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It seemed to take ages for it to finally arrive, after months of discussion - often about it's lack of power being it's potential downfall, mostly about it's unique control scheme – but it's practically one year since it was first unleashed on the public. And nary a week passes without news of its lack of availability or its overtaking sales of its nearest rivals.

It really was all about the controller, engaging an audience in ways a video games console had never done before. Or has it?

History has a habit of repeating itself, and whilst the Wiimote is undisputedly advanced, the thinking behind it has always been there throughout gaming history. Here's just a few alternatives control methods companies have brought to the video gaming table over the years.

Paddles

They didn't look anything like a paddle of course, but they were called as such because it was the sole controller Atari offered for playing their trademark Pong tennis game on the 2600 console, as well as Breakout. Not particularly friendly for lefties - considering the fire button was on the left side ideal situated for the thumb of the left hand - the “paddle” was twisted clockwise or counter-clockwise with the right. Twisting too far or hard however would break the controller. Not that due care and attention aided the life-span of the controller in any way, as eventually time itself would render the paddle useless – it's primitive technology would age quite easily, resulting in jerky movement of the pong bat on screen.

Trackballs

Some people used to swear by trackballs for PC cursor pointing instead of a mouse, but as far as gaming is concerned, it's most perfect application has to be in the arcade version of Atari's Missile Command. Rolling around the giant ball allowed for highly accurate and timely cross-hair placement to prevent the incoming targets from hitting the landscape you were charged with protecting.

Having said that it's somewhat ironic that despite Atari producing a home version of the trackball for their 2600 console, it wasn't actually compatible with their home port of Missile Command. It did work with their cartridge version of another arcade game in Crystal Castles though, and for anyone that struggled playing it with their traditional 8-way joystick, using a trackball brought a whole new dimension to the classic.

More recently, the trackball controller has been employed in bars throughout the world in the highly popular Golden Tee arcade golf game series.

Light Guns

Definitely the spiritual predecessor of Nintendo's Wiimote, light guns were fairly commonplace across a variety of home consoles from the early 80s to the present day. Probably the most famous iteration was Nintendo's own Zapper, released for the original NES system.

Light guns didn't fire a beam of light as most people imagine, but instead received light, by turning the screen black and white for a split second, allowing the gun to detect where exactly it's pointing – way faster than the average eye can detect. The only real problem with this today is the technology actually only works with thankfully flickery CRT televisions, and in this day and age of plasma and LCD sets, a new solution was required in the form of infrared emitters, as utilized by the bar Nintendo Wii owners set down on their televisions.

Probably the most popular game to ever warrant a light gun was Nintendo's Duck Hunt; a simple shooting gallery affair but fun enough to engage every member of the family – if only for a short while. The low horsepower of the consoles of the era meant many titles provided little depth, so parents of the day dropped their guns way sooner than their kids, but it's quite obvious Nintendo reminisced about those days of family console fun at great length considering the lengths they've gone making the Wii accessible to gamers of all ages.

Power Glove

Whilst it could be used to control dozens of titles, only two games were ever made to directly take advantage of the Power Glove, an officially sanctioned but wholly third-party manufactured controller for the NES system. This probably says more about it's success and performance as a means of gameplay than any other long winded description ever could. But in it's day it seemed like a controller from a galaxy far, far away; a positively jedi-like method of playing video games where a just twist of your gloved hand would direct the action on screen.

Actually no, it really sucked.

Dance Mats

Aside from what the Wii has to offer, the dance mat is probably the most recent peripheral phenomenon to hit consoles in recent years. I would never have predicted the huge success the arcade versions of Dance Dance Revolution would have, but then once again originality is proving to be key, and moreso people really do want to interact with their games on a level greater than just mashing buttons.

Although you could argue that's just what a dance mat actually is, a series of giant, flexible buttons. But it's the fact you use your feet, dancing around following the simon-like instructions on which combination of fancy footwork to pull next that has millions gripped every day. many see it as a form of exercise.

Now who would've thought that, video games actually promoting bodily health?

About G4 in Canada
G4 Canada (formerly TechTV Canada) launched in September 2001. G4 is the one and only television station that is plugged into every dimension of games, gear, gadgets and gigabytes. Owned Rogers Media Inc., the channel airs more than 24 original series. G4 is available on digital cable and satellite. For more information, see www.g4tv.ca.

Tech News on G4

Controller Evolution

December 05, 2007

By Andy Barratt - G4 Canada