Sega Dreamcast Fishing Controller - Videogame History #75 - Retro Review
Once again we return years ago in the history of videogames, bringing to the present those peripherals which some were famous, others failed or went unnoticed in the market, this time we will see a command that was officially launched by one of the most remembered companies of all time, SEGA, giving gamers of that time an excellent experience in certain games, this peripheral was known as Sega Dreamcast Fishing Controller.
This curious command was released very close to the release date of the Dreamcast in September 1999, developed especially for two video games of this spectacular console, these were "SEGA Bass Fishing" and "SEGA Marine Fishing", both had that special touch of Arcade games that SEGA with its Dreamcast knew how to play excellently.
This control was of a considerable size, it simulated a fishing rod very well, in its right part it had a great handle that allowed to simulate the movement of the reel, in the central part a joystick which was not of very good quality but it fulfilled if objective , around this are 4 buttons which depending on the game had different functions, additionally included a Rumble Pack incorporated in its back to simulate the sudden movement of the fish (sometimes a little exaggerated), but what was really interesting about this command was a motion sensor which allowed a great fishing experience, the classic movements of pulling the hook or throwing it into the water among others could do it with just move this great command.
The connectivity to the console was very simple, we only had to connect the single cable to the corresponding port of the Dreamcast, however, the Fishing Controller did not have a slot to enter a Visual Memory Unit (VMU) so in any of the remaining connections of the console we had to connect a Dreamcast control which would help us to introduce our VMU and save our progress in the game.
Although this command was designed specifically for two games we could play many more, but specifically had a good performance in Virtua Tennis, with the Joystick we could move our character and with the movements of the rod we hit the ball, this seemed to be the precursor of Wii control with Wii Sport game, but one of the most outstanding curiosities is to play the spectacular SoulCalibur, it is very funny to see how you can become a master of weapons by manipulating a fishing rod, through an internal sensor movement you can make movements of the characters, although they are very limited.
The Dreamcast Fishing Controller despite being a command that was not very popular in America had a great innovation due to the excellent performance and material with which it was built, now you can get from 15 to 50 dollars depending on whether you bring games included, I consider that despite being an article that is more than 18 years old, it can transmit the essence of what Arcade video games were at their best.
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Never thought that there's a Fishing Rod type controller before, and wouldn't have imagined an official one...
Ah, Soul Calibur I enjoyed playing this game on PS1... that was Soul Calibur right? maybe the name was a bit different "Sould Edge?" ~
The game that you mention is Soul Blade, it is the precursor of SoulCalibur, this controller was not very famous because not many know of its existence. Thanks for the comment @ahmadmanga.
Yeah: Soul Blade, that's it... I mentioned this post in my Daily Picks now if you'd like to check it out.
Wow! Thank you very much for your great support !!! at this moment I proceed to read it!
Sega's fishing controller is a great (and kind of obscure) piece of hardware :)
In my opinion one of its biggest problems is, that, just like the game it shipped with, is "too much of an arcade game", meaning that you play with it for a short while, but then it looses its novelty and you put it down to play something that keeps you longer engaged.
It's a pity that the Dreamcast wasn't that successful, I mean I would have loved trying to play a game like Dark Souls with with this controller :D
The fishing lake of Dark Souls, can you imagine? For me it is a unique piece at the time, I consider it the inspiration of many developers who created different hardware in the future. Thanks for your comment @cpufronz
Apparently I'm not the only one with this idea ^^
It's not the one from the Dreamcast, but close enough :D
Crazy Taxi... Soul Calibur... Soul Blade.... Powers Stone.... I loved those games on the dreamcast