Conversation 003: Peripherals & The Top Ten Peripheral-Based Games

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Here we are with episode three of the podcast! It’s somewhat strange that episode two went up right before an anime convention, and here we are ready to take off to Anime Weekend Atlanta this week and the podcast is done…

This time around we wanted to talk about peripherals and peripheral-based gaming. Whether it’s the NES Zapper or even all the way through today with the various music games, peripherals have certainly evolved over time. What were some of our favorite ones, and how did they change the industry (if at all)?

In addition to all that, be sure to also read along with our Top 10 Peripheral-Based Games. It’s an interesting list, and probably includes a couple games you had either forgotten about, or WANTED to forget about!

We brought on our buddy Bryce this show to talk things out with us. He’s actually over at Otaku Generation every week doing that podcast, so if you like what he has to say, be sure to check him out over there. We’ll definitely have him back on in the future.

That’s it for us this time around. I’ve personally got a wedding to attend next month (that being my own), so we’ll try to figure out exactly how we’re going to handle the next episode. Maybe it’ll be a short episode, maybe it’ll be even longer… who knows?! Until then, enjoy this episode, and we’ll catch you soon for some more regular blog posts.

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7 responses to “Conversation 003: Peripherals & The Top Ten Peripheral-Based Games”

September 14, 2008

Ricky

No power glove for the NES? 🙁

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September 16, 2008

Chan

Awesome site!!

Konami is seeking monetary compensation, as well as a court order prohibiting Harmonix from continuing to sell the allegedly infringing products. Harmonix is reportedly extremely surprised by Konami’s actions and is preparing itself to defend the claim.

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September 16, 2008

Timo

Perphs!!!! I love the word and Andrew is the man! ;D

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September 16, 2008

Forgotten Hero

Dude! Andrew, I also love NBA Street Vol.2!!!
I’ve had the game for years! I still play it on occasion with some a bubby of mine.

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September 29, 2008

Casual Matt

Unless I missed it, it occurs to me that you guys neglected to mention the bongo controller with Donkey Konga and Donkey Kong Jungle Beat on the GameCube.

Donkey Konga was a fun music game with some cool remixes of Nintendo themes, classical music, and modern stuff. I suppose it’s like Beatmania or (whatever it was you mentioned) where you could Freestyle and hear the music, unlike Guitar Hero where missed notes caused plunks and wails. With Donkey Konga, you hear the drums even when you’re off, and even when there’s no cue to drum. (Donkey Konga 2 even had a Freestyle Mode for the hell of it). You could even purchase different sets to make your drums sound different. For example, you could get a Big Band set, so your drums would sound like different instruments, or a Zelda set, where they’d make Zelda sound effects.

Plus, there was more sensitivity then just hit or miss. Each beat was recorded as either, Miss, Bad, Good, or Perfect. Or something like that. That’s one thing that disappointed me about Guitar Hero, having played Donkey Konga first. It was hit or miss.

Then there was Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. This was a sidescrolling Donkey Kong game that used the Bongo Controller. You moved left by drumming the left drum, right by right, jumping by both, and attacked by clapping. My God, that game was fun. Just couldn’t be played when anybody in the house is trying to sleep.

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October 2, 2008

andrew

We did discuss Donkey Konga before the show (I guess we forgot about it during). I think I was the only one that had played it.

Quite honestly, I disliked it. I hated most of the songs, I thought the drums were too small, and for whatever reason, I didn’t like the game mechanics, although I hardly remember what they are anymore.

My European friends enjoyed the game and I was surprised that it didn’t find a bigger audience. I didn’t expect to be a big hit, but I thought it would have a bigger reaction from the more hardcore Nintendo fanbase.

I grant you it was better than Samba de Amigo.

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October 2, 2008

mike

I actually own “Donkey Kong Jungle Beat” and two sets of drums. Picked ’em up on the cheap at GameStop a couple years ago (maybe last year…?). Never actually opened any of them… ^^;;

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