Note: This is the second in a series of posts celebrating the 10-year anniversary of Xbox. Check back daily for new musings and selections from our Holiday issue, on sale Nov. 15, celebrating a decade of Xbox (and OXM) history.

The Duke: Our Verdict (2002)

Love it or hate it, the giant, bulky controller that came packed in with the original Xbox certainly left an impression on gamers... at least until the smaller, more streamlined Controller S debuted in 2002. We “yay” or “nay” one of gaming’s most divisive peripherals.

FRANCESCA REYES, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: I say NAY to the jumbo convex face buttons and ridiculously over-the-top size. And that’s from someone who’d been glued to a Frisbee-like controller for years at Official Dreamcast Magazine.

DAVE CORDON, ART DIRECTOR: I'm not old-school enough to have used one back then. I can say that they look like Fisher-Price designed them, though. NAY.

COREY COHEN, EXECUTIVE EDITOR: The Duke was like red-ringing 360s: ill-considered tech in need of updating. NAY.

RYAN MCCAFFREY, SENIOR EDITOR: I vote NAY. I was always a Controller S guy. There, I said it. The Duke and I never got along, mostly because I loathed the freakishly high placement of the Black and White buttons. I have regular-size hands, but I think you needed talons to reach those things.

KEVIN SMITH, FEATURES EDITOR: Much like oversized pants and t-shirts, big controllers were in back then. No regrets. YAY.

ALAINA YEE, MANAGING EDITOR: Not only am I a NAY, I never jumped on the initial Xbox wagon because of it. Much to my dismay, I couldn’t ever figure out how to get my hands around it and still reach the Black and White buttons at the top. My bruised ego still hasn’t quite fully recovered.

DAVE RUDDEN, ONLINE EDITOR: As much as it felt out of place with 99% of the Xbox’s lineup, the Duke was made for the original Halo. A part of me wishes I could play Anniversary with it. Mostly NAY, slightly YAY.

There you have it -- five "nays," a single "yay," and one "yaynay" hybrid. Thankfully the OXM staff (and gamers in general) weren't subjected to the "Duke" for very long, as the created-for-Japan "Controller S" became the US standard within a year. Do you have any fond memories of the Xbox's original controller?

XBOX AT 10 ARCHIVE:

2001 - The Xbox's Launch Lineup
2002 - OXM vs "The Duke" controller
2003 - A look back at XSN Sports
2004 - Xbox 360 predicition postmortem
2005 - Xbox 360's Launch Wins and Losses
2006 - OXM Reflects on the Red Ring of Death
2007 - A Look Back on the 10's of '07
2008 - The First Summer of Arcade's Hotness
2009 - Why We Miss 1 vs. 100
2010 - The Highs and Lows of Kinect