Let's face it, video game peripherals are the big money makers of today. Just take a look: Rock Band, Guitar Hero - both with countless iterations packaged in different combinations - even the upcoming Tony Hawk game has a skateboard controller included. The music games are the worst offendors, selling the instruments separately, or packaged as instruments-only with no game, or the game and the instruments together, or two of the instruments together without the others, not to mention that each additional sequel or spin-off game can also be purchased with said accessories.
 

Put simply, it's f*cking insane.
 

But as I said, there is clearly some moolah to be made. Younger gamers might take advantage of all the large, overpriced controllers and attachments that swamp the store shelves, but those of us that have been around some remember the day and age where gaming peripherals were more miss than hit. So spin up that memory drive, and join me on a nostalgic trip of wasted plastic.

 

 

 

I'll admit that I bought into the hype of GameCube's Donkey Konga, and snapped up my copy upon release. At the time, rhythm/music games were harder to come by than they are in today's market, and having expended all of my Frequency and Amplitude resources, I was on the hunt for something new. The DK Bongos were clever enough, featuring the pads themselves and a microphone to register clapping noises as well. Nintendo promised a wealth of games for using the accessory, including Donkey Konga and its sequels, DK Barrel Blast and DK Jungle Beat.
 

Unfortunately, only one of those games came to fruition on the GameCube, and the Kongo drums pretty much went entirely to waste. As a matter of fact, Donkey Konga sucked. So did Jungle Beat. The two games that were the sole reason for the existence of these horrible fake instruments completely blew, and in no way justified a purchase. I learned my lesson.