A popular challenge for gamers is to create games with unconventional controllers. A Pokémon streamer on Twitch has just taken it up again and needed 80 minutes to reach the first city of Pokémon FireRed with his live-built controller.
Which streamer is that? The crazy streamer is called Twitch UWOSLAB. He streams with a V-Tuber that represents him as an anime scientist wearing sunglasses. On Twitch, he currently has 44,323 followers, while his YouTube channel has 98,900 subscribers.
In his videos, he creates all sorts of gadgets or tries seemingly forbidden things. Recently on YouTube, he built an air fryer out of several hair dryers. In another video, he builds a claw machine that is controlled by his Twitch chat.
Now he has ventured into building a new controller with which he tried to play Pokémon FireRed. It went so badly that he needed a whopping 80 minutes to reach the first city. Another controller is also very special with a similar RNG factor:
With gambling mechanics to Vertania City
What kind of controller did he build? UWOSLAB’s latest build is a controller that took him about four hours to create (via Twitch). With this, he mimics the buttons of a GameBoy: Up, down, left, right, A, and B. The exciting part is that the controller is designed like a coin slot machine:
A coin is dropped at the top of a wooden board embedded with nails. The coin then falls through the nails down the board until it lands in one of six possible exits, each triggering one of the GameBoy buttons:
However, it is quite difficult to influence where the coin ends up with this construction. UWOSLAB quickly finds this out as well:
To test the build, he wants to play Pokémon FireRed with it. He actually only wanted to catch his first Pokémon and make it to Vertania City. That worked. However, it took a total of 80 minutes. 80 minutes of joyful and frustrated coin dropping.
What other absurd controllers are there? For a few years now, it has almost become a sport for some players to play hard games with increasingly absurd controllers. Streamer Luality played Elden Ring on a Dance Dance Revolution dance pad about 2 years ago, and she uploaded her battle against Malenia on YouTube.
YouTuber SuperLouis64 also took on the Elden Ring challenge. He built a controller in the shape, size, and weight of a great sword (via YouTube). Streamer EdyBot also tried her hand at Elden Ring – but with a box dummy as a controller (via Twitch). Meanwhile, Twitch streamer Perrikaryal relies on her brain.
With enough willpower, it seems like many everyday objects can be repurposed as controllers. And especially the Pokémon games seem to lend themselves to testing such creations. For example, the number “Pi” plays Pokémon – and when it ever gets out of the starting city, it will destroy pretty much everything in its path.
