This Zelda GameCube Controller is Awesome in an Ugly Way
Posted by James Newton
An acquired taste
Way back when Nintendo was putting the finishing touches to Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess on GameCube, there were plans for a limited edition controller to accompany the little box's swansong. While the pad never hit the shelves, photos of its prototype design and packaging have hit the net for your eyes to behold.
Coming from custom controller specialists Nubytech – the same team behind the infamous Resident Evil 4 chainsaw controller – the pad was clearly modelled after Link's Twilight Princess togs, complete with a shield and, bizarrely, leather belt buckle on the right-hand grip. The pad's packaging, however, is a thing of undeniable beauty, modelled after an aged hardback book, albeit one with a huge GameCube logo on the front.
The gallery of photos over at Behance.net shows what could have been if the controller had gone into production. But the real question is: would you have played Zelda using a pad with an actual belt buckle on it?
[via behance.net]
#1
ArmoredGoomba said:
That controller is awesome
#2
Portista said:
Sweet! Never owned a Gamecube though.
#3
salty1264 said:
garbage
#4
irken004 said:
Uh... the shield needs more detail and the joysticks look bad in that color.
#5
J-Forest-Esq said:
It's pretty hideous to be honest. The shield especially is poorly located...
#6
MeloMan said:
Lol, I'd like to have a Zelda inspired controller that I can pull from a holster... seems more a possibility w/ a Wiimote shaped like a Master Sword. There I go getting myself hyped again...
#7
SuperPeach said:
umm... I'm not sure if I should say "wow cool!" or just "ew
" ...I'm leaning towards ew. xP
#8
Kid_A said:
I would have been all over that bad boy.
#9
Raylax said:
Lol, wow. People have vomited better looking things.
#10
Noire said:
Why is the right wing encased in an ice cream cone D:
#11
Doma said:
Ugly shape/colours/add-ons... just terrible.
#12
The_Fox said:
Looks like it was developed as a grade school art project.....a grade school for kids with special needs.
#13
Traxx said:
It looks like a failed teleportation mutation - and Link being in there somewhere screaming: Kill me....
#14
Arcanum said:
This does look pretty bad, but i would not have hesitated to buy it even if i knew how it looked. It's just awesome in some way...
#15
dizzy_boy said:
Um, wow, speechless.
words can`t describe how bad that looks.
but i bet it would have sold by the bucket load, simply because of the zelda branding.
#16
DarkRoy said:
The C-stick... it's so small...
By the way, I've noticed that the release date written for TP is 2007 instead of 2006. I don't think anyone really cares, though...
#17
Lotice-Paladin said:
I thought it was homemade by one of those custom controller people.
#18
Burn said:
It would look good next to my chainsaw RE4 controller.
#19
PunnyGuy said:
I've seen better looking controllers...
#20
Robo-goose said:
I would have put that controller on a pedestal, then worshiped it. Maybe if I pray to it six times a day, then go on a pilgrimage to Hyrule, I will get to go to the sky temple when I die!
#21
James said:
This is just a concept prototype so it's likely the finished article would have changed colour/had more detail, but I still think it's pretty unusual. That leather buckle... wow.
#22
Tylr said:
Most creative controller yet Nintendo! Looks...cool...(don't get me wrong, i tend to be a fan of bizarre things.) Would look good next to my Twilight Princess cap.
#23
pixelman said:
Oh my gosh. I must have this.
There's nothing I want more than having a belt buckle stabbing me in the palm while I'm galloping through Hyrule.
#24
LzQuacker said:
Maybe as a collector's item...but this thing does not look very practical...
#25
zezhyrule said:
It's like D:
though now that I've stared at it for a while, it's kinda growing on me
except for that unneeded belt buckle... that just seems uncomfortable
#26
DannyBoyTheDude said:
I would've totally gotten it. How radical would it have been to play Zelda with a controller like that?
#27
JebbyDeringer said:
I like the ideal but I'm not crazy about game branded accessories. It's not like Link uses boomerangs, swords, and shields that say "ZELDA" on them. I'd prefer it if they kept the branding off and just made it look like something that would fit in with the game. I find it worse when it's consoles and they are branded after specific games rather than a series. A Halo branded Xbox 360 would be better than one branded as Halo 3 specifically.
I kinda want to make one of these though but use a 1st party controller as the basis.
#28
Linkstrikesback said:
If it was just a skinned official GC controller, I'd probably use it... if you could remove that horrible buckle monster eating the right arm of the control pad.
As it is, looks like crap, and if the final thing was going to come out like that, I guess its not hard to see why it didn't get past being a prototype
#29
quazzaazazazaazaza said:
I love the zelda series, but I've got to say,those controllers look UGLY.
#30
Odnetnin said:
It's fine except for the belt-buckle.
@DarkRoy Where did you get your avatar from?
#31
komicturtle said:
I wanna smell it..
#32
Mikau94 said:
LoL the C stick is Upside-down!
#33
California_Jake said:
Wow. Thats all I got to say.
#34
Tri4ceHolder said:
Ugly: Yes
Totally freakin' awesome!!!: YES
#35
DrCruse said:
The packaging looks great, but the controller itself looks pretty ugly and uncomfortable due to the beltbuckle.
#36
Lanmanna said:
No, it is ugly in an ugly way.
#37
RYBlast said:
It would be a cool collector's item, but dang it's ugly. They should make one for the wii.
#38
Stine said:
It's kind of hideous and awesome at the same time O.o
#39
Token_Girl said:
I see why it never went into production.
#40
nicknintendo68 said:
haha its half ugly and half good the good side is the left with the link pic the bad is the right side of the controller xD
#41
MasterGraveheart said:
Looks neat, but the right hand grip looks kind of uncomfortable...
#42
Yosher said:
I think that leather thingy on the right side can actually come off, by the looks of it. So if you'd be uncomfortable with that you could just take it off.
#43
ranklin said:
i would
#44
Zeldaterasu said:
Would make for a nice novelty. Zelda freak as I am, I'd add it as a conversation piece, but I'd never try to play with that monstrosity.
#45
motang said:
That is one ugly controller for sure.
#46
suburban_sensei said:
Haha, at the person who posted that it's like a failed teleportation mutation..we shall call ti BRUNDLE-CONTROLLER!
#47
jsdman1234 said:
Man, I would have loved that!
And to all of you saying, "It needs more detail" and crap, know, that's the prototype. That's where the production ended. I think it was supposed to be like the one in the concept pics in the gallery. I would have straight up gotten it though.
#48
nick_gc said:
What you've not put on this news article is the awesome box it would have been sold in. Take a look at the Kotaku article which shows it:
http://kotaku.com/#!5760393/the-bizarre-legend-of-zelda-controller-well-never-play-with/gallery/1
#49
DarkRoy said:
@Odnetnin It was made by a friend of mine.
Thanks to the NL staff for fixing the release data BTW.
#50
Ian_Daemon said:
The concept art looks so much better (and different) than the "finished product".
#51
Iggy said:
this is one ugly contoller...
#52
MarioFan1985 said:
I did not have this controller in particular. But I did have the Megaman X themed Controller (to promote Megaman X Collection). Though, It was supposed to have lights on it and light up when X Charges his X-Buster, but this feature must have been dropped. But it was still a good controller.
#53
bezerker99 said:
Looks like what I threw up last time I was hungover.....
#54
Supremeist said:
Let me rephrase that:
It looks awesome in an awesome way.
#55
fishman100 said:
Love at first sight...sigh...
#56
danschemen said:
i see why i never heard of this
#57
RionaaM said:
It's like a retarded relative or something... you know you love him and everything, but at the end of the day he's still retarded...
Oh well, I don't even know what I meant to say here :S
#58
Wolfenstein83 said:
I love the whole Zelda series, but that is one ugly looking controller.
#59
at2ecw said:
Nintendo needs to put that up for sale right now for purchase. I will buy 2!!!!!