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[takoyaki]

The reason I made this thread is the copy of DekaVoice I bought recently, let me explain:

Deka Voice is a Japanese PS2 game from 2003, developed by Acquire and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The game came with a microphone and let you control some of the actions via voice commands (like Lifeline, N.U.D.E or Seaman 1 & 2).

It's a noir detective game that combines a prohibition-era setting with modern technology.

I was surprised to find out that the game not only starred Aibo, Sony's robot dog from the early 2000s, but also had a dedicated "Aibo mode" that let the game and dog interact with each other. You had to download special software onto the 8 or 16MB Memory Stick of your Aibo and activate the mode inside the game menu. Throughout the game, certain melodies would trigger dialogue and actions from your robot dog. Aibo would even start asking you questions about the story and expect a response from you, his detective buddy.

Trailer (shows how the game is controlled via voice-commands, including a short glimpse at Aibo support)
Full Let's Play (Japanese)

explanation of Aibo Mode from the manual

Thought this was an interesting example of PS2 era Sony and how experimental they were with PS2 accessories and added functionality. I had now idea there was a game with Aibo support and wonder how many people every got a chance to try this mode (can't find any impressions online).

What are some other examples of games with support for obscure interesting peripherals & controllers you can think of?

 

[FrankWza]

Steel battalion

I dont know if it was obscure. Maybe the voice commands with socom 1? It included a mic that doubled for voice chat.

 

[PantsuJo]

Steel battalion

I dont know if it was obscure. Maybe the voice commands with socom 1? It included a mic that doubled for voice chat.

Steel Battalion controller was glorious, my man.

 

[Morinaga]

I was going to go with Steel Battalion

 

[OverQ]

Samba de Amigo and its glorious Maraca controllers:

 

[NekoFever]

Soul Calibur on the Dreamcast supports the fishing controller.

Tetris 64 supports the N64 bio sensor, which clips to your ear and adjusts the difficulty based on your heart rate.

 

[hydrophilic attack]

any N64 game

 

[itf56]

Donkey Konga

 

[Waluigilicious]

The Smash Wii U menu was designed like this so that it is perfectly compatible with the Wii Remote pointer and Wii U gamepad touchscreen.

OH WAIT.

I will never know why it was designed like that when it's not compatible with either.

 

[-Stranger-]

This game came out late in the GCN lifetime.

 

[Ronabo]

Odama also supported the DK bongos.

 

[takoyaki]

Cool examples so far, keep ‘em coming!

There's a number of train conductor controllers for the "Densha de Go!" series

 

[mclem]

To some extent it's just how the various controllers map onto the default controls, but Mr Driller on the DC supports an awful lot of controllers, to the extent that someone wrote a FAQ experimenting with them.

 

[Spiral Insanity]

Cool examples so far, keep ‘em coming!

There’s a number of train conductor controllers for the “Densha de Go!” series

I wish I still had mine. There was even an accurate tram controller for the tram spinoff game.

It comes with a whistle and timepiece too.

 

[Lkr]

I can't find a google image but four swords adventures. 4 GBAs and 4 cables all sold separately

 

[The Dear Leader]

That RE4 chainsaw controller comes to mind.

 

[FrankWza]

Steel Battalion controller was glorious, my man.

No doubt. I was thinking maybe op meant the peripherals use in game was obscure. Thats why i mentioned the voice commands in socom more since that battalion controller was anything but.

 

[Shroudent]

 

[Chû Totoro]

I have the exact same Aïbo

So it seems I have to find this game (if Aïbo wakes up... battery must be dead).

 

[RedToad64]

To some extent it's just how the various controllers map onto the default controls, but Mr Driller on the DC supports an awful lot of controllers, to the extent that someone wrote a FAQ experimenting with them.

This is crazy! I had no idea! I wonder why they even bothered.

 

[Refreshment.01]

Out of my head:

• Intellivision Voice Synthesis unit.
• Atari's trackball for PC line.
• Coleco and the Coleco Adam.
• R.O.B. with Gyromite and Stack Up .
• Hogan's Alley Gumshoe controlled with NES Zapper.
• SNES games using the excersing bike.
• GameBoy Camera. Used in Mario Artist 64 DD games and at one stage compatible with Perfect Dark for the N64.
• GameBoy Printer. Used in Zelda: Link's Awakening and some Pokemon games that i don't know exactly which.
• The SNES Mouse is used in various games beyond Mario Pain and Mario and Wario, some FPS i think?
• Panzer Dragoon Zwei supported 2 Mission Sticks.
• Dreamcast Fishing Rod in Virtual Tennis?
• Donkey Kong Jungle Beat a platformer that controlled with the Bongo music controller.
• Jump Super Stars an it's touch screen overlays.
• Metal Gear Acid Solid Eye.
• Games that use the Dance Dance mat.
• Let's Tap used a cardboard.
• Mario Kart Wii Wheel.
• Dozens of Wii games that supported balance board.
• Kid Icarus Upraising table stand.
• Deus Ex Mankind using Tobii Eye Tracker.
• For the future, Dolls with sensors for VR "studies".

The Sony thing you described reminds me of R.O.B. The Wii games supporting balance board is insane: Marble Mazes, skateboarding, snowboarding even Tetris.

Edit: Thanks ShinUltra, i remember Sakamoto was involved but not the tile. XD

I also remember seeing a snowboarding game with anime-ish characters that came with a finger board to play the game with. I can't remember the name and i have no idea if it was any good though.I'm sure someone in this thread will point it out.

Yanya Caballista.

 

[takoyaki]

I have the exact same Aïbo

So it seems I have to find this game (if Aïbo wakes up... battery must be dead).

Oh wow, I was hoping someone who owns an actual Aibo would chime in

So there's two versions of the game, try to go for the one that comes with the PS2 microphone if you don't have one already. You can get it used for around $20 on Amazon US marketplace or directly in Japan

The DekaVoice homepage is still up, but according to the manual you get the software (Aibo-ware) from the official Aibo site and I have no idea if that's still up as well.

The Sony thing you described reminds me of R.O.B.

yeah, that's a really good comparison

 

[SmokedMeat]

[*]Hogan's Alley controlled with NES Zapper..

Hogan's Alley was an arcade light gun game. Did you mean Gumshoe?

 

[Rhanitan]

Donkey Kong jungle beat is my fav.

I also remember seeing a snowboarding game with anime-ish characters that came with a finger board to play the game with. I can't remember the name and i have no idea if it was any good though.I'm sure someone in this thread will point it out.

EDIT: It's called Yanya Caballista City Skater and the finger board attaches to the 2 analogue sticks on your ps2 controller.

 

[halfbeast]

Fret Nice was a platformer that lets you play it with a guitar controller.

 

[Supa Necta]

Rez used the Trance Vibrator.

 

[zephervack]

 

[Stopdoor]

It's more of an accessory than a peripheral, but Wii Party U came with a fold-out gamepad stand to let the thing sit perfectly flat to use for tabletop games. Don't think it's useful for any other game.

 

[Hayama Akito]

Really, never understand what happened on Sony's mind but yeah... the PS2 printer.

 

[-Stranger-]

Any game that played on this in Japan

 

[mclem]

This is crazy! I had no idea! I wonder why they even bothered.

I suspect in many cases it just happens to be the case that the special controller happens to map onto the normal control pad a certain way, and there's no actual dedicated code in the software to handle it. But, that said, the microphone version - with the onscreen readout - certainly sounds like it's been specifically programmed in, so ultimately... I dunno.

 

[mclem]

A really weird one that's just come back into mind from years ago: On the Speccy there was a simple racing game named "Formula 1 Simulator". To quote control options section of the inlay instructions:

CONTROLS:

1. Keys
2. Kempston Joystick
3. Fuller Joystick
4. Cursor Joystick
5. ZX Interface 2, Joystick 1
[b]6. Steering wheel[/b]

I *think* this was originally a package with a steering wheel peripheral, but I can't see much concrete information about that device. It was, however, later released as a standalone product... with the Steering Wheel option still in. So how did you control it? Why, let's pick up the inlay again and find out!

Use a sellotape tin or similar object, about 4 1/2" in diameter and 1" deep, hold it at the top and
 position it at the centre of top row of keys so that it nestles against the ridge at the back. Roll it to the
 left or right with moderate pressure to steer. To begin with, a rocking motion on the wheel may help
 get the feel of the car.

Yep: A steering wheel created by rocking a round object over the number keys.

 

[takoyaki]

Let's Tap came with an actual cardboard box you could place your Wiimote on

The Bio Sensor for Tetris 64 would have been the spiritual predecessor to the Wii Vitality Sensor

And a couple of novelty controllers like the one for Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style or the Katana Controller for Onimusha 3

 

[NekoFever]

Really, never understand what happened on Sony's mind but yeah... the PS2 printer.

I don't think it had a specific printer. It just worked with any (or just Sony brand?) USB printer.

 

[mikezilla2]

Wow i had no idea this game exsisted, knew about life line but not this

well im guessing its not in the least bit playable if you dont know a lick of japense ...

 

[NOLA_Gaffer]

I went to multiple stores and tracked down a clearance copy of Scene-It for the Xbox 360 just to get the Big Button Pads...

...after I heard that they were supported in You Don't Know Jack:

 

[mrmickfran]

You guys can't be mentioning Steel Batallion without talking about the glorious man cave.

 

[giant_frying_pan]

Some Wii games used this:

 

[messiaen]

Manhunt allowed players to use a microphone to mess with the AI in the game. First stealth style game I remember doing something like that.

If you see any kind of entertainment in that game.

 

[NOLA_Gaffer]

Some Wii games used this:

The only Wii games that used that are the handful they sold on the eShop that support the classic controller.

 

[NoKisum]

Does DJ Hero count?

 

[kromeo]

It wasn't that obscure but did any game other than the bundled one actually use the super scope?

 

[The Faceless Master]

does WarioWare Twisted count?

 

[Mr. Robot]

Not obscure, but Knight Squad on PC supports the wii dolphin bar, don't know if it supports the wii remotes by themselves, but it's great for 8 player local multi.

 

[ThEoRy...]

I once beat someone at virtua tennis on the Dreamcast with the fishing controller.

 

[sugarless]

I wish I still had mine. There was even an accurate tram controller for the tram spinoff game.

It comes with a whistle and timepiece too.

I have Densha de Go 64 and am so tempted to get the train controller on eBay. It's only a few quid, might even have been £0.99, but the shipping is of course abot £25.

 

[takoyaki]

Let's not get hung up on the word obscure (I originally had Deka Voice in the thread title as well, that's why I went with "obscure").

"interesting peripherals & controllers" seems to be a better description for the thread so far.

The only Wii games that used that are the handful they sold on the eShop that support the classic controller.

pretty sure it was a joke about too many people thinking the gamepad was an accessory for the Wii

edit:

I think these Namco racing game controllers haven't been mentioned yet:

Jogcon (came with R4: Ridge Racer Type 4)

NeGcon (worked with all kinds of racing games like Ridge Racer, Gran Turismo, Colin McRae Rally)

 

[mikezilla2]

Manhunt allowed players to use a microphone to mess with the AI in the game. First stealth style game I remember doing something like that.

If you see any kind of entertainment in that game.

wait it did - on what platforms did it allow this and was it just for the first game ?

 

[oneida]

• Panzer Dragoon Zwei supported 2 Mission Sticks.

I actually own two mission sticks and have played the game this way. It's cool.

 

[BareKnuckle]

you could use the sega bass fishing controller to play virtua tennis on the sega DC.

I heard anyway.