As the massive wave of peripheral based games unleashed on us slowly returns to sea, we are left with a mess of peripherals strewn about our TV rooms and cluttering storage space. Why didn’t anyone ever signal the alarm and stifle the bleeding? Perhaps you are one of those that would actually prefer to have had a hurricane blow through your house instead of your current reality – silly little white toys and their jiggly unlubricated condom-like sleeves constantly serve as a reminder of how much money you spent on them for so little enjoyment. Do not fear though. As the storm recedes, the Wii Balance surfBoard is still safely tucked under the couch and other than some dust is good as new and begs you to do some ski jumping. The problem is that after playing a game and experiencing the peripheral for some time, we bore of it and it becomes a novelty for younger cousins or grandparents to try out. It is truly a shame that these peripherals are usually only useful with one game or series. Because of this I believe that the fad over peripherals will die out if not handled properly by developers. While I understand that companies like it this way as they make more money, constantly going back to the cash cow will fatigue the consumer so that in the end all games of this sort will suffer.

I realize that there was plenty of fun to be had in the short-term with many of these peripheral based games. The fun was supplemented by a variety of DLC, such as songs, available for download and an almost innumerable amount of full-fledged iterations come out each year. But consumer fatigue is clearly setting in as sales, depending on the source, are falling and there is no real reason to expect them to bounce back in a major way. For the developer’s sake, I hope they are not simply taking the popular route of blaming it on the economy. The truth is that after the game runs its course, we are left behind usually with a large and useless peripheral. What I recommend is that before the games that utilize peripherals become a punch line, there be some sort of cooperation among the minds where a standardized peripheral is created that can serve the needs of many games and gamers.

Peripherals must not be a burden on the player and knowing that, let’s look at the epitome of failed peripherals: the Sega Activator. While virtual reality was being stroked as the next big thing for gaming, Sega was hard at work thinking of a way to capitalize on this. The streetwalkers that they are, Sega produced this abomination consisting of an octagon that surrounded the player with infrared beams that would react to breaches of the beams. Low breaches resulted in a kick while high breaches equated to a punch. But things got much more complicated this is where things went sour. An octagon naturally has eight sides and so did the Activator. Each of these eight sides denoted a button on the Sega Genesis controller. Needless to say, apart from operating the A, B, and C buttons, the player also had to accommodate for Up, Down, Left, and Right. This made for some frantic and hilarious visuals as you can imagine. But don’t try to pull off a combo move in Mortal Kombat because you can’t and will likely throw out your back.

In my opinion, the NES Zapper was a great peripheral for its time. Despite obvious shortcomings such as very few games to use it with, it was a major contributor to popularizing light guns and could be given at least some credit for the Nintendo Wii’s entire premise today. While the technology is different, we are essentially shooting at things today the exact was we did in 1985 with that orange gun. Nintendo is known for reviving and improving its past products, so it is no surprise that they would bring it back for the Wii as an “innovation” due to the amount of consoles it originally helped sell during the mid ‘80s. If you are a child from that period then you are surely gained lifelong skills such as being able to shoot ducks and clay discs.

Today there is the need for a peripheral that can accommodate the many needs of a gamer. While it is impossible to create a tool that will be of use in all games, as there are some very obscure titles out there, creating one that reaches the most consumers possible and is a real improvement to the gameplay is desired. The draw of such a controller would be large mostly due to its cost saving ability of not having to purchase many others and its usefulness. But I do fully understand the resentment some companies would initially have towards this sort of product. This resentment could wane over time though as games with peripherals decline in sales and the choice of sinking or swimming becomes apparent, so this sort of thing becomes seen as a necessary to push software.

A new controller, however it may look, must reach as many genres as possible. Being that shooters, action/adventure, and rpg games make up a large proportion of games, this should be the basic starting point of the controller. Holding the controller in different positions depending on the situation (eg. gun, steering wheel, bat, etc.), without having to replace attachments, will immerse the players to a new degree. Motion sensing is needed to aim and incorporate melee tactics. Motion sensing would also in turn be useful for racing or flying games and they could be specialized so to be held in immersive ways such as with a flight stick. It would encompass the concepts within the Wii Remote and the increased functionality of a universal remote for more complex titles. Games with a variety of gameplay modes, such as Grand Theft Auto 4, are where this controller would shine. GTA4 has shooting, driving, and melee combat so this sort of controller could yield a more immersive experience. Being able to hold a controller that feels like a gun, steering wheel, or baseball bat would make the player feel more like Nico Belic. Currently there is no controller that properly does all of these things without all kinds of flimsy plastic and uncomfortable attachments. Even though most of the ideas here are not fleshed out, notably its appearance, I predict that something along these lines will be released in the not too distant future as people grow weary and look for a more practical peripheral to further immerse them.

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