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[Kadve]

3d was taking the world of PC gaming by storm in the mid to late 90s thanks to games like Quake and Descent, but how the hell where you supposed to control these newfangled things? With your Mouse and Keyboard? or maybe your Controller or Joystick? Well then you clearly had no imagination, unlike most of these companies (who lets be honest here, might have had a bit to much at times). So lets laugh and bask in the ridiculousness that was you non-standard gaming peripherals from this time period with a selection. And if you know any other good ones, feel free to post.

(I noticed btw after making my last article that image heavy posts made on computers might not look to good when viewed on mobile. Apologies in advance if it looks weird)

(note 2: i also know consoles had their own weird set of peripherals made by booth third and first party. But i didn't grow up with those so they aren't included here)

SpaceTec SpaceOrb 360​

Released in 1995. SpaceTeks 6 axis Space(ball) might have been a proven hit when it came to CAD and similar users. But for gaming it kinda sucked and it didn't suppleant anything. The device itself was also poorly put together to save costs and became uncomfortable to use very quickly.

Still has a cult following though and you can get Modern versions of the original Spaceball

Logitech Cyberman​

In 1994, Logitech had also tried to use the Spaceball technology (or their own version of it at least) for a gaming peripheral. But as a mouse rather than a controller.

While the device was certainly more comfortable than the Spaceorb. The problem was again that what worked in theory didn't really work in practice as it was unreliable, fiddly, had a very step learning curve and in the end, kinda pointless. The haptic feedback was also more annoying than anything.

(more below, had to split the post early for some reason)

 

[Kadve]

Logitech Cyberman 2​

Its 1997 so why not make another Cyberman? This device tried to be controller rather than a mouse and replaced the ball with a, um, "nipple" that you could pull, twist and push as much as the original. It seems to have flown under the radar when it originally released though as i cant find much in the way of reviews of it. But like the spaceorb, it also seems to be a cult classic (though not the same degree) and it doesn't seem to have much in the way of flaws actually.

No'one seems to have bought it simply.

Thrustmaster Fragmaster​

With a name that screams 1998. The Fragmaster was a joystick mounted a turntable allowing it to essentially act as a mouse and said joystick simultaneously. And as you might imagine, this worked about as well as it sounds it would. The device was uncomfortable, hard to use, annoying to program and the haptic feedback was downright painful. Its "MegaHurts" (TM) mode that allowed it to be used as an actual mouse also lived up to its name in how painful it was to use.

SGRL Titan Sphere​

This device (which i believe released in 1999, but its a bit hard to tell) was essentially a pair of handles mounted on a cylindrical axis allowing it to tilt and rotate. Designed primarily for flight sims and racers (though it could also be used for shooters quite nicely) and while surprisingly comfortable, it failed to really sell anything due to its high asking price ( $129.99) and as stated several times in this article. You either wanted a joystick or a gamepad, Not booth.

Microsoft SideWinder Dual Strike​

Even Microsoft themselves got in on the fun. The 1999 Dual Strike was a gamepad that also had trackball mounted between its two parts allowing it to, once again, act as a mouse at the same time. While it actually worked quite well, like the Titan Sphere and Cyberman 2 it was released a bit to late for people to actually want it. And is mostly yet another cult classic nowadays.

Microsoft SideWinder Strategic Commander​

Another Microsoft device, this time from 2001. Unlike most examples on this page the Strategic Commander wasn't actually designed for FPS or flight sims, but rather for RTS games. It was essentially a mouse mounted on top of a stationary platform that could be moved back and forth like one, but was also designed to be use left handed alongside a real mouse with the idea being that you used it to pan around the map and for hotkeys.

Also unlike most examples featured here, it was a well designed device that worked really well. And remains a well loved cult classic to this day.

Micro Innovations Indy 500 Power Grip​

This otherwise forgotten 1999 thing was apparently an attempt to cram everything you needed for racing games (throttle, brakes, gears) into a single controller. I have no idea how that would work as can barely find any info on it. Thought it was relevant enough to include anyway though.

Intel Wireless Game Pad​

Yes, Intel of all companies decided to jump onto the pc controller bandwagon in the year 2000. And lets be honest here, they should have stuck to their day job.

Beyond being a normal controller the device could also register your movements thanks to its usage of Infra-red technology and also act as an air mouse/motion controller. But while there was technically nothing wrong with it. The lack of analog sticks made it outdated from the get go, and its ridiculous design was laughed at even back in the day.

Zalman FPSGun​

This is from 2007 and while not from the same time period as the other devices. I decided to include it anyway since it invokes the same spirit.

The device is as you can imagine, a mouse designed for FPS games and to make it feel like your actually holding a gun. While it worked without major issues, most people considered it more of a cute novelty than anything. And like Intel, Zalman should have stuck to their day job of making actual PC components.

 

[Fermbiz]

All i had was a regular 6 button and d-pad SideWinder back in the days. It sucked but it worked.

Do half of these weird peripherals even do the job?

 

[amigastar]

I had one of these joysticks with force feedback. I remember playing IL2 Sturmovik with it. You could feel the feedback when shooting the machine gun. It was pretty awesome.

 

[Kadve]

I had one of these joysticks with force feedback. I remember playing IL2 Sturmovik with it. You could feel the feedback when shooting the machine gun. It was pretty awesome.

Yea a friend had this amazing Logitech one that i was envious about. I was just stuck with regular Wingman Extreme.

 

[amigastar]

Yea a friend had this amazing Logitech one that i was envious about. I was just stuck with regular Wingman Extreme.

Now that you mention Logitech, I think it was this one i've had.

 

[Gameplaylover]

I had this one and it sucked:

 

[Kadve]

Now that you mention Logitech, I think it was this one i've had.

Yep, that's the one. While it would be cool to finally get one nowadays i doubt there are modern drivers for it. And my current Freedom 2.4 still works great and has a twist axis.

 

[amigastar]

Yep, that's the one. While it would be cool to finally get one nowadays i doubt there are modern drivers for it. And my current Freedom 2.4 still works great and has a twist axis.

yeah, no drivers since a long time for the joystick.

 

[Kuranghi]

I had a Precision Pro and the classic Force Feedback Pro, was so sad when the FFP started to break, I think its still in a cupboard somewhere...

 

[Dream-Knife]

I wasn't a PC gamer until the early 2000s, but one of my friends older brothers had a Logitech cyberman.

 

[M1chl]

Microsoft SideWinder Strategic Commander​

Another Microsoft device, this time from 2001. Unlike most examples on this page, the Strategic Commander weren't actually designed for FPS or flight sims, but rather for RTS games. It was essentially a mouse mounted on top of a stationary platform that could be moved back and forth like one, but was also designed to be use left handed alongside a real mouse. With the idea being that you used it to pan around the map and for hotkeys.

Also unlike most examples featured here, it was a well designed device that worked really well. And remains a well loved cult classic to this day.

​

When I was doing CAD for school, this shit was unbeatable in addition to mouse. I still have it somewhere.