Form and function meet in a display of 100 video game controllers which have been turned into alarm clocks. These alarm clocks aren’t mods to the existing controllers but rather add-ons which are either lame or an interesting statement about the transient nature of technology.
Video games have come a long way, from the very first text based adventures. Back before the first mouse had rolled across a table, man had no option as to how to control his virtual adventures. Then came the birth of the home video game console. From the very first D pad or the strange ship shaped pong controllers for the Atari to the Wii’s motion sensitive controllers, we’ve come along way. The relationship between game and controller is becoming even more bizarre now with games like Rock Band being born out of innovative controller ideas.
The future of game controllers seems a bit bleak. I suspect it’s only a matter of time before the very last controller as we now know it, ships to the public. With the Xbox Kinect coming and lots of consoles sporting innovative motion control I see a future where besides specialized hardware like musical instruments or steering wheels there will be no more controllers with users interacting directly with their consoles. Someday perhaps we’ll be trying to convince our kids that we really used controllers as we walk them through museums for gamers and games long past.
The art in this exhibit is interesting, 100 controllers attached to alarm clocks all created by artist Roger Ibars. Time ticking on while attached to old technology. Memories of geekiness come and gone. Perhaps our love for controllers is holding us back, a tether to a past we no longer need. In truth technology to replace controllers as we know it has existed for years. You played Duck Hunt didn’t you? Perhaps we the users have been holding technology back with our preference for technology we know and love.
I see a future where the line between humans and computers blurs. Where our environment and gadgets become what Scott Adams’ calls an exo-brain. We will interact with computers, gaming consoles and our coffee machine as if they were old friends with all of us understanding each other perfectly. When we have reached this point I still have no doubt there’ll be a guy who looks a lot like me walking around with my pocket protector full of pens asking manufacturers if their products are backward compatible with my PsOne.
Show your own love for controllers and consoles of yore with these Gaming Console War Veteran Pins or this Ultimate Gamers T-shirt
Via: Joystiq
