At first glance, the design of the N64 controller catches our attention because it is not like the common video game controller. It is a very unique, three-handled controller. If you were to pick it up and attempt to use it, you might wonder where and how you should place it in your hands. It might take some getting used to, but the goal of the design was to create multiple affordances (a thing's qualities or features that help determine its usage).
You have the option of placing your left hand on the left or middle handle, and your right hand must grip the right handle. With this design, you are able to choose if you would rather use the "D-Pad" or the joystick to control movement within a game. One caveat that might influence this decision is if you place your hands in the way that the picture above highlights in red, it will not allow you to reach the left bumper on the front left of the controller.
Because the design might be confusing and non-ergonomic, this can lead to a non-enjoyable experience with the controller, making it non-satisfactory. It is mostly non-satisfactory because it might take some time to learn and get used to the shape of the controller and the layout of the buttons and triggers, also making it not easily learnable. However, after getting used to the controller, it is not hard to memorize how to hold and use it.
The controller is definitely effective, as it does work to control a video game. Now its efficiency depends on the game that it is being used to play - if the button mapping for the game is direct and non-intersecting, then the controller is definitely efficient. If it were not for this controller, the Nintendo 64 console would be useless, making this controller very useful. The only safety risk that seems possible with this product, is the wire that connects with the console which has electricity running through it, but this is obviously taken care of by the engineers that created this, thus there are little to no safety hazards making this controller safe.
This device is simply a device for input and the response happens immediately, therefore there is no direct action to the controller that could be recovered so the only error tolerance would be buttons that are mapped for this specific usability goal by the video game developers. For example, The controller has the joystick and the d-pad, so in the context of a game, if you moved too far in one direction you could simply move the control in a way to reverse that error or a specific button that is used to revert actions in a menu.
The N64 controller is one of the most remembered because it was a part of one of the best video consoles of all time, but it is also remembered for its affordances from its irregular shape.