We now live in a world where a slash through the air can create a cornucopia of sound and light. One movement provides an oratory and visual feast that is free from the spacial confines presented by traditional instruments. What you're about to witness is the future of electronic music. And it all started with a video game controller.

Whether you're playing retro games through an emulator on Windows, Mac or a custom-built Raspberry Pi console, you need a controller. We tested some of the most popular options, from simple Xbox controllers to retro replicas and expensive Bluetooth-enabled gamepads, to figure out which are worth your money.

We've seen plenty of custom controllers over the years, but for those who prefer the tactile feel of a keyboard, Adafruit has put together a guide to make your own little keyboard-gamepad.

Windows/Mac/Linux: The PS4 controller is a pretty popular Bluetooth controller, but for whatever reason, getting it to play nice with Windows has always been a bit of a chore. Steam is making that a little easier with a new feature in its beta version that brings along PS4 controller support.