Sega took all advantages of the Sega Saturn's controller and added new features to create the Dreamcast controller. They also incorporated much of Nintendo's sucesses, such as the four-button design, as well as the cross-shaped control pad.

One of the unique characteristics of the controller is the expansion bay, which also serves as an LCD screen for each player. The Visual Memory Unit, as it is called, actually has it's own CPU, control pad, and buttons, which can be easily seen by you, but not by your opponent.

Another innovation is the analog trigger which allows actions such as variable control of vehicles in racing games (Family Tree).

ControllerTimeline