The Switch is one of the most successful consoles ever made, so it's attracted a large number of accessories. Some, like the 8bitdo Pro 2, make the experience a lot better, but there's a lot of oddball niche gear out there too, some of varying quality.
I love looking through add-ons, and today I want to share five of the strangest, most unique and confusing peripherals I've ever seen for Nintendo's beloved hybrid machine.Have some really ridiculous gear you think people should see? Go ahead and give it a shout in the comments below.
Flip Grip for TATE mode
For those of you who aren't dedicated arcade fans, TATE mode, simply put, refers to flipping the orientation of a display to make it vertical. Some retro-focused Switch games do, in fact, support this feature, but it's kind of a pain in the butt to use in handheld mode. Of course, fans couldn't let that stand.
This niche adapter lets you connect your joy-cons to the Switch's screen in TATE mode for those few instances where it makes sense. It's by no means a bad product — but a ridiculous one.
Slime controller
These colorful teardrop critters called Slimes have been popular since the mid-1980s when they appeared in the popular RPG series "Dragon Quest." For some reason, they thought it was a good idea to turn a chunky blue Slime into a controller for both the PS4 and Switch, and it's a complete monstrosity. You're better off buying a better controller and a nice figurine for the shelf.
N64 controller exclusively for subscribers
The worst controller Nintendo ever made was for the Nintendo 64. The three-pronged approach was as confusing then as it is now, and the odd layout still makes ports and remasters a hassle to control. So when Nintendo started releasing N64 games onto the Switch, they knew the experience wouldn't be optimal.
Nintendo ended up shipping these slightly updated N64 controllers for Switch, but only for Nintendo Online members. You need to subscribe in order to be eligible to pay more for a bad controller. Great!
To be clear, you can control N64 games on Switch using other controllers, and that's probably how most people play. And, even if you want one now, the stock is limited, so you'll end up having to overpay resellers.
'Splatoon 2' headset and adapter
Nintendo doesn't support voice chat on the Switch hardware itself, but they still wanted to offer some kind of support early on when they launched "Splatoon 2" as their big multiplayer game. The solution? The most ridiculous setup possible.
You could voice chat using an app on your phone, but getting game audio and voice chat mixed together required an elaborate rig where three different devices needed to be wired together. It was a complete mess, and it didn't exactly catch on.
'Labo' cardboard accessories
"Labo" was a collection of software, pre-cut cardboard and some electronics put out by Nintendo as a quirky toy-game hybrid. A huge part of the enjoyment was building your own simple machines (like a small piano), but the bulky and fragile result made it hard to keep around.
It did allow for an odd VR mode in "Breath of the Wild" and a load of excellent video content, but there's never been a set of accessories more obviously destined for the recycling bin.
Also consider: The Most Ridiculous Gear Made For PC Gaming, Ranked
[Image: Fangamer]
