Hit or miss in my view. Loved NES, SNES and N64 controllers. I know plenty of people didn't like the N64 controller, but I thought it handled well with the great majority of games I bought for the system. The GC controller was almost perfect in my view. It was almost as if it was designed specifically for my favorite GC game - Smash Bros. Melee. My only complaint about the GC controller was the durability (or lack of it). Those things didn't last long. On average they required replacement more often than my PS2 controllers, and in the arcades I frequented the GC controllers were replaced much more often than the Xbox and PS2 equivalents.

Now comes a switch in my stance. The Wii controllers ... dislike, period.. Wii U tab ... I'm indifferent. The Pro controller is cool though.

Here are all the controllers I have spent a lot of time with:

1) Wiimote & Nunchuck - I love being able to spread out my hands. The IR pointer is the best thing to come to controllers since rumble and the analog stick.

2) Gamecube - So comfortable, and did everything you could want for the time. The Wavebird was a sweet wireless controller. I generally stuck with the wired version so I could still have the rumble.

3) SNES - The grandfather of the modern controller. Also a lot more comfortable than the NES controller since it has rounded edges.

4) Xbox 360 - Solid all-around controller.

5) N64 - The analog stick was a huge innovation. As was the rumble pack. To the OP, you should have always had your hands on the center and right handle. The left handle was basically not needed, which is why this one is not closer to the top of my list.

6) Xbox - The small version. Poor d-pad, but still pretty solid.

7) Dualshock 2 - How have they not fixed the position of their analog sticks yet? The left analog stick should switch positions with the d-pad.

8) Dualshock 1 - Same as below, but with analog sticks.

9) Original PS controller - SNES controller with a worse d-pad and uncomfortable handles.

10) NES - A classic, but there have been so many improvements. Perfect for the time though. It also gets uncomfortable in long gaming sessions due to the square corners.

11) Keyboard and Mouse - Still the best for the RTS genre, but other than that I am not a fan.

12) Xbox - The big version. Who was this designed for?

13) Atari joystick - Not much to say. These kind of sucked.

I have used the Wii U pad at a few demo stations. It seems pretty comfortable to me. I will reserve judgement on it though. I never spent much time with the Sega controllers. Those would probably end up somewhere in the middle of the list.

Overall, Nintendo just took 4 of the top 5 spots in my list. Yes, they make damn good controllers.

They definitely make the worst controllers. The SNES one was really awesome and the NES controller was sweet too. But the Nintendo 64 one? The Gamecube controller? They where really bad. At least the Wii controller was really good. But out of the three they are kinda the worst. Still for me the worst is the Xbox controller. Really uncomfortable but that's maybe because I like the Dualshock more xD.

The GameCube controller was one of my favorite controllers ever, right up there with DualShock. The only problem was the analog sticks were flimsy, the d-pad and buttons were stiff, and the triggers felt kinda cheap. Other than that, I absolutely love the GameCube controller layout and would have really liked to have had it adopted into the Wii U instead of that 360 ripoff crap.

Sony put their analog sticks in a poor position (the left one should be switched with the d-pad location) and have refused to move them going on the 4th version now.  That is not a good thing.

At least Nintendo has at least tried different things.  Seems to have worked out since so many things they have done became standards in controllers.

A lot of long time Sony gamers are used to the way the analog sticks are positioned and I'm one of them.  I prefer the positioning of the analog sticks on the PS3 rather than the 360 because I played on the PS1 and PS2 and now it feels natural to me, like for a lot of people.  If Sony changed it now it would be a big fuck you to long time Sony gamers.  Personally I can play on the PS3 and 360 controllers, the positioning of the analog sticks is no problem for me, idk why people make such a big fuss about it.

Too bad it is not ergonomic.  Your thumb naturally falls where the d-pad is, but very few games use the d-pad as primary input anymore.  Back on the PS1, that was ok because a lot more games actually used the d-pad.  The d-pad should have been moved somewhere else by now with the changes that have come to games.

That is why controllers need to change over time.  Because games change, and there are better ways to handle those changes than with a controller that was designed with games 15 years ago in mind.

That is all preference, to me it feels perfectly ergonomic and my thumb doesn't move naturally to the d-pad and it is the same way for a lot of Playstation gamers.  Saying the PS4 controller was designed with games 15 years ago in mind is a very big stretch and I think holds no merit.  Just a question were you a PS2 or a Orginal Xbox gamer? (Can't call it Xbox 1 anymore xD)

http://tanookimike.deviantart.com/art/Evolution-of-Game-Controllers-312251113

Great link. :)