News Editor

　　One of the coolest peripherals. I've never been into gimmicky peripherals. Hand me a standard controller, sit me down in front of a blazing game, and I'm happy. Still, I've owned a light gun or two in my time: the Dreamcast light gun, although relatively unused, was one of my favorites; the Pong box, with the two dial controllers, is still one of the most unique peripherals of all time; and the Sega fishing controller showed nice innovation. But although peripherals such as the Nintendo Power Glove and the unreleased Sega VR Helmet were cool technically, they generally had little to no practical use--and, as a result, I couldn't care less about them. However, one peripheral that was both intelligently designed and useful when it was originally released is Nintendo's Rumble Pak. Stick a Rumble Pak into the N64 controller, and already-entertaining games such as 1080 Snowboarding and 1080 Snowboarding and even more obscure products like Aero Fighters Assault began using the peripheral. The rest, as they say, is history. In response to the N64 Rumble Pak, Sony released the dual-shock controller, which is still one of my favorite controller designs ever. Sega followed with the release of the Dreamcast Rumble Pak. In the near future, the controller for the upcoming Xbox and GameCube consoles will feature built-in rumble support. Introduced with the N64, the rumble function has now become an essentiality.

　　Having said all that, the rumble functionality seems to have reached a plateau. The dual-shock controller is probably the most adept at providing varying levels of rumble functionality, but after some time, even this peripheral has gradually become pedestrian and unexciting in providing a true sensation of feel. It will be interesting to see the next step in the evolution of the Rumble Pak. Perhaps a better way of providing gradually increasing rumble functionality, rather than having three or four preset rumble levels, would be cool. Perhaps incorporating an electric shock into the controller--wait, that's been done, and it's a wee bit masochistic for my tastes. Regardless, the Rumble Pak is one of a few peripherals, other than the controller or perhaps a light gun, that suits my tastes. Everything else is either a brief distraction or totally useless.

　　News Editor

　　One of the coolest peripherals. I've never been into gimmicky peripherals. Hand me a standard controller, sit me down in front of a blazing game, and I'm happy. Still, I've owned a light gun or two in my time: the Dreamcast light gun, although relatively unused, was one of my favorites; the Pong box, with the two dial controllers, is still one of the most unique peripherals of all time; and the Sega fishing controller showed nice innovation. But although peripherals such as the Nintendo Power Glove and the unreleased Sega VR Helmet were cool technically, they generally had little to no practical use--and, as a result, I couldn't care less about them. However, one peripheral that was both intelligently designed and useful when it was originally released is Nintendo's Rumble Pak. Stick a Rumble Pak into the N64 controller, and already-entertaining games such as 1080 Snowboarding and 1080 Snowboarding and even more obscure products like Aero Fighters Assault began using the peripheral. The rest, as they say, is history. In response to the N64 Rumble Pak, Sony released the dual-shock controller, which is still one of my favorite controller designs ever. Sega followed with the release of the Dreamcast Rumble Pak. In the near future, the controller for the upcoming Xbox and GameCube consoles will feature built-in rumble support. Introduced with the N64, the rumble function has now become an essentiality.

　　Having said all that, the rumble functionality seems to have reached a plateau. The dual-shock controller is probably the most adept at providing varying levels of rumble functionality, but after some time, even this peripheral has gradually become pedestrian and unexciting in providing a true sensation of feel. It will be interesting to see the next step in the evolution of the Rumble Pak. Perhaps a better way of providing gradually increasing rumble functionality, rather than having three or four preset rumble levels, would be cool. Perhaps incorporating an electric shock into the controller--wait, that's been done, and it's a wee bit masochistic for my tastes. Regardless, the Rumble Pak is one of a few peripherals, other than the controller or perhaps a light gun, that suits my tastes. Everything else is either a brief distraction or totally useless.

　　Codes Editor

　　This game rocks with a GunCon. I often enjoy playing games with nifty peripherals, as it's a great departure from standard controllers. The Namco GunCon is a necessity for anyone who enjoys shooting games, like the spectacular Point Blank series, and you can't go wrong with a dance mat for Point Blank . I've recently had the chance to log in some time with Point Blank , and it's a blast with the fishing rod controller. However, I've tried to stay away from third-party peripherals as much as possible in the past. I've bought those cheap $5 PlayStation memory cards and had my game saves corrupted and lost. I've had third-party racing wheels that didn't last me more than a couple of months. Many a time I've warned people against purchasing third-party hardware for their video gaming, but there have been a few exceptions I've come across in the past.

　　I am soooo bad at this game. I did love a particular peripheral that I wish was remade for the modern consoles: the InterAct DexDrive. I had the aforementioned problem concerning a shortage of memory cards and storage space, and this nifty PC-to-console peripheral solved all my problems. I had tons of saves for all my games and never had to delete any, since I was able to keep an archive on my PC's hard drive. Being able to download saves off the Web for the particularly tough games was probably even more useful. Without the DexDrive, I would never have been able to get to the higher-level races in Point Blank , because frankly, I suck at sim-style driving games. It was great being able to have memory card data saved for all my sports game seasons, especially for the more memory-intensive games of today. I'd absolutely recommend the DexDrive to anyone craving more memory space for his or her N64 or PlayStation, and I only hope that next-gen versions of this peripheral appear on store shelves in the near future.

　　This can be pretty dim, but a good GBA light helps significantly. Recently, I was surprised to purchase a peripheral that I was happy with, namely the Pelican Light Shield Advance. The GameBoy Advance is a bit dim for my tastes, and the lack of a backlit screen makes games like Point Blank nearly unplayable. However, the Light Shield shed a good amount of light across my screen, protected my GBA against scratches, and wasn't too much of an eyesore. It didn't drain my batteries as badly as I'd expected, although I admit to playing mostly while hooked up to an AC adapter.

　　In the future, specialized peripherals may enhance the video gaming experience in a number of ways, and it's interesting to ponder what great ideas designers can come up with. Who would have thought that dance pads would be so commonplace or that the Power Glove would hit stores?

　　You're the greatest! Dance Dance Revolution is an addictive game in which you must follow given steps that are shown onscreen, and its popularity is growing at an enormous rate in the US. Thanks to the dance pad that Konami has created for the game, the game is not only addictive, but it also provides a great cardiovascular workout. As you get better at the game and play more difficult songs, the workout also becomes much more apparent, as you can find yourself breathing hard. It's also a good way to strengthen your leg muscles. When you first start playing the game, you will probably find your legs getting tired rather easily, but as you play the game more and more, your legs build up the endurance needed to play the game extensively. All in all, Dance Dance Revolution provides you with a very fun, healthy experience. DDR was recently released in the US for the PlayStation.

　　Guitar Freaks isn't enjoying the same popularity in the US as DDR is, but it's still a very fun game nonetheless. To play Guitar Freaks properly, you have to use Konami's specially made guitar peripheral for the game. The rules for Guitar Freaks pretty much follow the same lines as those of DDR--you have to hit notes just as they appear onscreen. The original Guitar Freaks rounds up an impressive soundtrack. They aren't songs that you have necessarily heard of before, but you'll find them to be perfect for the type of game it is. Guitar Freaks 2nd Mix and Guitar Freaks 3rd Mix also have great soundtracks, but they don't quite live up to the original. Anyhow, if you don't want a game that is hard on your body but is just as addictive as Dance Dance Revolution, then Guitar Freaks is it. Unfortunately, no version of Guitar Freaks is available on a home console in the US, so if you want to play this game in your living room, you will have to import it. Otherwise, the only way you can play this game in the US is in arcades.

　　Other peripherals have a much more niche appeal, however. One such device is ASCII's fighting pad, which also happens to be my personal favorite. It has the standard three-on-three button layout that's ideal for some of my favorite fighters, and its D-pad seems to have been designed with those games' common motions in mind. The double-fireball motion, which has almost become the default supermove executor, is very effectively executed on the ASCII's D-pad--so much so, in fact, that you'll wonder just how exactly you'd been playing prior to finding it. The controller's design is based on the Saturn's standard pad, and wisely so--many players (especially Segaheads) had become accustomed to that sort of design, so the audience was definitely there. What's funny, though, is that ASCII neither released nor licensed the design stateside. That's a definite folly, as there are lots of fighting game fans here in the States who would have readily bitten. Oh well. The fighting stick that was released alongside the Dreamcast seemed to fare very well; just try to find one these days, and you'll see exactly how well.

　　Executive Editor

　　There's a long list of really weak peripherals out there. Seems like aside from the standard first-party controllers and a few select pads, sticks, and lights, the world of console gaming peripherals runs parallel to the island of misfit toys. Before we get any further, I'd like to briefly reflect on some of the wack, useless junk that various lunatics have released over the years.

　　The Glove: Ever want to pilot an airplane or drive a car using nothing but your wrist? Want to catch a case of carpal tunnel without much effort? Then Reality Quest's The Glove is for you. The Glove strapped onto your arm and made you look like some sort of cyberpunk reject on the way to a Mondo 2000 party. You'd move your wrist for analog control, and there was a D-pad located near your thumb. Buttons on the face of The Glove's main section controlled firing and all that other stuff. If you strapped a laser pointer to this, you'd be ready to h4x th4 g1bs0nz d00d!!!!!!!1111

　　Quite possibly the stupidest thing ever. The Activator: Step into Sega's eight-sided ring of fire and experience the true meaning of pain! The Activator was a controller--you stood in the middle of it and moved your arms and legs to control the onscreen action. Sega's weak Genesis fighting game, Eternal Champions, was deemed to be the Activator's "killer app," meaning that the game was probably designed with this hunk of junk in mind. Mortal Kombat II for the Genesis also "featured" Activator support. To make a long story short, the Activator barely worked and was about as much fun as biting the curb and letting Edward Norton stomp on the back of your head.

　　Hip Clip: Finally, you can get at your Game Boy Color whenever you need it! This clip is modeled after an already bad idea, the pager clip, which keeps your beeper right on your hip for easy access, baby. Pockets? Who needs 'em! I can carry my cell phone, my pager, and my Game Boy Color right here on my hip! And it makes me look like a moron at the same time! My friend (let's call him "Mike," because, well, that's his first name) wears his cell phone on his hip. It makes him look like a damned fool. Hopefully, he'll read this and come to his senses.

　　But not all peripherals are bad, right? Right? Hello? OK, yeah, most of the third-party controllers and memory cards and weird shells that put a joystick on your GBA are complete and total garbage. But a few shine through. Let's take a quick look at them.

　　Dual Shock 2: Sony knew it had a good thing going and didn't mess up its controller just because it had a new PlayStation coming out. The Dual Shock 2 makes small refinements in the form of neato analog buttons and basically sticks with a winning formula.

　　Worm Light: The Worm Light doesn't mess around and try to give you a magnified screen or stereo speakers or any of that other crap. The Worm Light hooks into your Game Boy Color and sheds a little light on the subject, making the screen easier to see. If only someone would come out with a GBA light that worked...

　　The Dance Dance Revolution Dance Mat: You just can't play the game without one. Now if only I could find a way to stop the mat from bunching up while I play...OK, maybe this isn't one of my favorites. Nothing makes me angrier than having to straighten out that stupid mat after every song. I tried ordering some mat covers, but they just turned out to be thick sheets of plastic that sit on the mat and make my down arrow less responsive.

　　Features Editor

　　ROB for the NES was possibly the coolest peripheral ever. So many peripherals are released with each generation of hardware that you have to be autistic to keep up with them all. There are gloves, tilt devices, mutated controllers, dance pads, light guns, headsets--you name it. In the end, most of the products are garbage. How many third-party controllers can you remember that were better or just as good as the first-party version? One advantage to using third-party peripherals is that they're always cheaper than buying products from Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft. But how many times have you been burned by a third-party 3X memory card that faltered and lost all your saves?

　　The ultimate cheat device. Some cool peripherals have come down the pipe and never really caught on. ROB (Robotic Operating Buddy) from the NES is one. ROB would move as you played games, and he could even perform rudimentary tasks like picking up piles of chips. While the idea was novel, ROB wasn't interactive enough to remain viable. Then there's the legendary Power Glove from Nintendo. This slip-on controller was what many thought to be the first step toward virtual reality, but few used the glove, so it was eventually dropped. If you're a code hunter, there are few peripherals more effective than the GameShark. This hacking device allows you to sort through a game's files and search for codes. Some will probably say the GameShark is the greatest peripheral ever, but for someone who refuses to cheat, it's worthless.

　　The almighty DexDrive. Peripherals have been around since the Atari 2600, but I can't remember enjoying a peripheral as much as I enjoyed InterAct's DexDrive for multiple consoles, and I got more use out of that peripheral than any other. For those who don't know what the DexDrive is about, it allows you to store your saves on the hard drive of your PC--effectively eliminating the need for more than one memory card. Not only that, but you can also e-mail saves to your friends or put them up on a Web page for others to download. The DexDrive got off to a good start, but it quickly lost steam and found itself in bargain bins underneath copies of Pen Pen TriIcelon . I used to run a fan site, and our DexDrive exchange was, by far, the most popular portion of the site. It was especially handy when renting games. If you didn't have time to play all the way to the end, you could jump online and download a save that would take you to the end of the game.

　　The DexDrive was made for the PlayStation as well. The DexDrive built an online community of players who would share saves and upload each other's ghosts and times from racing games. It was good fun, but it was always limited because not enough people picked up the DexDrive. I still don't understand why someone would rather spend $30 for a memory card instead of spending the same $30 for a DexDrive with unlimited storage capacity. Obviously, not everyone has a PC. But there are a lot of gamers out there with PCs who didn't get on board. Shame.

　　Another piece of excellent hardware that went unsupported. There's nothing that irritates me more than a good product that people fail to support. The Dreamcast is an excellent example of this. If everyone had bought a Dreamcast, we would be in bliss right now, with dozens of online games to play against hundreds of opponents. Instead, we will have to wait for Sony to get its network together so that we can play Pen Pen TriIcelon online. Yippee. What this demonstrates is that no matter how good an idea you have for a product, it will likely be overlooked by the mainstream--unless it's a necessity. This is especially true concerning video game consoles. How many add-ons or peripherals can you remember that really left a mark? Perhaps Logitech's GT3 wheel will finally be the exception. It seems to be garnering more attention than the average wheel, possibly reaching the mainstream.