Well the smash bros fans think the gcc is the best thing ever to the point where they made an adapter for it. So I guess you could say that it's the best controller Nintendo has created.

Also the Wii U gamepad isn't bad at all.

Gamecube controller is my favorite. The Wii U Gamepad is very cool too. Pretty comfortable when playing New Super Luigi U on it in my bed.

NES - sucked
SNES - decent
N64 - was awesome
GC - the best controller Nintendo has ever made
Wii - bad, just bad
Wii U - worst controller I have ever touched. It's too damn big and uncomfortable

I think this one should be #1 if you ever get the displeasure of getting an OUYA.

The NES control pad was probably the single biggest improvement the home games industry has seen. Going from the Atari 2600/5200 sticks, the Intellivision pad, or the Colecovision pad to the NES D-pad was a monumental improvement and set the standard for controllers.

Nintendo's following controllers have each either added industry standards, been wonderfully comfortable, or been very innovative:

SNES: very comfortable; added shoulder buttons
N64: analogue stick; expansion port
Gamecube: near flawless design; wireless bluetooth (wavebird)
Wii remote: love it or hate it, it was a game changer... and I love it for FPSs
WiiU Gamepad: very comfortable; touch screen capable of asymmetric gameplay and full game streaming

Yes, my opinion is that Nintendo has made the best controllers in home gaming.

SNES controller was brilliant for Street Fighter II (pulling off spinning piledrivers was effortless). and just simply fantastic in general.

Not really been keen on a controller of theirs since though. (still to get a WiiU, so that may change)

NES/SNES: They were fine for the time.

N64: Weird but strangely worked-at least for most of Nintendo's first party games. The controller itself was designed FOR Mario 64, so that's not surprising.

Gamecube: Good, solid controller, though of all Nintendo's controllers, to me it feels the most like they're questioning your intelligence. See the GIANT green button...that's A....the smaller BRIGHT red one...that's B...etc.

Wii: There are several controllers for this one. Personally, I LOVE the Wii Remote Plus/Nunchuk combination for almost any game. It works brilliantly for both motion games AND for the "hardcore" games. I actually play that combination even for games like Smash Bros. Brawl...and actually PREFER it over the Gamecube controller. I'm not sure why, but I just enjoy being able to have my hands apart...sometimes I'll be lazy and sprawl out on the couch and have the Wiimote in my hand in front of me and I'll rest my other arm behind my head while holding the Nunchuk...still works flawlessly. The Nunchuk in fact is just about perfect to me...giving me a great analog stick AND the C and Z buttons. The Wii Remote feels nice, especially with the "jacket"...my only complaint is the games that force you to use the Wiimote and its D-pad as your analog control for multiplayer. Let me use the Nunchuk, damnit! The Wii Classic Controller is garbage. The Wii Classic Controller Pro I LOVE. But I may be biased because I used it for 150 hours of Xenoblade Chronicles!

Wii U: The Gamepad feels nice and has LOTS of buttons and inputs and abilities, but it IS a tad heavy for long game sessions, AND the battery life is unfortunately short. Also, for games that use the Touchscreen it's great to have, but otherwise I find it to be kind of distracting in my peripheral vision. It also doesn't work nearly as well as the dual screens of the DS/3DS because most of the time the TV screen and the Gamepad screen aren't in the same field of vision. The Wii U Pro Controller feels VERY nice and I highly recommend it. The battery life is INSANELY good! It's just a shame more games (especially eShop games) don't automatically let you use it. Some have added the ability through updates and patches, but that's silly...the Pro Controller AND the Wii RemotePlus/Nunchuk combination should always be options for pretty much ANY game, along with the Gamepad.

To the OP...should do this same kind of thread but with the various Nintendo Handhelds and upgraded versions, etc.

The GCN-Controller was perfect...for SSB Melee. For most other games it was ok.

This pretty much sums it up

In general, I've liked their controllers better than just about anybody else's over the decades.

NES was classic, perfect. SNES took that and made it even better. N64 was weird, but the setup worked perfectly for certain types of games. GC was nice, except I always hated the hard-to-press L and R buttons. Wiimote/Nunchuck was fine, I liked the games that let you play the Wiimote NES-style. The IR pointing was brilliant for menus and games where you aim and shoot. The Classic Controller/Pro were very nice.

And I really love the GamePad. I've said it many times, but it really does feel like the "Swiss Army Knife" of video games controllers, it has everything, 8 buttons, nice dpad, dual analog, huge screen/touchscreen, 8axis/whatever motion sensing, NFC reader ability, universal remote ability, you name it. I think it's a brilliant design, one of the best game controllers ever made, personally.

As for others, obviously the Master System and Turbo Graphix 16 controllers were great, basically just NES controllers. The Genesis controller was okay, but I never cared for that dpad style. The Dreamcast controller was good, but could have been a little smaller for what it was. I have never cared for Xbox controllers in general, just don't like the design, buttons, dpad, you name it. Playstation controller has always been great, EXCEPT that I have always hated that disjointed dpad design. It's perfectly fine for everything BUT fighting games. Constantly doing dpad move imputs with that thing can be murder on the thumbs. I had a friend who literally got blisters from doing that in an extended game session.


But yes, all around, Nintendo has always been known for (usually) great controllers.

P.S. How the hell can anyone say that the NES controller "sucked"? It literally innovated the notion of of the dpad, two buttons, start AND select buttons. It was simple but elegent. It had everything it needed for that era. I always loved my Hudson Soft brand Joycard controllers for NES a little better, because they were rounded and had rapid-fire switches. But the basic NES controller design was perfect for 2D gaming, and was something everyone else copied from there on out. I just fail to see how that "sucks".