Atari 2600 followed by NES
A commodore 64 joystick. Next was the NES controller.
The reverse order for me. A borrowed NES first at 5-6, then a secondhand C64 at 8. Learned to type and program BASIC on that thing.
Learned basic on that thing as well. I remember having a magazine subscription that included a program in the center fold. Then saving it to a cassette tape to enjoy later. Lol
NES controller
Also worked for the Commodore 64 and Vic20.
Intellivision II and Commodore 64 with joystick. Not sure which one we had first first.
Commodore 64 joystick.
Me too. I started with the little brown first-party stick that came with the Pro Pack, but soon switched to an inexplicably beige Quickshot II.
Spectrum +2A
Atari 2600 controller. Joystick & button.
My parents bought us a Nintendo 64 for Christmas when it came out.
Never played any games or consoles that came in between those two. It was wild.
3 button megadrive controller
PS3
I appear to be quite young around here...
Perhaps a bit.
Mine was ps2. Grandparents still had the original nes my dad played on. Fortunately got some duck hunt and Mario 1 memories
Not a controller per say, but does a mouse and keyboard count?
Radio Shack Pong game.
Atari controller
We upgraded to a Wica controller (same thing as the Atari controller just with better parts so it didn’t break so easily.)
Paddle or joystick?
Oh man, that brought back some memories, thanks!
First joystick and then paddles.
PS1. Unless mouse and keyboard counts….
I played many systems before the Dreamcast but I consider that controller my first.
The NES controller. Though I like 2 at the time. First one I remember playing is the SNES controller.
Pong.
SNES
Yall making me feel like a little kid
N64, and no I'm still not sure how to hold it, I always end up walking funny.
Lol I love this.
There is no wrong way to hold an N64 controller. Any way you hold it, it is equally uncomfortable.
A PS1 controller (without analogs) 😊
Without analogs? Was it custom made... just kidding
Hahaah "back in my days", dualshocks were luxurious things
This bad boy:
(Mattel Intellivision)
Trackball/Portable computer keyboard, followed by NES
C64 joystick was the first (playing Professional Ski Simulator...) but the Mega Drive controller was the one I used everyday.
Sega Master System II
Vic-20 joystick and keyboard. And the rotary knob on the woodgrain "pong" game.
I’ve just had to search for the right model but the earliest that I remember is the Coin Control Competition Pro 5000. We had it in a dark/deep blue colour.
Technically NES but mostly N64. These days I just play everything on a PS5 controller. Pretty nice.
I had tac-2 style joystick on my spectravideo sv-738
Sega Saturn controller. Unplugged while my Uncle played Sonic and told me I was Tails.
Not counting dedicated Pong-type machines, this magnificent bastard. Still one of the best for precise twitch gaming with the short throw of the stick, and the paddles seemed slightly less prone to jitter.
Sega Master System II
Keyboard and mouse, but when I started using computers I was so young that my hands were too small to hold the mouse properly, so I left clicked with my thumb up until three or four years ago when I got my first ergonomic mouse. Kinda funny how long habits can stay with you.
My first controller was probably an NES knockoff. Nintendo never did (and still doesn't) sell consoles officially in my home country.
If you're not counting the GBA SP's controls, my first official controller was the Wii's Wiimotes.
An Atari 800 joystick, which was basically the same as the 2600 one. Many evenings spent playing Zaxxon, Miner 2049er, and so on, as well as simple games typed in from magazines.
Then I bought an NES and didn't look back. Super Mario Bros. was way more advanced, not only in terms of graphics but also the fluidity of movement and the game pad design. And it was more fun!
ps1 (dualshock)
Xbox 360 controller. we got the console quite late, around 2012-ish? other than that we were mostly a pc household.
Atari
The weird-ass Dreamcast controller. https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/619JtZlXpWL.jpg
I never did figure out what the slot in the top was for as a kid.
You may already know this now, but I want to post it for those who don't because it's really cool and way ahead of its time.
That was for the VMU, the visual memory card. It stored your game saves but also some games had minigames you could play directly on it, often with bonuses in the main game. In the Sonic Adventure games you could take care of chao and such on it. That thing ate batteries like candy though.
