The Daily Lineup Profile

Game controllers

Order by the year each controller first went on sale. You place all 30 cards on one timeline, one at a time. You start with three lives, and ten right in a row wins a lost one back.

Game controllers
Placed0
In a row0
Order by the year each controller first went on sale. Drag or tap it onto the line
Controllers
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Controllers
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30
Cards
3
Lives per run
release years and dates
Ordered by
Cards only
Card reveal

How the game controllers timeline works

Gamepads, joysticks, light guns, motion wands and a plastic guitar: every card is a controller, ordered by the year it first went on sale. The console or maker it belongs to is printed under each name. One controller is already on the line with its year in view. Place each new one in a gap. Pick right and the year shows; pick wrong and it moves into its real spot anyway, costing you one of three lives.

The deck follows how people have held games, from knobs and single-button sticks through d-pads, analog sticks, rumble and motion sensing to adaptive and haptic designs. Many consoles had more than one controller or add-on, so knowing the system narrows things without settling them. Peripherals released partway through a console's life are the usual trap, since they can land well after the machine itself. Watch for hardware that reached Japan before anywhere else.

Want a longer game? On the deck tree you can tick this deck alongside any other one measured in release years and dates, and they shuffle into a single timeline together.

What's in the deck

Here are 28 of the 30 cards you might be dealt, with 2 more in the deck. Their values stay hidden until you place them.

  • Odyssey controller Magnavox Odyssey
  • Atari joystick Atari 2600
  • Intellivision disc controller Mattel Intellivision
  • Game & Watch D-pad Nintendo Game & Watch: Donkey Kong
  • Famicom controller Nintendo Famicom
  • NES Zapper Nintendo Entertainment System
  • Genesis controller Sega Genesis / Mega Drive
  • Power Glove Nintendo Entertainment System
  • Super NES controller Super Nintendo / Super Famicom
  • Super Scope Super Nintendo
  • PlayStation controller Sony PlayStation
  • Nintendo 64 controller Nintendo 64
  • DualShock Sony PlayStation
  • Dreamcast controller Sega Dreamcast
  • Xbox Duke controller Microsoft Xbox
  • WaveBird Nintendo GameCube
  • Guitar Hero guitar RedOctane rhythm game peripheral
  • Xbox 360 controller Microsoft Xbox 360
  • Wii Remote Nintendo Wii
  • Sixaxis Sony, motion-sensing PlayStation pad
  • Wii Balance Board Nintendo Wii
  • Kinect Microsoft Xbox 360
  • PlayStation Move Sony, glowing motion wand
  • Wii U GamePad Nintendo Wii U
  • Steam Controller Valve, for PC and Steam Machines
  • Oculus Touch Oculus Rift
  • Joy-Con Nintendo Switch
  • Xbox Adaptive Controller Microsoft Xbox One and Windows

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Order the Metroid games by Samus’s own chronology — the canonical story order, not the order they were released.
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Order the 15 main courses of Super Mario 64 the way the paintings unlock, from the very first to the last.
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Order the kingdoms of Super Mario Odyssey the way you visit them, from the Cap Kingdom to the finale.
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