![[img_1296.jpeg]] I *swear* I have no idea how this happened. I woke up one day and had 41 controllers in my apartment. This doesn’t include the few remaining in storage either. Here is the break down: - **Nintendo Total = 30** - NES Joy-Con = 2 - SNES / SNES-Styled = 6 - N64 / N64-Styled = 5 - GameCube = 7 (Got another WaveBird since this photo was taken) - Wii = 4 - Wii U = 1 (technically 5, if you include Wii, but that’s double-dipping) - Switch = 5 (not pictured are the Joy-Cons on my wife’s Switch) - **PlayStation Total = 11** - PS1 / PS1-Styled = 3 (Not pictured is my original PS1 controller currently in storage) - PS2 = 2 (Not pictured is my Guitar Hero III guitar controller) - PS3 = 1 - PS4 / PS VR = 5 - **Xbox Total = 2** - Xbox One = 2 I think it’s obvious where I have spent most of my life playing games and what controllers I prefer. My favorite controller ever is the GameCube WaveBird. It is a wireless champ and the GameCube’s A/B/X/Y layout is smart design for the platform. With one glance, you can tell what the button hierarchy is and you are never far from any button. The analog triggers are perfectly springy with the most satisfying click at the end. If only the D-Pad wasn’t mushy. Thankfully, I can turn my GBA into a controller for my GameCube thanks to a link cable. I love the GameCube controller so much I have a brand new one still in the box. By far, the most money I’ve spent per controller is for the Xbox. The Elite is rock solid with good heft and those sweet, magnetic, clicky paddles. My work on IGN’s *[Cuphead](https://www.ign.com/wikis/cuphead/)* and *[Celeste](https://www.ign.com/wikis/celeste/)* guides would have been much more difficult without those paddles. As for the steering wheel – I love *Forza Horizon*. I cannot wait to finally play those games in 4K on the Series X. The only problem with the steering wheel is that there is no room in our apartment to use it without dragging our dining table in front of the TV. No super feasible, so I just keep it tucked away until we get more space some day. My small(er) set of PlayStation controllers is definitely the most practical out of them all. Platform focused with not a ton of fluff. The only reason I have so many DualShock 4 controllers is I keep buying PS4 Pro consoles. The only one I bought solely as a controller was my transparent red controller. I kept the transparent yellow controller from the *Death Stranding* PS4 Pro and *The Last of Us Part II* PS4 Pro came with a sleek gunmetal gray controller. I probably have too many controllers. In my defense though, I find the controller to be essential to how I play a game. I’m not a mouse and keyboard person. I grew up on the N64 controller. My brain is wired for analog sticks, triggers, and buttons. I find playing with a game-accurate controller to be just barely more essential than playing with a physical cartridge when applicable. I have adapters to use old controllers with new systems. To me, the controller is *the* way fully experience a game.