From Failure to Revolution: The Untold Story of Gaming’s Most Controversial Controller

If you are old enough to recall the bizarre gaming accessories prevalent in the early ’90s, then you may just remember an intriguing controller called the Triax Turbo Touch 360.

This innovative controller did not utilize a conventional D-pad – which is fundamentally a plastic disc located atop a rubber membrane – but instead incorporated a capacitive touchpad.

The claim was that, since there were no moving components, the Turbo Touch 360 was more accurate and responsive, and it also minimized the occurrence of blisters and “gamer’s thumb” – so much so that it received endorsements from orthopedic surgeon Dr. Robert Grossman. Allegedly, diagonal movements were much simpler, and there was no requirement to press down on the pad, which supposedly rendered it more comfortable for extended sessions.

Identifying an opportunity in a market dominated by one-on-one fighting games, Triax advertised in gaming magazines, asserting that the Touch Touch 360’s “sensor plate” made executing special moves effortless, even relating the product directly to Mortal Kombat in one promotional campaign.

The drawback? The Turbo Touch 360 simply was not effective.

It performed so poorly that IGN listed it as one of the most terrible controllers ever made, highlighting that it was impossible to comfortably rest your thumb on the sensor plate without activating a directional input, rendering it cumbersome to operate. YouTuber Atomic Purple even conducted a thorough comparison between the Turbo Touch and an original Genesis controller in 2020, only to determine that Triax’s “better scores or your money back” assertion simply did not stand up to scrutiny.

Triax manufactured Turbo Touch controllers for platforms such as the SNES, Genesis / Mega Drive, NES, and PC, but they had additional innovations in mind. In 1994, Triax discussed its next venture, a controller that would herald in “a new generation of games,” according to Super Play magazine (as noted by gaming historian and Time Extension contributor John Szczepaniak).

“The controller is temporarily termed the Multi-Function system, but Triax confirms that this name will be modified to something catchier closer to the release,” the British publication stated in its January 1994 edition. “Development is progressing on Multi-Function units for the Super NES and Genesis (or Mega Drive, in the UK). Most game characters navigate in two dimensions, seen from either a side view or from above. However, the new Triax controller will feature two additional buttons that enable the user to have full 360° control over three dimensions.”

This concept bears resemblance to Sony’s initial plans for its PS1 controller, which incorporated four shoulder buttons. Preliminary reports from 1994 indicated that these buttons would be utilized to control the camera during gameplay.

Super Play also noted that Electronic Arts was already developing six games that would work with the new controller and that Capcom had shown interest in it. Little additional information was disclosed aside from the indication that the Multi-Function controller would be showcased at CES and that its design would be akin to that of a joystick rather than a traditional joypad. It was also mentioned that Hornby would manage distribution in the UK, with an anticipated retail price of approximately £39.99 – similar to that of an average full-priced console game.

We have been unable to locate any additional mentions of this controller online, implying it was scrapped prior to its announcement. We have contacted Andy Hiseman, the Hornby representative referenced in the Super Play article, but so far, we have not received a response (to be fair, this was quite a long time ago, so he might not even recall).

As a side note, the Triax Technologies brand still exists today, but it is associated with a completely different firm that focuses on technology for the construction sector. There appears to be scant information available online about the company’s outcome, which is surprising considering how much buzz it generated regarding the Turbo Touch 360 in various media outlets during its time.

Are you aware of anything concerning this potentially revolutionary controller? Share your insights in the comments.