I was planning to make a controller from a arduino uno to use for emulation of some SNES games. I keep getting recommended to use the pro micro arduino. the controller only has buttons and no joystick is it still going to save me time if I get the pro micro?
you need to draw up a requirements-specification which will give you some idea of sensors, relays and other devices and hence the microcontroller IO requirements
you then select a microcontroller to suit the requirements
also consider possible future extensions, e, e.g. WiFi, Bluetooth, serial IO, etc
If You only want to press buttons You don't need any controller at all.
To add to the above, if the form factor a consideration? The UNO is quite large compared to the very Micro board. Is this e.g. for a school project to prototype and demonstrate something, or for an actual project where you might need to fit the board inside some kind of a case along with other components and where size might be important?
Agree with post #2. Could you also maybe expand on what you mean by saving time in this context?
the board size isn't a problem the uno fit's it into the 3d printed case design. (I can change it if nessarsary)
I do have limited time for the project and do want to save time. I know that both boards can be used to make a controller but is the pro micro arduino going to save any time for me or is it a waste of money.
If you need the controller to function as a HID device (show up as a USB device, instead of sending serial data), then you need a processor with a built-in USB interface, such as the atmega32u4 used in the Pro Micro or Leonardo. Using the UNO can be done, but you would need to modify the code in the USB-to-serial converter chip (atmega16u2).
Note that many "Uno Clones" use a different USB-Serial converter, and can NOT be repurposed as a HID (ie Game Controller) device.