If you play video games, you almost certainly use a mouse and keyboard, gamepad, or touch screen, but there's a small genre of games that are dedicated to breaking this rule.Shake That Button, a new website documenting alternative controllers, video game installations, and other ways to play with anything but the traditional input methods is a really easy way to introduce yourself to these games, find out where you can play them, or get involved yourself.The best thing about Shake That Button is that it simply gathers all these weird, inspiring experiments in one place. Some outstanding examples from its catalog include:The Furminator—A first person pinball machine that's lowered onto your head.Intimate Controllers—Bra and boxer shorts embedded with six sensors each that couples play together by touching each other.My Nuke—A homemade arcade machine that lets players load radioactive fuel rods into a nuclear reactor using a manipulator arm.Pierre Corbinais, a French writer and developer who made Shake That Button with the help of the Alternative Controller Hangout community, said what he hoped to accomplish evolved over time."At first, I just wanted to create a place where all of these games could be gathered, discovered and remembered," Corbinais told me. "Because they use custom installations/controllers, they can't be downloaded and played at home. If you missed one of them while it was exhibited in a festival, a bar, or a museum near you, there's a good chance you'll never get the chance to see it again."While putting Shake That Button together, Corbinais realized that it could also be a resource to new alternative controller creators, helping them find places to make, exhibit, and connect with artists that might be doing similar work outside of game development circles. Birdly, for example, a full body controller that simulates the experience of flying like a bird, wasn't made by game developers.
"I hope this website will also be a way to connect those different scenes and help them to make stuff together," Corbinais said.Big game companies have made a number of weird controller experiments in the past. I still have my Donkey Konga bongos controller in a closet somewhere. Capcom's Steel Battalion 40-button controller is featured on Shake That Button as well. And for a short time following the launch of the Wii in 2006, every company tried to make its own motion controllers.However, the world of alternative controllers is much deeper and more interesting than those examples, and Shake That Button is a great way to start exploring it.
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