There was a time when video game peripherals were inventive. Remember the Gyrobot? The Power Glove? Okay, so they didn't work very well, but at least someone had some imagination. Since then, the best we've had are light guns and steering wheels, which obviously don't take genius to come up with. Today, we may be seeing a renaissance of game peripherals with examples like the massive Steel Battalion controller, and I think it's all (or at least partly) due to Sega's Fishing Controller.

If you couldn't figure it out from the name, or just by looking at it, the Sega Fishing Controller is designed for use in Dreamcast fishing games to simulate real fishing. There were only a handful of these games, but most of them were fairly good - Get Bass, Sega Bass Fishing 1 & 2, and Sega Marine Fishing (the latter being my personal favorite). It's worth picking up the fishing controller just for one or two of these games.

The controller is shaped somewhat like a fishing rod, sort of. The lower part of the controller, which is the grip, is very ergonomic, and the top ends in a little stump that I guess is supposed to suggest the invisible presence of the rest of the rod. On the right side is the reel, and on the face there's an analog control stick and five buttons, A, B, X, Z, and Start

I suppose you could try to use this controller for games other than fishing games, but without the shoulder buttons or d-pad I don't think you could get much done. There's also a vibrating function which, combined with its unique shape, making the Sega Fishing Controller the closest thing to a sex toy you can plug into a console.

The highlight of the controller are the sensors inside that detect movement. This lets you actually mimic the action of casting to cast in the game, and it will also detect side-to-side motion to control the fish in some games. This delivers a good sense of immersion, and the feeling gained from using this controller is that you're actually on a drydocked boat somewhere catching fake fish, as opposed to just playing a video game about catching fake fish.

The cord comes out of the bottom of the controller's handle, which I suppose is a better place than the top, so it doesn't get flung around too much. The reel being on the right side would seem to make it hard to use for left-handed people, but I avoid lefties so I really wouldn't know. They're kind of scary when you think about it.

I'm still a bit irate that there isn't a VMU slot anywhere on the fishing controller, but I have anger management issues. If you want to use a VMU with it, you'll either have to try a big hammer to pound the two together (not recommended) or just plug another controller into your Dreamcast. It would have been nice to pop at least one VMU in there though, as even the light guns have VMU slots.

It seems pretty sturdy; not only did I buy mine used, but it's slipped out of my hands several times and I've dropped it on more than one occasion. It still works fine, which is more than I can say for my cat who just happened to bisect the vector of the controller when it accidentally left my hand at a high rate of speed. Poor fluffy now has a little wheelchair harness for her useless back legs and her tail twitches uncontrollably, but I can keep playing my fishing games!

I'm not too sure about cleanup in the event you do you use this as a sex toy, but as long as you let it thoroughly air dry before plugging it into the console, it should be just fine.

You may not be able to find this in a store near you, but it can usually be found on eBay for somewhere between $10 and $15. There are also third party knockoffs, but I really wouldn't trust them, they're worse than lefties. If you're going to play a fishing game on your Dreamcast (which I suggest you do), you need this controller; it's morally objectionable to do otherwise.



Please note that the above story about the cat is purely fiction. I don't even have a cat named fluffy, the cats I have right now are named Chewie and Sir Meows Alot, and they are just fine aside from the occasional hairball. No animals were harmed in making of this review.

Recommended: Yes