If you think moving your finger from the main analog stick to the D-pad is any trouble at all, think again. This is what makes the C-stick and D-pad so accessible. In comparison it is roughly half an inch less wide than the N64 controller is. Sizing Things Up Some basic properties of the controller, which must first be understood, relate to its size. You'll be literally seeing our hands on the controller throughout the rest of the feature. It really does feel like the GameCube controller, and we think it shows. The final product, as we've pointed out isn't perfect but entirely suitable. Once you feel the bigger handles you simply regret going back to anything smaller. Note that it's very similar in design to the prototype given to many development houses early on. Also with the backing of a rumor that the GameCube controller design might feature different handles (bigger like Wavebird's handles) in America and smaller ones in Japan, we went ahead and created what we feel the American design will and should be based on. We did some tests and came to the conclusion that the current design's handles are much too small to accommodate many adults and Americans' hands. This is why the GamCube controller unveiled in Japan has small handles. By nature the Japanese have smaller hands than Americans, and because of that many of the Japanese complained that the N64 controller was too bulky. The reason for this is due to the everlasting problem concerning the size of Japanese hands versus American hands. The Design Our clay prototype is basically the merger of the unveiled GameCube controller and Wavebird handle design.
This is essentially our prototype, but even with that said we can tell you that it serves its purpose very well. Bearing that in mind we ask you to realize that the controller is not a perfect replica, but a close mock-up. Site editor, Fran Mirabella, has a lot of experience with ceramics, but the clay type (Polymer Clay) used to make the mold was foreign to him. Now, before we unveil the design to you there's a few things you should know.
Then we could get the hands-on experience we needed. So, the solution we arrived at to answer all these pressing questions was to create a clay mold in fashion of the GameCube controller. After all, even if someone inside Nintendo or its respective development partners was to let us hold the controller, we certainly could never write about it - officially at least. Well, when various members of the development community scoffed at the idea we were forced to create another solution or, even better, a compromise. After some careful thought we arrived at one conclusion: we have to hold the controller ourselves. With this in mind IGNcube was determined to find a way to bring the "hands-on" experience to its readers. The big questions: How does it really feel? What kind of functionality does it have? What's so innovative about it? Due to this lack of "touchability" much skepticism arose from naysayers and Nintendo fanatics alike. Unfortunately, actually touching the controller was off limits to members of the press, so the only people who truly knew how great (or poor) it felt were those privileged enough to be among the GameCube development community. The final controller design unveiled at Space World 2000 proved to be both bizarre and yet somewhat innovative by appearance.
To see a full comparison of our mock-up, the prototype, and final construction click here. A few months later when the controller was unveiled we found out our original mock-up was fairly accurate. IGNcube first reported on it back in mid-July of 2000, and the mind reeled at the strikingly bizarre design. In the era of Dolphin (the codename for GameCube) one of the most mysterious and secretive components was the controller design.