Maybe you’ve seen them at your local video game shop. Stacks of odd looking plug-ins, add-ons, and thing-a-ma-jiggers in the corner collecting dust with over-excited proclamations on their boxes: “FULL BODY ACTION!” “Everything else is child’s play!” “Now Nothing Comes Between You and The Game!”

What are they? Gaming’s forgotten history that is doomed to repeat itself; more commonly know as video game peripherals. Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft shouldn’t be faulted for trying to sell gamers on the future. The positive perception of any video game company is fueled by turning on technophiles. However, if the technophiles would stuff their e-boners back into their file and think back a decade or two they might remember that while the tech has improved the promises haven’t changed much.

Nearly all recent and forthcoming peripheral and controller solutions have been tried in one way or another. This shouldn’t damn any new product as redundant or a rip-off. It should just be noted that we haven’t come that far.

We are only now perfecting ideas first proposed during the earliest generations of video gaming. Read more