Psychonauts

[A Black Falcon]

What, exactly, is wrong with the Xbox360 controller?

"+" means a good thing, "=" a neutral, "-" a bad thing.

Original Xbox Controller ("fat" one)
--
+ good button layout -- almost a six-button design. Not quite as good as one, but close...
+ triggers instead of shoulder buttons
+ good analog sticks and (small, but Sidewinder-style) dpad
- should have a real six button layout with C and Z, not this offset design

Xbox Controller S (when compared to the original pad)
--
+ still has six buttons on the face and two triggers, unlike the 360 controller
= analog sticks are different; not better or worse I think, just different.
= the controller's smaller size really doesn't matter one way or the other
- dpad made normal crosspad design; still fine, but the Sidewinder style is a bit better, I thought.
- black/white and start/back button layout is horribly messed up, making it kind of like having four face buttons with two weird ones in the corner. Major flaw!


Xbox 360 Controller (when compared to the original Xbox controller or even the S)
--
= returns start and back to the center of the controller like the original pad and unlike the very strange S design (+ compared to S, = compared to original)
= the rest of the controller's features
- four face buttons (idiots...)
- shoulder buttons in addition to triggers (horrible, horrible design decision!)
- Tries to make you to have wireless controllers for a full setup of four (unless you use a USB hub, possibly?)
- no ports for memory cards/headsets/etc, forcing wireless headsets and fewer memory cards per system (perhaps not as imporant with a hard drive, but still a negative)

... yes, I prefer the original Xbox controller. I was at my cousins' for a few days this week, played some Xbox (since I gave them Guilty Gear X2 #Reload... :)). I definitely still prefer the original controller, though the S is decent too. None of the three are as good as the GC controller though, certainly...

had both a 4 button shoulder setup and 6 button layout for the face buttons.

There are some PC gamepads like this, actually... I don't have one, but I think the newer Saitek p990 has dual shoulder buttons while keeping the six face button layout, for example.