6 video game controllers so specific that we only use them once in our lifetime

At some point, we have all been in this situation: there is a game that catches our attention and looks amazing, but to fully enjoy it, we need to purchase an additional controller that promises to have a lot of potential. The Dance Dance Revolution mat, the Wii Fit board, and so on. But once we have played, what do we do with the bulky thing that came with it?

Here are six extremely specific video game controllers that we have only used once in our lives—and that we will probably never take advantage of again. If you thought your Guitar Hero guitar was a waste of money, wait until you see what lies in the depths of video games…

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Guitar Hero On Tour

While on home consoles, Guitar Hero became a game for four players, each with their own instrument. On Nintendo DS, it was time to let loose and start with the basics: a kind of accordion that simulated the four guitar chords and that appeared for Guitar Hero: On Tour and, as it needed the Game Boy Advance slot, it was completely incompatible with any later model of the console.

Actually, the team that created the game named it Ukulele Hero, although, as it stands, it maintained its level of difficulty in hits like All-Star, All the Small Things, Avalanche, The Farm, or Rock and Roll All Nite. In the following year, the game had a couple of sequels, Decades and Modern Hits, before falling into complete oblivion. Some of us remember our accordion. Strange nostalgia, I suppose.

Ring Fit Adventure

A recent case: Nintendo Switch proposed, during the pandemic, to get us in shape, and they released a round and flexible hoop along with a kind of leg belt where you could fit the console controllers. The result was the best fitness video game in history, Ring Fit Adventure, which offered different levels, final bosses, and enemies to face through squats and sweat.

The problem is that, once the game’s lifecycle ended, and after a free DLC in the style of Beat Saber, it fell into complete oblivion. A few of us dream of a sequel to help us lose weight again by fighting terrible monsters, but it seems that Nintendo is not up for it.

Wii Zapper

We change consoles, but not companies: Nintendo is an expert at making us buy things we don’t need… And as an example, the Wii Zapper, which supposedly served to aim better in FPS games and was… a piece of plastic that was sold almost exclusively because it came with the game Link’s Crossbow Training, a spin-off of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

You could play Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, Call Of Duty: World At War, Dead Space: Extraction, The House Of The Dead 2 & 3 Return, and a dozen others on it, but hardly anyone ever used it outside of Link and his crossbow. It just wasn’t fun, unlike other Wii peripherals like the steering wheel. It’s best not to mess with unofficial ones like the bowling ball for Wii Sports. There’s no way back from that world.

Tony Hawk: Ride

In 2009, the skate saga Tony Hawk was already coming to an end, but at Robomodo, the new studio in charge of their games, they still had something to say: What if we leave the controller behind and play from now on… with a board that has accelerometers and that won’t allow any other way of playing? Tony Hawk: Ride, for PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii, was not successful among critics, and the public did not rush to get their board…

Among other things, because everyone was aware that they would never use it again and the Tony Hawk saga would continue, from that moment on, playing with the traditional controller. There was even a sequel, Tony Hawk: Shred, in which they had the audacity to sell a slightly different new board for $130. In one week, it sold 3000 units, and no one thought of mentioning the peripheral again.

SEGA Fishing Rod

There were a total of six fishing games for Dreamcast, of which in Europe we could only play one, Sega Bass Fishing, in 1999, the port of a famous arcade game that consisted, well, in fishing with a fishing rod from your couch. The rod had everything you could expect from such a peripheral: motion sensors, vibration, reels to bring the line to you, and the usual buttons on the controller.

If you were lucky enough to live in the United States or Japan, you’re in luck because several more fishing games arrived there, such as Sega Marine Fishing (the sequel to Sega Bass Fishing), Lake Masters Pro Dreamcast Plus! (which I invite you to see to believe) or Bass Rush Dream: EcoGear PowerWorm Championship\. In 2001, only two years after its release, Dreamcast fans could already save their fishing rod along with their dreams of becoming great fishermen.

Donkey Konga

We finish with Nintendo, of course, although here I feel a deep paradox: I know perfectly well that it was a common scam to charge extra for a peripheral, but I can’t help but love Donkey Konga and consider it one of my favorite rhythm games (even if it’s just a mere copy of Taiko no Tatsujin). Play the bongos, go through the songs, and enjoy with Donkey Kong and company. Two sequels were released before being forgotten.

Well, more or less: Donkey Kong Jungle Beat was a platform game that could only be played with the bongos. There was going to be another game in the franchise, DK Bongo Blast, but it ended up being released for Wii without being able to use this controller. Please, justice for the bongos of Donkey Kong. It’s not too much to ask for.

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