Top 10 Worst Gaming Peripherals

Microsoft's 2013 motion camera was forced into every Xbox One launch bundle at an inflated $499 price point, saddling the console with a peripheral nobody wanted. Its voice commands barely worked, its game library was nonexistent, and Microsoft quietly discontinued it in 2017 after losing the generation to PS4.

Nintendo's 1985 robot accessory was a Trojan horse designed to make the NES look like a toy rather than a video game console after the 1983 crash. It supported exactly two games, both terrible, responded to screen flashes with glacial slowness, and became gaming's most famous piece of useless hardware.

Sega's 1993 infrared motion controller was an octagonal ring placed on the floor that detected body movements for fighting games. It barely registered punches, completely ignored kicks, and cost $80 for a peripheral that turned Street Fighter II into an interpretive dance performance.

Sony's 2010 motion controller arrived three years after the Wii proved motion controls were a fad with a shelf life. Its glowing orb required a camera, dedicated games were scarce, and it was functionally abandoned until Sony repurposed it for PSVR with only marginally better results.

Nokia's 2003 hybrid phone-gaming handheld required users to hold it sideways against their face to make calls, earning the nickname "taco phone." Its game cartridges required removing the battery to swap, and it sold 3 million units against the Game Boy Advance's 81 million.

Capcom's 2002 Xbox mech controller featured 40 buttons, two joysticks, three foot pedals, and a $200 price tag for a single game. It was an incredible novelty for the five people who bought it, but its size, cost, and single-game support made it the most impractical peripheral ever manufactured.

Atari's 1995 CD add-on for the already-failing Jaguar console was shaped like a toilet and performed about as well. It had a catastrophic hardware failure rate, a library of fewer than 15 games, and required the Jaguar's cartridge slot to connect, creating a towering stack of obsolete hardware.

Nintendo's 2012 tablet controller confused consumers so badly that millions thought it was a Wii accessory rather than a new console. Its 3-5 hour battery life, resistive touchscreen in a capacitive world, and asymmetric gameplay gimmick that few developers utilized doomed the Wii U to 13 million units sold.

The 2013 Kickstarter darling raised $8.5 million promising an Android-based micro-console that would democratize gaming. It launched with a controller that had mushy buttons and stuck triggers, a storefront of mobile-quality games, and input lag so severe that action games were unplayable. It was discontinued by 2015.

Microsoft's 2013 motion camera was forced into every Xbox One launch bundle at an inflated $499 price point, saddling the console with a peripheral nobody wanted. Its voice commands barely worked, its game library was nonexistent, and Microsoft quietly discontinued it in 2017 after losing the generation to PS4.

Nintendo's 1985 robot accessory was a Trojan horse designed to make the NES look like a toy rather than a video game console after the 1983 crash. It supported exactly two games, both terrible, responded to screen flashes with glacial slowness, and became gaming's most famous piece of useless hardware.

Sega's 1993 infrared motion controller was an octagonal ring placed on the floor that detected body movements for fighting games. It barely registered punches, completely ignored kicks, and cost $80 for a peripheral that turned Street Fighter II into an interpretive dance performance.

Sony's 2010 motion controller arrived three years after the Wii proved motion controls were a fad with a shelf life. Its glowing orb required a camera, dedicated games were scarce, and it was functionally abandoned until Sony repurposed it for PSVR with only marginally better results.

Nokia's 2003 hybrid phone-gaming handheld required users to hold it sideways against their face to make calls, earning the nickname "taco phone." Its game cartridges required removing the battery to swap, and it sold 3 million units against the Game Boy Advance's 81 million.

Capcom's 2002 Xbox mech controller featured 40 buttons, two joysticks, three foot pedals, and a $200 price tag for a single game. It was an incredible novelty for the five people who bought it, but its size, cost, and single-game support made it the most impractical peripheral ever manufactured.

Atari's 1995 CD add-on for the already-failing Jaguar console was shaped like a toilet and performed about as well. It had a catastrophic hardware failure rate, a library of fewer than 15 games, and required the Jaguar's cartridge slot to connect, creating a towering stack of obsolete hardware.

Nintendo's 2012 tablet controller confused consumers so badly that millions thought it was a Wii accessory rather than a new console. Its 3-5 hour battery life, resistive touchscreen in a capacitive world, and asymmetric gameplay gimmick that few developers utilized doomed the Wii U to 13 million units sold.

The 2013 Kickstarter darling raised $8.5 million promising an Android-based micro-console that would democratize gaming. It launched with a controller that had mushy buttons and stuck triggers, a storefront of mobile-quality games, and input lag so severe that action games were unplayable. It was discontinued by 2015.