Guitars; drums; turntables and mixing decks; car seats, pedals, gear sticks and steering wheels; light guns; motion sensors; balance boards; nun chucks – you name it, these days, we probably have a peripheral device that covers it. Things weren’t always this good however. Join MyGaming as we take a look at some of the peripherals that excited earlier generations of console gamers.
The Joyboard – “Look Ma! No Hands!”
Manufactured by Amiga and released in 1982, the Joyboard is the granddaddy of the Wii Balance Board. Inside the Joyboard were four directional latches similar to a regular joystick. Leaning in a particular direction was translated into movement. The device worked with the Atari 2600 console and there was only one official game released and bundled with the peripheral; Mogul Maniac, a slalom skiing game developed by Amiga.
The game Off Your Rocker – also developed by Amiga – could make use of the Joyboard as well as a regular joystick, but was not officially sold by Amiga. The game required the player to repeat colour and sound patterns made by the onscreen character, which sounds like a precursor to rhythm games such as Dance Dance Revolution. A surfing game was also rumoured to have been developed, but never released.
Game Mate 2 Wireless Controllers – “The World’s First Wireless Remote Control Joysticks.”
The year is 1982 and despite the misleading product name, the world’s first wireless gaming controllers are introduced to the market. The Controllers worked with Atari 2600 based consoles and the Commodore VIC-20 PC. The long antennas sticking out of the controllers are just begging to be twisted, snapped, and jammed into a family pet’s eye during intense Pong sessions.
Atari Mindlink – “The State of the Art for the State of your Mind.”
Not content with leading the video game console invasion into homes, Atari decided to dabble in one of the first attempts at motion control. The Mindlink device was strapped to one’s forehead where it detected the movements of eyebrow muscles, the interpretations of which were sent to the Atari console or computer via an infrared beam.
The Mindlink never made it out of prototype testing however, due to test subjects complaining of strain and headaches. The poor bloke in the promo shot doesn’t look like he’s having much fun.
The peripheral was also being developed during 1983, a dark period for American and European console markets, and ultimately it was never refined to be a viable product.
The CVC Gameline – “This is your parent’s DLC”
The Gameline is a rather nifty peripheral that was probably ahead of its time. William von Meister, a modem technology pioneer was looking for ways to utilise his newly developed digital content delivery system, and the Gameline was born.
Owners of the Atari 2600 could insert the Gameline module into the cartride slot, dial-up a central server using a connected telephone line, and download a variety of games. Downloaded games were good for five to ten play sessions, after which users would have to connect to the server and pay for a new download. Customers even got free games on their birthday.
Despite innovative plans for a variety of services delivered into the home such as news, stock market figures, sports results, and even online banking, GameLine fell victim to the video game industry crash in 1983. The legacy of CVC would lead to the creation of America Online, one of the most successful Internet oriented companies of the 1990’s.
Nintendo Power Glove – “Everything else is child’s play”
“I love the Power Glove. It’s so bad!” declared Lucas Barton in the 1989 Nintendo produced film, The Wizard. Of course, he was using some kind of archaic slang which the film’s writers hoped would portray the Power Glove in a positive light. Unfortunately the prophetic nature of Barton’s words would mark the commercial failure of this peripheral, and spawn an Internet meme.
The device uses some snazzy technology which measures the electrical resistance properties of conductive carbon ink in relation to how compressed the ink is when the fingers are bent or extended. To detect the yaw and roll of the hand the glove uses two speakers to transmit ultrasonic sound to three receivers rigged around the TV set.
There were only two games released with Power Glove specific controls in mind. The Japanese manufacturer of the glove was eventually bankrupt due in part to the decision by Nintendo not to sell any Power Glove specific games in the Japanese market. The technology used in the Power Glove would however pave the way for the wireless controls of the Wii console.
Sega Activator – “Jump In To the Action.”
The Activator was a large hexagonal peripheral released in 1993. It was placed on the floor and the player stood inside of its boundaries. Each of the eight sides of the device had an infrared beam which interpreted being broken by movement as the equivalent of a regular D-pad and 3 button controller command. Going clockwise from 12 o’clock, the beams represented Up, B, Right, A, Down, A, Left, and C. There were a few games designed to work with the device, most notably Mortal Kombat.
On paper it must have sounded like a good idea but in reality it was difficult to use. Recall the speed with which you have to execute moves in Mortal Kombat and imagine trying to enact those movements using arms and legs – you are likely to look like an exhausted maniac in your attempts to accurately and swiftly break the correct beams. To top it off, the Activator wouldn’t work with anything but the flattest of ceilings above it.
Do you know of any other whacky console peripherals? Let us know
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