10 Nintendo Game Sequels Coming Out In 2021
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