Video game consoles are amazing. Ever since I cracked into my first NES 20+ years ago, they continued their steady progression of awesome. Yeah, there have been a few hiccups along the way (does anyone remember 3DO Interactive Multiplayer?), but overall every iteration was an improvement.
The most successful consoles, handheld or otherwise, of course had great games, but they also had great hardware support, sometimes useful and other times wacky tech that improved the gaming experience.
Arguably the most well-known of the bunch is the Nintendo Zapper. Although technically bundled with the NES when it shipped in North America in 1985, gun controllers quickly devolved to the “sold separately” product category. Regardless, the Zapper became an example of what a great peripheral could be.
But it wasn’t the best. It’d be easy to chalk up the “best” peripheral to mean the most technically impressive, which would most likely go to the Xbox One’s Kinect since its recently been branded a peripheral. But in my entire history as a gamer, it’s not the additional hardware I’ve used the most. That distinction goes to this guy.
This magical piece of game engineering is the Nuby Game Light. Nuby, which would later make that weird Chainsaw Controller for Resident Evil 4, made nighttime handheld gaming possible for me. So many road trips and secretive late night Pokémon sessions were illuminated by the Game Light’s tiny bulbs flanking my screen. I feel sorry for my parents who had to continuously feed the Game Light’s AA battery-chomping maw.
So what do you think is the best peripheral ever made or maybe just your personal favourite? Some peripherals are kind of weird, and others I don’t even get, but there’s clearly plenty of great ones to choose from.