The World’s Crapiest Gaming Peripherals
August 8th, 2006 by MoominPapa | General, Articles
Over the years there have been many weird and wonderful contraptions that have been sold to us gamers as the best thing since the Atari 2600 joystick. There have been some excellent peripherals over time, our favourite being the Sony Dual Shock 2 controller, but there also have been those that are truly terrible.
Here we have compiled a list, in crapological order, of the worst peripherals in the world that we could think of.
10
Negcon Controller
This was a third party controller for the PS1, which was available at around the time of launch. The Negcon was manufactured by Namco as an analogue controller for racing games like Ridge Racer. At the time there was no Sony analogue controller like the dual shock, so the Negcon was all there was if you wanted perfect control when racing, and it worked quite well. The trouble with this controller was that it made you look like a right idiot when using it. You didn’t use an analogue stick, but instead, had to twist the whole controller to steer, which made you look like you were having a seizure or dancing to some disco music. Also because it had less buttons than the Sony pad, it wasn’t compatible with all the games either. Not the worst peripheral, but definitely crap.
9
Game Boy Camera
In 1998 Nintendo released this camera for its Game Boy handheld console. I was able to take black and white photos using the four-colour palette of the Game Boy, but what made this even better was that it could interface with the Game Boy printer and print out pictures using thermal paper. You could also print pictures on sticky paper to make stickers for you and your friends. A truly crap peripheral.
8
The Nintendo Scope
This was the SNES light gun, designed as the successor to the excellent NES Zapper light gun. The Zapper was a great piece of kit, you didn’t have to calibrate it, it was powered by the console, it was accurate, fairly compact, and it had many good games released for it, what more could you want?
Sadly Nintendo decided to totally change the set up for the Nintendo Scope (called the Super Scope outside of Europe). It required 6AA batteries to operate and they only lasted a few hours before needing replacement. It was literally the size of a light anti-tank weapon, and was designed to look like one too. It wasn’t directly connected to the console; you plugged the IR receiver’s cable into the SNES controller port then you needed to place the IR receiver on top of the TV so there was a direct line of site with where you were sitting to play. Then when you set all that up you had to start the game and calibrate the scope using the little calibration program built into all the games.
Unfortunately if you changed seating position even the tiniest amount you would need to re-calibrate, and even if you didn’t move, the aim point seemed to drift over time, making play very frustrating. Also there were hardly any games released that supported the scope and most people only ever got to play the 6 that came on the supplied cartridge. Admittedly though, the games which were released would have been good if they weren’t let down by the poor scope.
Special mention must also go to the Sega Menacer. This was Sega’s light gun which was released for the Genesis/Mega drive as a response to Nintendo’s Scope. This was just as rubbish as the Scope but is made even worse because they failed to see how bad Nintendo’s offering was and copied it almost exactly, apart from the shape, which incorporated a strange binocular eye piece. The Nintendo Scope makes the list though as it came first.
7
Atari Jaguar Controller
This controller, for the ill-fated Atari Jaguar console, started off ok. With a decent D-pad, pause and option buttons and 3 face buttons, sadly it all went wrong after this. Somebody decided it would be a good idea to tack a telephone style Keypad under the main controls. The idea was that individual games would come with overlays to go over this keypad and customise the controls. In reality the overlays got lost or left in the box and you were left with a very unintuitive and unwieldy controller.
Later Atari did improve the controller by making a pro edition that had 3 more face buttons and shoulder buttons, but it retained the silly keypad. I’m sure this controller was the main reason for the death of the Jaguar.
6
Original Xbox Controller
The original controller that came with the machine when it was released was so large that families of immigrants could live inside its casing. In fact as a result of criticism, Microsoft had to release a much smaller controller for the Xbox’s Japanese release (in the end this became the standard controller across the world). But I wasn’t just the size of the pad that made it crap; the layout of the buttons was terrible too. For some bizarre reason, instead of including 2 extra shoulder buttons to go along with the 2 triggers on the back of the controller, the designers decided to mount 2 extra buttons (black and white) at the top of the right hand side of the face. These 2 were also made slightly smaller than the other buttons, This had the net effect of making it impossible to everyone except those with freakishly long thumbs to press those buttons without having to move your whole right hand.
5
Nintendo R.O.B (Robotic Operating Buddy)
This is the 1980’s robot released by Nintendo in Japan and the US as an accessory for its NES.
R.O.B. worked by responding to timed flashes of the TV screen. He could move his arms up and down and side to side in order to do cool things like, erm, stacking blocks and spinning gyros and the idea was that he would join in with the games.
There were only ever 2 games that used R.O.B. however as people realised it was a rubbish gimmick, and not the cool “Johnny 5” like robot it seemed like.
It was a good marketing tool for Nintendo though for getting brand recognition in the US after the video game crash in the early 80’s. Pretty crap though.
4
The Fragmaster
Just look at this toilet seat shaped contraption. It was released in the late 90’s as an alternative for gamers to using a keyboard and mouse for first person shooters. A lot of companies try and create the perfect controllers for playing Quake and other fps games, but they always forget one thing. The perfect controller already exists, its called a keyboard and mouse! Don’t forget to wash your hands after playing on this little beauty.
3
Konami Laserscope
This was an officially licensed light gun for the NES but with a difference. You wore it on your head like a helmet and had a crosshair held over your eye with an arm. To fire the “laser” you would have to shout “fire” (though apparently shouting anything else loudly did the trick too) into the mike also included on the helmet. The laserscope was not particularly accurate, and if wearing it did not make you look silly enough, shouting fire would have done the trick. Despite having one game released for it specifically (Laser Invasion) it was actually compatible with all light gun games on the NES.
2
U-Force
Yet another dodgy peripheral for the NES, its amazing that the NES sold at all! Created by Broderbund It worked by using 2 large infrared sensors and letting the user program it using a series of switches. I’ll let the advertising blurb do the talking:
Introducing U-Force, The Revolutionary Controller For Your Nintendo Entertainment System. So Hot, No One Can Touch It. Now you can feel the power without touching a thing. It’s U-FORCE from Broderbund–the first and only video game controller that, without touching anything, electronically sense your every move. And reacts. There’s nothing to hold, nothing to jump on, nothing to wear, U-FORCE creates a power field that responds to your every command–making you the controller. It’s the most amazing accessory in video game history–and it will change the way you play video games forever. It’s the challenge of the future. U-FORCE. Now nothing comes between you and the game.
Crap!
And The Crapiest Peripheral ever is…
Sega Activator
And here we have it, the number one crappiest peripheral ever created. The Sega Activator was an octagonal game controller for the Sega Genesis that used infrared beams to interpret movements. The Activator is placed on the floor, and the player stands inside the octagon. Each face of the octagon corresponds to a direction or button on the Genesis control pad. Breaking the infrared beams activates that button. Every time you restarted the machine you had to calibrate the Activator. This involved having to stand 3 feet away from the device, quite tricky in most kids’ bedrooms.
It really does sound like a bad idea doesn’t it? and youd’ be right. In practice this is one of the worst ways of controlling a game ever. When playing you’re supposed to “feel the game” and look like a gaming god, the envy of all your mates. In practice you just look like your dad dancing at a wedding. A truly, truly crap piece of hardware.
Take a look at this video, and then tell us we’re wrong!
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I still have an activator in my garage.
…No Power Glove? Really?
The Sega Activator is just a weaker version of the arcade controller for Konami’s music game ParaParaParadise, only having the misfortune of coming out about five years prior, with no killer app for the device. However, to be completely honest… I’d almost like to try an Activator-like controller, just because I’ve gotten used to doing those arm and body movements from playing PPP. Sure, it probably wouldn’t be good for playing Halo, but for some games, that controller scheme, if it stays relatively accurate and doesn’t require that infernal calibration, I’d love to try something like that out.
The Power Glove, on the other hand… that was nine different kinds of crap.
Sorry, guys but the original Xbox controller is not as crapy as you think. I’ve got big hands and this controller is perfect, on the other side, the controller S is shit ! Sorry i don’t have hands compatible with tiny pad like the playstation controller :! So stop saying that the xbox controller is crapy, It’s juste you who can’t handle a big pad.
And ROB for Nes was awesome ! It was a game by itself, it doesn’t deserve to be in this chart.
The gameboy camera should be no1. It was the biggest disapointment i ever had when i bought that piece of shit. That activator looks awesome though!
Come on, where’s the Nintendo power glove? Or the power pad?
@ Wazarf
yes you’re right, it’s just us in the vast 99% majority of unfortunate xbox ex-users who judged the anchor controller to be crap who are not as manly as you, and can’t “handle a big pad”.
the controller sucked. period.
I also missed the Power Glove in the list… one of the crappiest crap ever.
Nice list, though, yes, the Powerglove should have been in there. The gameboy cam isn’t exactly a game controller anyway.
It says peripherals not controllers
That sega activator is so retarded. The whole time watching that movie, I was laughing my ass off. I’ve never heard of the Nintendo Power glove, so I don’t have an opinion about it. Most of the things on this list I do think should be here. The Xbox controller however, I don’t think should. Although it is very big, that makes it useful for people with big hands. I think that if they didn’t make the big xbox controller, not as many people would have liked it.
NegCon+WipeOut=Lovely
NegCon is unbeatable when it comes to smoth curvetaking..
Oh my ghod that video is fscking halarious!
I laughed so hard I thought I was going to puke when it said to re-calibrate the thing every time the system is powered off… HAHAH
Ha! that guy in the video looked like a total freak
Ok, so you jump around and kick to control the game and I’ll just use my fingers, guess who’s going to get the button pressed (or activated) faster
also, after a few minutes of that, guess whos going to want to sit down
the other guy looke like he was getting beaten… i didnt notice him using his face to operate the control but thats the only way that it makes sense
People who are anti-wii (god i hate what they did to the name, revolution was good) would probably put the remote for that on the list, but theyll all be shown… mwoahahahaha… [/evil]
yah the negcon is actually prolly the nicest way to control a driving game other than using a wheel, maybe even better than a wheel. i ruled for the ridge racer series, gran tourismo and wipeout. none of my friends could touch me. sure when the dual analog sticks came out for the ps you could take turns better, but they still didn’t give u analog gas and brake. you could also adjust the sensitivity so you weren’t having to twist it that much.
No estoy nada de acuerdo con esta lista. Lo comparais con lo que hay ahora, y claro, todo es malo comparado con la novedad, incluso lo de ahora seria una basura comparado con los proximos 10 años. Una camara para la game boy, mandos vistuales, todo ha sido parte de una evolucion… incluso lo que pones como lo peorcito, el activator, es un gran avance. Mirado de esta manera, todo e malo. Muy mala eleccion.
Estoy deacuerdo contigo, todos eran buenos avances para la epoca, eso si que el Activator, de comodo nada….
Tu imaginate llegar del curro echopolvo y ponerte a hacer malabares con eso… se ve bastante dificil de controlar bien.
1 Saludo
Not a bad list, not the best
I have small hands andi am fine with the old xbox controller, of course i do presfer the s controller
Also the super scope, albeit flawed, was alot of fun and superscope 6 was one of my favorite games for snes
I loved the Super Scope.. that rocked, sadily the games for it were far and in between.. What about the keypad thing you needed for Star raiders (and ONLY Star Raider) for the 2600 or the dang paddles, the joyystick could of work just as well.. Dang, I ma showing my age..
The NeGcon was the best controller for all the ridge racer games. Namco added a bonus to Ridge Racer when using the NeGcon; it allowed you to make way tighter turns at higher speeds.
Also, I have no idea what the author of the article meant by “which made you look like you were having a seizure or dancing to some disco music.”
I think it was an attempt at humor.
@ Koko, you’ve obviously never seen someone having a seizure then.
el peor invento fie el virtual boy eso si que fue una mierda y tb podria ser el sega cd fue un bodrio haber tenido eso yo lamentablemente lo compre esperando una mejora y que.. solo los mismos juegos con mejor sonido
faltan esos 2 en la lista haa el el guante de poder de nintendo
Well, the xbox controller was ok, though it is true that in that pad the black and white buttons are a bit uselless. But i think it is not a reason enough to say that it is crap. Dual Shock is great, however I prefer analogue triggers as that create for Saturn’s controller in the game Nights, or in Dreamcast or Xbox. The problem with some of these peripherals is that they were really really expensive.
Enga a xuparla.
i have never herd of any of the stuff that are displayed on this web pages but they
).
do look like crap i mean a laser gun that uses 6AA !!!!!!!!!! thats just way 2 much all i can tell you is that that the nintendo wii is looking like a good idea with that new remote but i dont know if you old timers can handle the moving around
oh yeah and it shuld have kept the same name for the nintendo wii
)
(i like how you can play any game ever played in nintendo
The original xbox controller was great. I agree the black/white buttons were stupid but the size was fine. I guess I don’t have little asian or smaller european hands.
Okay, I agree with everything except for the NegCon.
Whoever wrote this made a downright mistake including the NegCon in the article instead of the Nintendo Powerglove, or even the VirtuaBoy (which is kind of a peripheral in itself).
The fact that the author even says that the NegCon was an excellent controller shows that he was running out of ideas. Saying that “it made you look silly” using it is just asenine. It is just like any other hand-held controller and you look no more like an idiot than anyone playing with any of the standard mordern controllers.
Edit the damned article, remove the NegCon and put the power glove up there at like # 2 or #3.
OK, i thought i better reply to some of the comments on this article. I didn’t include the power glove as I have never used one, and also I found i was starting to pick on Nintendo console peripherals. All the peripherals included i have used at some point.
Also the Virtual Boy (Virtua would imply it was by sega, along with Virtua Racing and Virtua Fighting) is a console, not a peripheral, but I see where you are coming from. I am glad most readers agree with at least some of the list!
[…] Hello Gamer traverses the depths of gaming’s past searching for the stupidest peripherals to ever grace a video game system. From the article: “Over the years there have been many weird and wonderful contraptions that have been sold to us gamers as the best thing since the Atari 2600 joystick… but there also have been those that are truly terrible.” […]
[…] The World’s Crappiest Gaming Peripherals as chosen by HelloGamer. […]
holy sega activator suck pocket…
I didn’t see my old Colecovision controller there. Would that count? it was possibly the worst design for a game controller ever. You had to hold it at a bizarre angle to play, like holding a phone.
so U-Force (which i owned) and Activator (which i didn’t) landed on the list but the power glove did not? that was like a big bag of crap you strapped to your hand and then ended up using the on-wrist pad one handed anyway…
Yep the Fragmaster was really poorly made, “Piece of Junk”… Some of the rest I’ve never seen but they look pretty bad also hehe…
I Agree with most of them som a REALLY sucky others not so much i mean negcon didn´t even made it where i live(ouside us), the game boy camera really sucked, now the scope leaving behind the issue of the 6 batteries (which i solve with rechargable ones) it was preatty good and i didn´t needed to calibrate it so often i mean maybe your was crapy or just broken but mine is still fine i mean i even use from time to time when i get bored and it IS still fun, shame it didn’t have more games; the attari jaguar look like a phone (AKA SUCKS), the XBOX controller was very shitty and was one of the reason i never bought an Xbox i mean i do have big hands but it is so unhandy . . . , now the ROB looks more like it is only there to leave your drink there ¬¬, fragmaster no coments, the konami laser scope and the uforce i didn’t know they’d exist and bot look SO crappy, the now the activator is so funny it’s so out of time i mean i looks good to play stuff like parapa the rapper or paraparadise, even dance dance revolution but did you ever tried to play a fight game or even a simpler game like Rockman in a dance dance pad i mean is the same thing and it is so dificult to move i’d like to see someone making just a shoryuken in pad it is simply imposible….
I See you left aside the power glove who yes mas something crappy as hell, and you also missed the NES Power Pad i think i oly used it when it was new and each time i looked at it and forgot that it was very crappy to play with it…
I could see being unimpressed with the activator as a ten year old, but as a 22 year old I’m sorry I don’t have one. Can you imagine getting drunk or high or whatever and having two of those? Or better yet, turning fighting games in to drinking games. You lose you take a shot. You’d better be flailing your limbs like a burning Parkinson’s sufferer if you don’t want to drink. How about the running pad for nintendo? Awesome. Everybody would look like such a fag. Hahahaha.
Best peripheal I’ve got is a force feedback steering wheel.
oh yeah and I get high and play virtual boy in only red 3-d
It is still the best 3-D ever in gaming its fucking awesomeThe “virtual reality”
has a way of messing with your brains equilibrium and it even has warnings not to drive or operate heavy machinery
Combine this with coming out of a dark binocular thing and smoking some chronic
and you will be so dizzy youll damn near fall down
I thought the gameboy printer was cool. You could make little tags like that funny brother ad where the guy is covered in them and he goes crazy.
The Jaguar controller looks worse than the xbox one so I think it should be 6 instead of 7.
The guy who mentioned the virtual boy (3d with red+blue+black screen) yeah I heard that was crap but I still wanted to play it anyway.
The head/helmet thing is similar to what army helicoptor pilots wear (except they use a button to fire instead of voice command) to controll a minigun mounted at the front of the gunship.
The activator looks lame but I could see it working for ppp games like some other guy was saying. I am wondering whether the jump kicks really translate to the same move on screen.
What about those fishing rod controllers (for snes/megadrive) they looked pretty bad?
Why is the GB camera up there? I liked it. Where’s the power glove, Atari 5200 and the old Saturn controllers? ROB was ok. But i agree with sega activator.
What I really missed here, as long as I believed that, if mentioned, it would probably have been proclamed to be the #1 “crappy bad idea” (although I don’t know if “worst peripherals in the world that we could think of” is refering only to peripherals that got an actual release) is Atari’s “Mindlink”.
[ http://www.atarihq.com/museum/2678/mindlink.html ]
In fact, the mere thought about it being mentioned in this article (possibly bearing the golden medal) brought me to this, as I laughed my ass off.
This clumsy idea eventually might have become the inspiration for this experiment:
[ http://news-info.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/7800.html ]
… which actually is a really good thing. Not only for the particular value in bringing some enhancement in the quality of life of that anonymous 14-year-old epileptic (and, in extension, a possible enhancement in the life of every epileptic), but also for the improvement in the image the general public makes of videogames as a whole. Needless to say, a posture of preconception and discrimination towards electronic gaming still endures (a fact which, hopefully, will lessen with the “Wii Phenomenon”)
That’s it for now. =D
NINTENDO POWER GLOVE!
I disagree with the list too.
The Negcon is crap just because “makes you feel like an idiot?” It was made to simulate a wheel, and made its job BETTER THAN ANY ANALOG CONTROLLER EVER MADE!
I think YOU are the idiot, sir, because you got worried about looking dumb with a Negcon, one of the smoother controllers there was, and just left out the NINTENDO POWER GLOVE, THIS is the one that make you look stupid while playing.
You’re dumb. And clearly the only person in the world who didn’t like the Negcon.
The Gameboy camera was awesome your probably one of those idiots who couldn’t figure it out so gave up and cried. You may not have known you can make videos on your game boy camera and do other fun stuff.
The super scope was fine if you had half a brain and the games to play it with.
ROB well he didn’t do much so I can see why he was on the list.
Thanks man!
You know, there are a lot of controllers that demand you move more than just your fingers. The guy puts the Negcon there just because of this, but so then, why don’t he includes the Dance Dance Revolution pad, real racing wheel controllers, the NES Zapper, and even Wii remote. He’ll probably feel stupid playing with those, so they must be among the crapiest (sic) controllers of all the time too.
The guy who wrote this article, probably is one of those guys that only wear a three-piece suit all the time and wants to look all neato all the time, but can only convince people around that he’s a frustrated nerd. (No offense to geeks, geeks are cool!)
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