Gaming is all about immersion—until some mad engineer says, “What if we replaced buttons… with a live salmon?” Over the years, developers have unleashed video game controllers so bizarre that they make the Nintendo Power Glove look like a boring keyboard.
From banana-based inputs to literal brainwave headsets, here are the most gloriously stupid ways humanity has tried to play video games. 🎮😆
1. The DK Bongos – When Drumming Was the Only Way to Play
Released for Donkey Konga on the GameCube, these oversized bongos turned every gamer into a rhythm-less gorilla. Slap the drums to hit notes, clap to register inputs, and completely ignore the fact that this was a terrible way to play anything besides Donkey Konga.
Gamers actually tried using these for Super Smash Bros., proving that some people enjoy suffering. The clap sensor was so sensitive that yelling at the screen could accidentally pause the game.
Best Moment: Watching a Mario Kart speedrunner attempt a world record using bongos—spoiler, they crashed into every wall.
2. The Sega Activator – Flail Your Arms, Hope for the Best
Before the Wii made motion controls cool, Sega released this octagonal ring of lies. Stand inside it, punch the air, and pray the game registered your input. Spoiler: It never did. The Street Fighter community briefly tried using it, only to realize that throwing a real-life Hadouken was easier than making the Activator work.
Best Moment: The realization that jumping in real life did not, in fact, make your character jump in-game.
3. The Power Glove – Nintendo’s Greatest Failure
Immortalized by The Wizard and its infamous “It’s so bad” line, this RoboCop-looking monstrosity was supposed to revolutionize gaming. Instead, it revolutionized disappointment. The glove required exact hand positions to work, which was impossible unless you were a robot. Most kids just flailed around until they gave up and used a normal controller.
Best Moment: The fact that its meme status outlived its actual functionality.
4. The Banana Controller – Because Why Not?
Plug in a USB sensor, tape some wires to fruit, and boom—you’ve got the world’s most ridiculous controller. Tap a banana to jump, squeeze an orange to shoot. It actually works, proving that humanity will do anything to avoid using a keyboard. Some madman even played Dark Souls with a bunch of bananas—and died immediately.
Oh, we are not kidding, the above is just a banana design on the controller, perfect for playing Donkey Kong but check out this wild banana controller mess.
Best Moment: Watching a streamer’s cat walk across their “controller” and accidentally beat a level.
5. The MindWave Mobile – Play Games With Your Brain
This headset reads your brainwaves to control games. Stay calm to move forward, focus to shoot, and try not to get too angry—or the game crashes. It turns out most gamers don’t have brainwaves when playing. The only people who succeeded were monks who somehow beat Tetris by meditating.
Best Moment: The realization that getting mad at a game makes you lose faster.
6. The Live Fish Controller – Japan’s Aquatic Madness
In a bizarre gaming experiment, a goldfish controller somehow navigated the Nintendo eShop and made a ¥500 ($4) purchase. The fish, just swimming in its motion-controlled tank, managed to:
- Open the eShop
- Select an avatar
- Charge its owner’s saved credit card
The owner woke up to a PayPal receipt titled “Thank you for your purchase!” Nintendo’s response? “Please supervise your aquatic gamers.”
The Real Questions:
- How did it enter the password?
- Why a fish helmet avatar?
- Should we check its search history next?
Proof that the future of gaming is wet, wild, and slightly fraudulent.
7. The Treadmill Controller – Gaming for Masochists
Why sit when you can run across Skyrim? This Frankenstein setup turns your jog into in-game movement. Most players quit after five minutes, realizing that fighting dragons is hard enough without also gasping for air.
Best Moment: Streamers cheating by dangling from the handrails while their character sprinted.
8. The Scent-Based Controller – Smell-O-Vision Gaming
A peripheral that releases smells based on in-game events. Walk through a forest? Pine scent. Battle a zombie? Rotting flesh aroma, and what about racing? The smell of burning tires! Nobody asked for this. The “stench cartridge” for horror games was especially cursed.
Best Moment: Players unplugging it the first time they played a zombie game.
9. The Toilet Controller – Gaming on the Go
A Japanese company actually created a working Nintendo Switch controller that fits around your toilet seat. Pressure sensors in the seat register your… movements… as controller inputs.
Why Does This Even Exist?
- Originally designed for hospital patients
- Lets you play Animal Crossing while handling business
- Mario Kart never felt so immersive
A Twitch streamer completed a full playthrough of Pokémon: Let’s Go Pikachu using only toilet inputs. His chat voted on every move.
You might love: 11 Weirdest Arcade Games You’ve Probably Never Heard Of!
10. The Steel Battalion Controller – A 40-Button Monster
When Steel Battalion launched for the original Xbox, it came with the most ridiculously complex controller ever made—a full cockpit setup with 40+ buttons, three foot pedals, and a gear shift lever. This wasn’t just a controller; it was a flight simulator crammed into a mech game.
The Madness Behind It
The game was designed to be punishingly realistic. If your mech took too much damage, your entire controller would shut off, forcing you to “eject” by hitting a giant red button. If you didn’t press it in time? Your save file was permanently deleted. That’s right—failure meant starting the entire game over.
Why Gamers Loved (and Hated) It
Hardcore fans adored the immersion, but most players gave up after accidentally hitting the “self-destruct” button (yes, that was a real input). The controller was so expensive ($200 at launch) that it became a collector’s item, mostly for people who enjoyed suffering.
The Legacy
Today, surviving Steel Battalion controllers sell for $500+ online. Most sit on shelves, untouched, because nobody dares to risk their save file again.
Gaming’s Weirdest Controllers Prove Creativity Has No Limits
From goldfish making unauthorized eShop purchases to mech pilots risking their save files on a single red button, one thing is clear: gaming’s weirdest controllers weren’t designed—they were unleashed.
These bizarre experiments remind us that play doesn’t have to be practical. Sometimes it’s about:
- A fish outsmarting its owner’s credit card
- Bongos are somehow working for Super Smash Bros.
- A $200 controller that bricks your game if you hesitate
Will we ever see stranger inputs? Absolutely. (Someone’s probably training a hamster to speedrun Dark Souls as we speak.) But for now, let’s celebrate the glorious failures and accidental brilliance that make gaming wonderfully weird.
The next time your controller drifts or your keyboard sticks, remember—it could be worse. You could be explaining to your bank why a goldfish bought DLC
Kate is a creative soul with a knack for entertaining people with random facts and historical tidbits. Whether she’s diving into history books, painting vibrant canvases in her free time, or crafting engaging stories, Kate’s passion for creativity and knowledge shines through.
She loves turning the ordinary into something extraordinary and believes there’s always a fascinating story waiting to be told. When she’s not busy exploring the past or wielding a paintbrush, you’ll find her sharing her latest discoveries with anyone who’ll listen.
