A trend in gaming that has mostly gone away is the special peripherals, usually in the form of novelty controllers, that sometimes come out alongside new games. The most popular of these, and the one responsible for their decline, are the Guitar Hero guitar controllers, which are almost life-size and shaped like a guitar. There are two major components that contribute to the cult classic status of some of these, which are usability and novelty. The best controllers were often one or the other, but the cream of the crop managed both. These days, the closest we have are the Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Cons, or some of the classic controllers available for the Switch, like the GameCube controller. For this list, I went with ones that managed to do both, at least for some games.

4 PokeWalker for SoulSilver and HeartGold

A pedometer, but for Pokémon

The PokeWalker was a pedometer that came with Pokémon SoulSilver and HeartGold for the Nintendo DS. The way the PokeWalker worked is that you could load a Pokémon onto it, which would gain EXP based on the number of steps you took, but it could gain one level per transfer to the PokeWalker. You should also pick a route to walk, with each step increasing your chances of running into and catching a wild Pokémon on that route. New routes were unlocked by gaining Watts, which, again, were earned by walking. There were also special routes that could be downloaded via Wi-Fi at the time of release. The PokeWalker was a surprisingly well-made pedometer, and it offered actual good rewards for getting out and about. Plus, it likely led to the creation of Pokémon GO, which functions in some similar ways, using your phone to track steps.

3 DK Bongo Controller

Who needs a plastic guitar?

The DK Bongo controller for the Nintendo GameCube was released for a few Donkey Kong games. It was used for Donkey Konga, Donkey Konga 2, and Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. The first two of those are rhythm games, similar to Guitar Hero, but instead, you have to play using the bongo controllers. The three inputs are left, right, and clap, which is registered by the microphone on top of the controller. The track lists for both Donkey Konga games are a strange mix of music, featuring songs like DK Rap and mainstream hits, like All The Small Things by Blink 182. Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, on the other hand, is a 2D platformer based on getting high scores, designed to be played with the DK Bongo controller, using it to move either left or right. While that feels like stretching the controller beyond what it's capable of, the Donkey Konga games are a delight to play with the bongos, even if all the clapping will start to hurt your hands.

2 Xbox One Kinetic

Games made for Kinetic weren't very good, but they added some fun features to other games

The Xbox One Kinetic was a failure, increasing the base price of the console by $100 and not having any great games released for it. But, that doesn't mean it didn't have its uses, and there are some games that genuinely benefited from having it. The Kinetic is still arguably the best way to play Just Dance, even though new games in the series are not compatible with the camera peripheral. It was convenient to turn the console on and off with voice commands or to switch games with it. The fondest memory I have of the Xbox One Kinect is from playing Dead Rising 3 when I got my new console. That game is better than people give it credit for, and during psychopathic boss fights, you can use voice commands to trigger certain attacks, adding a layer of strategy. Did I think the future of gaming involved yelling at my TV while playing? No, of course not, but it was fun to do at the moment.

1 Ring Fit Adventure

The ring might seem silly, but this workout game is no joke

You might be surprised to learn that Ring Fit Adventure for the Nintendo Switch sold over 14 million copies (via NintendoLife). Designed to use the Joy-Cons in a large exercise ring and in a leg strap, to track your movement as you progress through the game. Ring Fit Adventure is an exercise device first and foremost, but the video game aspect is surprisingly well-executed, surpassing expectations based on the game's mechanics. The ring itself is pretty high quality, and using Ring Fit Adventure as your consistent workout routine would genuinely get you into better shape. It's a product that seems unnecessary or strange, like the Wii Fit balance board was, but it excels at being an exercise-focused video game. Considering that the ring is both strange and successful makes it a perfect peripheral for this list.

Video game controllers can be both weird and great

While it seems like the era of overly complicated pieces of plastic made for a single video game is mostly behind us, that time in gaming created some incredible devices, there are some I didn't include on here, like the Resident Evil 4 chainsaw controller, that are incredible to look at, but do not make playing the game more fun, but I love those too. While it's mostly gone out of fashion, Nintendo has pretty reliably created some kind of strange controller every couple of years, so hopefully it will keep this strange practice alive.