Are video game controllers scary?

Nick Burton from Rare reckons thatpeople find joypads scary. Apparently, controllers have become 'convoluted' and have way too many buttons, resulting in an object that is totally alien to new gamers. He also says that people are scared of pressing the wrong button. That's understandable - my mum, for instance, refuses to play some games because she says she'll press the wrong button. Well, that or that she'll "only fall off". Hmmm...

So are they actually scary? Let's have a look:


Above: Wii! Wii! Wii! Wii! Wii! Wii! Wii! Wii!


Above: Think back to the first time you saw it. The girl's reaction isn't that far off, is it?


Above: In fairness, we've seen reactions similar to this when motion control is mentioned in the office

OK, so maybe those are quite scary. But I beg to differ with Nick over the possibility his assertion that Kinect could never be scary:


Above: You can have alternative speech bubble by the soles of her feet if you prefer. It just says 'BAM'

Do you wanna see something scarier than controllers? OK, but don't say I didn't warn you...


Above: Once you've seen the Ring, you'll be forced to pick up the phone. What's that? A week? Noooooo!

15 Jul, 2010

Justin Towell

Justin was a GamesRadar staffer for 10 years but is now a freelancer, musician and videographer. He's big on retro, Sega and racing games (especially retro Sega racing games) and currently also writes for Play Magazine, Traxion.gg, PC Gamer and TopTenReviews, as well as running his own YouTube channel. Having learned to love all platforms equally after Sega left the hardware industry (sniff), his favourite games include Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams, Zelda BotW, Sea of Thieves, Sega Rally Championship and Treasure Island Dizzy.