Video games wouldn’t be much without a controller to play them with, and they’ve evolved a lot over the years. What used to be wired blocks with one stick and one button have now become multi-buttoned, dual-stick devices with speakers, haptic feedback, and other bits of tech that make them cost almost as much as the newest games, if not more.

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But like evolution, controllers have come in all sorts of shapes and sizes in the hope of lasting into the next generation. Whether they were using new methods of control like motion controls and sound, or simply had a unique shape to draw the player further into their games, these unconventional game controllers were somehow released for major consoles.

10 The Wu-Tang Pad

Ain't Nothing to Play With

• Platform: PlayStation.
• Manufacturer: Activision.
• Fun Fact: The controller has gained a second life as a decorative accessory, and goes for significant prices online.

It’s amazing what a chain of events can lead up to. Paradox Development’s infamously bloody 4-way brawler Thrill Kill gets canceled right as it's practically complete. Then it gets revived as Wu-Tang: Taste thePain (aka Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style). It removed the adult elements, locked away the blood behind a code Mortal Kombat style, and replaced the old cast with the Wu-Tang Clan.

Players could use a regular PS1 pad with it, but if they really want to taste the pain, they could use the official Wu-Tang Pad. Modeled after the group's logo, it was chunky, uncomfortable to hold, and the buttons were made smaller and harder to press. That’s without getting into the right-angled shoulder buttons. That said, it’s a neat curio that represents a small but strange bit of gaming history.

9 CharacteriSticks

Like Supergluing an Amiibo to an Analogue Stick

• Platforms: Master System, Genesis, NES, Commodore 64, Commodore Amiga, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum +2/+3, Atari 8-Bit, Atari 2600.
• Manufacturer: Cheetah.
• Fun Fact: Two of the five CharacteriSticks models were recolors of the same Batman figure, representing Batman Returns and the Animated Series.

Still, it could’ve been worse. In Europe, a company called Cheetah developed a special range of joysticks called CharasteriSticks. They replaced the vertical stick with models of famous characters from movies and TV shows. Players could control The Simpsons: Bart Vs the Space Mutants with a Bart Simpson-shaped controller, or a Batman game with a Batman joystick.

They were as awkward to hold as they looked, with the Alien 3 controller being one of the worst due to its edges and ridges digging into players’ hands. But at least it could be held, unlike the Terminator controller. It was a model of the T-800's head that was too big and broad to hold like a regular stick, so players had to clasp it with their palm or fingertips to shift it around. It wasn't ideal, to say the least.

8 Resident Evil 4 Chainsaw Controller

Revving Up The Tension

• Platforms: Gamecube, PlayStation 2.
• Manufacturer: Nuby Tech.
• Fun Fact: Pulling the ripcord on the prototype model made it play a chainsaw-revving sound, but this was removed from the final product in case it distracted from gameplay.

Resident Evil 4’s impact went beyond the RE series, popularizing the over-the-shoulder camera angling for shooting, and bringing quick time events back into style. Its new setting was unique too, as it traded staggering, moaning zombies in mansions and cities for smarter, talkative, Spanish ganados wielding pitchforks, dynamites, and chainsaws across rural Spain.

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The chainsaw-wielding Dr Salvador enemies were so striking in the pre-release hype that Nuby Tech made a Chainsaw Controller. The device had the same layout as the Gamecube and PS2 pads, only its shoulder buttons were hidden under the handles and grooves. It was also heavy enough to strain the player's wrists after relatively brief play sessions. Still, it had a ripcord that acted as a Pause/Start Button press if it was pulled, so that's something.

7 Katana: The Soul

Japanese Steel Replicated in Japanese Plastic

• Platform: PlayStation 2.
• Manufacturer: Hori.
• Fun Fact: The 'blade' could be removed if players didn't want to risk knocking over household items while swinging.

These unconventional controllers aren’t so great for playing games with, but they’re good for either owning as collector’s items, or for selling, as they’re often quite rare. For example, Onimusha 3’s Katana: The Soul controller was, as the name suggests, a controller in the shape of a Japanese sword. It uses motion controls to read swings as in-game attacks, so players can take out the Genma with real moves.

That is, if they didn’t accidentally press the other buttons while doing so. They were all placed on the controller’s handle, alongside the analogue sticks. Players who forked out $150 for one back in the day may have felt buyer’s remorse. However, since they had a limited run, they’ve raised in value over the years, selling for between $299-$425 on eBay, with some reaching $1,242.

6 Konami LaserScope

The Power of Sound

• Platform: NES.
• Manufacturer: Konami.
• Fun Fact: The NES' Japanese predecessor, the Famicom, had a similar audio gimmick via a microphone that was built into its second controller.

Thanks to HD TVs becoming the norm, light gun games have become a lost art outside the dwindling arcade scene. They used to be big system sellers, with consoles from the Magnavox Odyssey to the Wii receiving their own light gun peripherals for playing them. Though few were as unique as the Konami LaserScope, a headset that let players shoot their targets with their voice.

They would line up the sights of the device’s eyepiece with their target, then shout ‘Fire!’ into the microphone to shoot them down. Or by making any sound, since it was so sensitive, it would often be set off by background noise. If worst came to worst, they could also be used as regular headphones since they plugged into the NES' audio ports. But anyone hoping for a quiet evening-in would find it spoiled by the player shouting 'Fire!' all day, as the Angry Video Game Nerd famously showcased in his review.

5 The Power Glove

It's So Bad

• Platform: NES.
• Manufacturer: Mattel.
• Fun Fact: Its infamy came from its use in the movie The Wizard, where the villain Lucas uses it to play Rad Racer.

People knew this accessory would turn up on the list. Licensed by Nintendo, but made by Mattel, the Power Glove was the company’s first attempt at motion controls. By attaching sensors to the TV, and inputting the right code to make it compatible with certain games, players could control the game by moving their hand, twiddling their fingers, or making any other movements.

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It was based on the VPL Dataglove, which was effective but too expensive for commercial use. The Power Glove simplified its functions to make it affordable enough for the market, but it didn’t work very well. Its sensors and code inputs weren’t user-friendly, and the sensors didn’t read the inputs effectively enough. Nearly 20 years later, Nintendo would give motion controls another go with the more successful Wiimotes.

4 U-Force

Going Through the Motions

• Platform: NES.
• Manufacturer: Broderbund.
• Fun Fact: The controller had its own dedicated game, U-Force Power Games, but it went unreleased when THQ bought Broderbund's games division.

But why mess around with sensors, codes, and gloves when Broderbund lets players use the Force instead? The U-Force opened to reveal two IR sensors, which would read anything swung in their vicinity as inputs, including its Flight Stick accessory for aerial combat sims like Top Gun, or the Power Bar, which let the device read punches as attacks for Mike Tyson’s Punch Out.

It required a lot of calibration as players still had to assign motions to commands. Even then, it didn’t always read them accurately, if at all. It was cheaper than the infamous Glove at $70, though that was still a high price for a device that barely worked ($176 in 2024). That extra $30 ($75 today) must’ve been taken from the build quality, as its hinges were prone to breaking.

3 Joyboard

How A Board Became an Error Screen

• Platform: Atari 2600.
• Manufacturer: Amiga Corporation.
• Fun Fact: The Joyboard's functions were shown in commercials by Olympic skier Suzy Chaffee.

Before the Wii Balance Board, and even before LJN’s Roll‘n Rocker, there was the Joyboard. Made for the Atari 2600, players would sit or stand on the device, then lean in one direction or another to control their on-screen character. It was only compatible with Mogul Maniac, a slalom skiing game also made by Amiga Corporation. There were going to be more titles for it, but they were canceled before they could be released. The Joyboard would’ve been forgotten about completely if its developers didn't go on to create the original Amiga computers.

They became big hits throughout the late 1980s, though its OS was prone to crashes during its development. It crashed so often that the developers would use the Joyboard for a relaxation technique called ‘Guru Meditation’, where they'd sit as still as they could on the board without activating it. As a result, they’d use the term ‘Guru Meditation’ for the OS’ error screen.

2 Steel Battalion Controller

Mechs Appeal

• Platform: Xbox.
• Manufacturer: Sammy.
• Fun Fact: FromSoftware, of Dark Souls fame, would try to replicate the controller's functions with motions in the Kinect title Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor.

For some, using a joypad isn’t enough to get into their games. They need a steering wheel for their driving games, a flight stick for their flying games, or a traditional arcade stick for their fighting games. They’re often more ergonomically friendly in the long run, though for most people, it’s often simpler and easier to just use a regular controller. But that’s not enough for Steel Battalion, a mech-action combat simulator made by Capcom and Nude Maker.

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Its bipedal Vertical Tanks have 44 commands that need assigning, and only its purpose-built Steel Battalion controller has enough buttons, sticks, levers, dials, and pedals to fit those commands. It worked surprisingly well once it was all put together, but it cost so much to buy that it didn't sell many units. As such, it's even more expensive to buy today, as it's become harder to find working units.

1 Death Crimson Controller

The Ultimate Bespoke Controller

• Platform: Sega Saturn.
• Manufacturer: Sumi Takamasa.
• Fun Fact: Death Crimson is one of the first games made by Ecole Software, the company behind Melty Blood and Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax.

The Steel Battalion controller was a pricey peripheral that worked for 2 games in the Steel Battalion series. It wasn’t cost-effective, but it worked, and the games were good. Death Crimson was a dodgy Sega Saturn light gun shooter that was ‘good’ in the same way as Deadly Premonition was ‘good’, in that some love its quirks, while others see them as serious faults.

Even so, a quirky game needs a quirky controller, and the Saturn pad or Virtua Gun weren’t quirky enough. So, artist Sumi Takamasa built his own Death Crimson Controller, which is a giant dragon-looking statue with both the controls and a Sega Saturn console built into it. Players simply stand on the footplate and tilt the creature’s head towards the enemies. However, Takamasa only made one model. If people want to use it, they have to go to his Wonder Museum outside Fukuoka, Japan, to see how it functions.

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