Twitch as a platform is full of a huge variety of content creators, covering an essentially limitless breadth of entertainment both in and outside of gaming. While some streamers may be known for playing certain video games or genres, other streamers build their audiences from the completion of outlandish challenges and captivating approaches to gameplay.
One of the most humorous but nevertheless commendable forms of content on the Twitch platform concerns content creators that use a variety of different objects as controllers for certain titles, and even use these objects to complete already difficult gaming feats. From musical instruments to fruit, there is a huge array of things that streamers have somehow utilized as controllers in their attempts to captivate audiences.
Guitar Hero Controller for Dark Souls
One of the most memorable controller-based forms of content to take place on Twitch concerns using Guitar Hero controllers for titles that otherwise require serious levels of controller complexity and dexterity. The rudimentary nature of Guitar Hero controllers within these different gaming contexts is inherently absurd and comical, but it is seriously impressive and fascinating when they are used to beat titles known for their difficulty.
For example, Twitch streamer MezzPlays approached Dark Souls 3 with a Guitar Hero controller in 2020 and ended up beating the game without taking a single hit of damage while doing so. The level of skill and dedication to achieve something like this speaks for itself, with this type of controller-based content allowing the most dedicated and determined players within a fan base to truly display their talent in a clear and undeniable way.
Piano Controller for Dark Souls
FromSoftware games are something of a catalyst for players pushing the limits of what was thought to be possible, with the most dedicated streamers for the titles rapidly outdoing one another with near-ludicrous levels of gaming eccentricity. As well as the aforementioned Guitar Hero content for Dark Souls, Twitch streamers have used eye trackers as controllers or even musical instruments to govern their in-game characters and navigate the tumultuous worlds that FromSoftware often curate.
A great example of this came in 2021, when Argentinian Twitch streamer FryderyG beat the Knight Artorias Dark Souls boss with an electric piano for a controller. As if this was not enough of a commendable feat by itself, the streamer was additionally completely blindfolded when he achieved this, only further reinforcing the level of dedication and resolve that often comes hand-in-hand with the use of weird controllers on the Twitch platform.
Banana Controller for Elden Ring
In what is perhaps one of the strangest examples of the lengths that the meta of outlandish controller content can go, some streamers have even taken to wiring up fruit to control difficult and complex titles. By wiring different bananas to correspond with different button prompts, it is bizarrely possible to play games using the fruit, with the player then having to memorize what banana corresponds to which specific input.
This discovery was a huge trend at one point on the Twitch platform, which once again saw use within a notorious FromSoftware title. A Twitch streamer by the name of SuperLouis64 beat Elden Ring's Godrick the Grafted using a banana controller rig quite close to the game's release, which predictably led to huge amounts of attention and congratulations.
The use of banana controllers existed even before this, however, with the likes of streamer Rudeism playing Overwatch's Winston with a banana controller as early as 2016. With Rudeism also being known for using things like dance pads to beat Dark Souls titles, it is clear that the world of peculiar controllers is one with a lot of history and defining figures.
Recorder Controller for Call of Duty: Warzone 2
Perhaps one of the most notorious and well-known aspects of the weird controller content meta comes from Twitch streamer DeanoBean, whose controller-based content has proven to be very successful on the platform as well as on the likes of TikTok as short-form content. Akin to the earlier examples of musical instruments being used to control games, DeanoBean often uses a recorder to control high-octane online shooters like Call of Duty: Warzone and its recent sequel.
Different notes on the recorder are programmed to things like directional movement, camera direction, and the firing of an equipped weapon, with the long times in between notes making for comically sluggish and difficult gameplay for the streamer, much to the enjoyment of his audience. With that being said, DeanoBean has been producing this kind of Call of Duty content for some time at this point, which has led to some seriously impressive recorder-controlled achievements by the streamer.
Many of DeanoBean's most-watched Twitch clips involve the streamer sniping on Call of Duty: Warzone 2 with the controller, with the long distance and high damage of this weapon type being the most viable option for the controller at hand. The streamer has racked up many kills in this fashion and has even famously won several Warzone gulags using the recorder, much to the surprise of the streamer and his fan base.
The recorder may be one of the most difficult controllers to use of the ones previously covered, but nevertheless has led to some fantastic content. With the Twitch platform being so driven by the necessity of streamers to stand out in such a competitive environment, it is no wonder that over time some of them have strived to rewrite the possibilities of gaming achievements, and the use of weird controllers is an incredible example of this.