10 Video Game Traditions That Are Dead And Buried
3. Weird Controllers And Peripherals
The silhouette of the N64 controller is instantly recognisable but, even if you love it, you at least understand why it wasn’t ever really imitated. These days even Nintendo, who continue to experiment in this regard, put out Pro Controllers which fall completely in line with the core design philosophies of their contemporaries.
But in yesteryears, controllers were weird and exceedingly varied. Not just your boxed-in pads either, there was a wealth of other options out there.
Novelty ways to play found themselves lifted out of the arcade and adapted for home use: light guns, steering wheels and arcade fight sticks. Whilst some of these still exist, they’re far less prominent. In the case of light guns, the genre of on-rail shooters has waned without them.
The same can be said about rhythm games. The last big gasp of weird peripherals were the plastic guitars, drums and (still confounding) DJ desks. Whilst immersive and enjoyable, proven by their success, they had a very clear expiry date from the start. No one was buying another set if theirs didn’t connect to the next console generation.
In an era where developers and fans are both seemingly keen to put every title into neat boxes, the idea of purchasing unique peripherals for a particular genre or even a single game seems fairly low. Better for your wallet, yes but these peripherals have perhaps more charm than ever considering how standardised gaming controllers have become.