It's hard to believe, but next year marks the 20th anniversary of the release of the original Xbox. The controller that shipped with that Xbox, of course, was the legendary "Duke" - a controller that was ridiculed for its overly large size at the time, but also beloved by a pretty sizeable group of fans.
The Duke really laid the foundations for what was to come in future years, and even enjoyed a resurgence courtesy of Hyperkin back in 2018 with a reimagined version of the controller for Xbox One and PC.
Looking back now, then, how do you feel about the Duke? Were you a fan of the design, or was it just far too big and bulky to manage? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Comments 26
Loved the Duke. Happy memories of Halo co op.
Hmm I selected "It Was Good" and it shows 0%...
As much as I liked it the Xbox 360 Controller was an improvement.
D-Pad and button placement was crap. Other than that, it was okay but I much prefer the S controller.
As someone with small hands... no
But It like the Dreamcast Controller and N64 Controller are Iconic, so I understand the love.
It's charming in it's own way.........
It has all the ergonomics pyramid shaped shoes, however.
Loved it, I have man sized hands, still a good joypad to use other than the black/white button placement.
I used to drill holes in them and install LED mods for friends, miss those days.
As an adult with fairly large hands, I was struggling with the little PS1 (and PS2, PS3) controllers and Dualshock and the N64 controller was preferred, I found the Duke reassuringly chunky and large enough to play comfortably - although I did prefer the 's' controllers when they came along but I never had any issue with the Duke. It was my Favourite controller at the time...
Yes it was so cool XD
I preferred the position of the black and white buttons on the Duke. It was built like a tank too!
Nah. Controller S all the way.
I voted that it was “Ok”.
I remember playing the original Halo & my hands hurting from playing the game so much due to the beast Duke controller.
When the “S” controller came out, my hands stopped hurting. Lol.
I bought the pgr2 xbox bundle, it was in 2004 I guess. The duke was already replaced by the Controller S, so I never had the pleasure to play with the duke.
Honestly i don't remember this controller at all. I had the Xbox that had mech warrior before the 360...that was the OG Xbox right? With this controller?
Yeah I loved it. It was the 'S' that really stole the show though
@Krzzystuff yeah, but this controller was replaced with the so called 'controller s' (left one): https://www.gameparty.net/wp-content/gallery/Overig/Xbox-Controller-S.jpg
I didn't get the original Xbox until around 2007ish after the gen had finished. It came with the original controller like this and another one similar to the 360. I significantly preferred the 360 one.
I like the fact it tried something different with the face buttons on the right like they are... But just never felt fully comfortable in my hands. Still feels more natural to hold however than any Dualshock (I hate the left analogue stick being so low on PlayStation controllers)
I liked it, personally. I have huge hands though, so it just felt correct.
I hated it. I have big hands and I still found it a right git to use.
I was not a fan, tbh.
Controller S was pretty nice, though.
Not a fan. All the button placements felt a little off and uncomfortable. Having to move my hand position to hit Y.
Thankfully I didn't have one but borrowed a mates for Halo.
360 controller? Now we're talking and it's been a steady evolution since.
I hated this controller, but I thank Microsoft for it. This bulky designed forced them to rethink the controller and everything they came up with after is just soooo good.
It's a tumor with buttons. Possibly the worst controller for a major home console I've ever seen.
They should release a collector version of this controller, compatible with the Series consoles, just for the fans.
I know I would buy one !
EDIT : ok, my bad, I missed the part of the article saying that they effectivly did it !
Gonna buy one right now !! xD
Hated it! Elite controller soooo much better.
Q) How do you feel about the Duke?
A) The Duke happens to be one of my favourite controllers of all. I only used it a few times on an Xbox my friend owned, but I later got the Hyperkin 2018 version for the Xbox One and it was an absolute treat to use.
Sadly, it has since suffered from the dreaded drift and I've yet to be able to get a replacement from GAME. The warranty is likely to run out at this rate so I'll likely have to get it repaired itself. I do hope the Xbox Series X gets a Duke controller down the line.
Q) Were you a fan of the design, or was it just far too big and bulky to manage?
A) For the design of the controller, on a purely aesthetic level, I thought it was okay. The buttons had a lovely glimmering looking to them that set itself apart nicely from other controllers without changing things too much.
An nope, the controller was never too big and bulky for me. In fact, it was perfect for my hands. I must have big hands because my favourite game controllers include the Wii U Gamepad, Dreamcast controller and the Duke (the Wii remote as well, but that's more for it's capabilities whilst not being too small and light like I feel with the Joy-cons).
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