PS1 with controller

I want more storytelling through hardware in video games

Freak me out like it’s 1998

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Not gonna lie, Iā€™m partial to a gimmicky video game experience. Whether itā€™s VR, huge arcade-style cabinets, or a giant chunky plastic peripheral you have to buy for your controller, Iā€™m fascinated by it all. Iā€™ve even followed the niche community of streamers who make unconventional controllers, like one player whoā€™s been grooving her way through Elden Ring on a dance pad controller.

As hardware continues to improve, itā€™s cool to see how we can innovate on using the physical components we interact with to further immerse us in a gameā€™s world. Of this ninth console generation, weā€™ve seen PlayStation take some impressive steps forward in this regard. Putting aside what I think about the new Last of Us remake, I have to admit that uā™Šsing the to allow players to ā€œfeelā€ the dialogue š’†™is a genius move, especially in how it will allow disabled players to experience the game.

There are also the adaptive triggers, which Ią¹Š find to be more interesting in theory than in practice. It can be interesting to have certain guns feel different with the adaptive trigger, but the implementation of the feature is still young enough that I think we have more to see in how devs use it šŸ’Æfor story purposes. Iā€™ll be keeping a watchful eye on new releases that claim to use the triggers more.

As far as what Xbox or PC modders are šŸ€…up to in this regard, I have no idea considering I have fostered a PlayStation household, but Iā€™m sure šŸ¤”someone will let me know in the comments.

the last of us part i gameplay video trailer remake ps5

Gaming hardware moments I love

Of course, this is just a modern example that comes to mind considerinšŸ’¦g itā€™s been in the news recently. Over the years, there have been countless mechanics in games that rš†equire you to do something special with the hardware, whether itā€™s for story purposes or not.

The first thing I thought of in regard to my own encounters with unique hardware-centric game mechanics was that when I played Nintendogs as a kid, you could blow into the microphone to blow bubbles at your puppies. It was a small, simple mechanic within the larger scope of the game, but my little nine-year-ošŸ“–ld mind was blown nonetheless ā€” it might as well haveāœ± been magic, as far as my little brain was concerned.

Another small moment I love is the section of What Remains of Edith Finch that focuses on Lewis ā€” particularly how he escapes into his own mind while working at the cannery. The game utilizes a simple control scheme where the use of each joystick is tied to the different realities he is torn between. To start, you use the right stick to chop fish, while thš“‚ƒe left stick starts controlling a knight character in Lewisā€™ imaginatiš“‚ƒon.

As the sequence goes on, the fantasy takes up more and more of Lewisā€™ attention, therešŸŒ fore taking up more of the screen, and players must continue the steady rhythm of chopping fish with his right hand while navigating increasingly complicated environments with the left. Itā€™s not world-shattering use of hardware in a story moment, but using a simple, narratively-relevant control scheme to hit home the point of the vignette is something I find incredibly moving every time I play it.

No one can do it likeĀ Metal Gear

The example that inspired this feature, though, is from a game Iā€™ve never actually played before: Metal Gear Solid. I had heard whispers of playersź¦ā€™ encounters with Psycho Mantis being some of the most chilling in games, but when I heard the whole story as to why, my mind was blown.

Fź¦‘or those who arenā€™t familiar, the iconic boss fight from the first game in the seriesš“„§ features an enemy that can read your mind, and uses some tricks that still feel innovative today, let alone when the game came out in 1998.

First Psycho Mantis ā€œreadsā€ the playerā€™s memory card, making taunting comments to them about other games theyā€™ve played. Next, he asks you to place your controller on the ground so he could show off how powerful he is before the controller starts rumbling like crazy. Apparently if you placed the controller on a table, it might also go crashing to the ground spectacularly. Finally, Psycho MantisšŸØ evades all of the playerā€™s attacks, stating that he can read their mind, and itā€™s not until the player moves the controller to the second controller port that the player can land a hit on him, because he canā€™t ā€œread their mindā€ anymore.

Metal Gearā€™s legacy is so multi-faceted, but this gameplay sequence has to be my favorite thing to come out of the series by far as someone on the ź¦fringes of the franchise. Itā€™s such creative game design, and while I certainly didnā€™t play it when šŸƒit came out considering I was two years old, the way people talk about it makes me wish I could have seen its impact back in the gaming landscape of 1998.

In conclusion

I canā€™t imagine how unsettling that must have been at the time, and the fact that Iā€™m still talking about it today clearly shows how influential that moment and by extension, the entire Metal Gear series, has been to games as a whole.

Iā€™m sure there are tons of other cool examples of hardware-centric story moments in games, but thatā€™s the only one I really know of thatā€™s directly tied into the narrative experience ā€” and itā€™s certainly done more masterfully tā™•han any other attempts at bringing hardware into a game that Iā€™ve seen. Sound off on any other moments like that that I may have missed, but otherwise, this is my plea to game designers to implement more story moments that are told through innovative hardware mechanics. Itā€™s creative, itā€™s unique, and itā€™s something I havenā€™t seen hit as hard as it šŸ§ødid in 1998, even with all of our next-gen innovations. Make it happen, devs.


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Noelle Warner
After a few years of working in game development, Noelle joined the Destructoid team in 2021. She particularly loves interactive storytelling and cuddling with her cats!