Accessories! I love them. You love them. Your parents and grandparents especially love them. I'm serious with that last bit. Even though you painstakingly make out a birthday, or Christmas list with varying options for prices big and large, there always seem to be an extra thrown in for good measure. It's as if your family gets great joy in trolling you. Let's look at my family. It never happened on my birthday, but it always does for Christmas. For example, last year my sister in law bought me a PS4 controller charger. While I thought it and accessories like it are a waste of money, I will admit I've gotten a lot of use out of it. I just wouldn't buy it on my own.

Another Christmas my mom thought it would be cute to buy me a gamer chair. No, not like the one being advertised today, which are just computer chairs with ungodly colors. No, this was essentially a wedge that sat on the floor. It was incredibly uncomfortable, but I humored my mom because she looked so pleased with herself. Was she trolling me like I hypothesized earlier? Maybe yes and maybe no. The point is there's a reason why companies make so many bad accessories. They're not for gamers. No, they're for your loved ones who think these are the things you want. They are sort of like last minute shopping ideas. There are plenty of useful accessories too, don't get me wrong, but most of these are downright abominations.

30 Shouldn’t Exist: Sega Genesis 32X Adapter

Sega certainly bungled a lot of its consoles past the Sega Genesis. For example, to compete with upcoming 3D games, they designed this 32X add-on for the Sega Genesis. Here's the thing though. They already had a new dedicated system for 3D games, the Sega Saturn. Here's where it gets even weirder. They were released the same year together in 1994. Needless to say it wasn't supported for long and has a laughable amount of games released for it before getting hastily discontinued.

29 Shouldn’t Exist: SNES Super 8 Adapter

The Super 8 was an unlicensed peripheral designed to plug into your Super Nintendo. It also went by several different names depending on your region such as the Tri-Star. Now if you were able to get ahold of one of these rarities you could play NES, Famicom, and SNES games. The results varied. Sometimes the accessory worked and other times it didn't. You're telling me an unlicensed product snuck through Nintendo's watchful eye and didn't work? Get out of here.

28 Actually Useful: Dance Dance Revolution Pad

Sure, go ahead and laugh. Dance Dance Revolution may be a silly concept for some, but I was absolutely in love with it. I didn't buy into the series until the PS2 generation, but I did play with my friend's PS1.

Dance dance, we're falling apart to halftime.

It's a pretty simple concept. Arrows flash up on screen, you stomp your foot to the rhythm, and get points. It's fun for parties and just a good way to lose weight.

27 Shouldn’t Exist: Sega Genesis SG ProgramPad SV-437

I know the Sega Genesis SG ProgramPad SV-437 is a crazy long name for a controller and it's equally just as insane to set up. So the idea was to let players program set algorithms into the controller in order to cheat at games. These hyper controllers were a dime and dozen and barely worked, but this is the only one that I know that had a tiny screen built into it. That's a cool gimmick beyond the other ones on the market, but it was still crappy.

26 Shouldn’t Exist: N64 Madcatz Controller

Ha, and I thought the normal Nintendo 64 controller was a nightmare. Compared to this one designed by Madcatz, it was a lovely dream. Now during this time period, Madcatz made a name for itself in two regards. Controllers designed by the console creators like Nintendo were expensive so these were a cheap alternative. That said, they were also cheaply made and either didn't work at all, or broke easily. Looking at this one, well, I guarantee it couldn't work past a day.

25 Actually Useful: Game Genie

Video games were brutally difficult in the 8-bit and 16-bit generations. One of the reasons was because games were typically pretty short so in order to keep them from getting sold off, developers turned up the challenge. That's one reason at least.

You gotta git gud.

There were three solutions for troubled gamers at this time. Calling helplines would cost Ma and Pa an insane amount of money. Two, buying hyper controllers like that Sega piece of junk. Finally, the Game Genie, which was like a godsend. There was no better way to win.

24 Shouldn’t Exist: Sega Activator

I had absolutely no idea the Sega Activator existed. Can you tell what this thing does from the box art up above? I bet you can't. Would you believe this ring would plug into your Sega Genesis and allow you to play fighting games with your body? That's what it was designed for at least. If you thought the Wii was problematic then this thing would make you scream. Based on stuff I caught on YouTube, yeah, it looks ridiculous.

23 Shouldn’t Exist: Game Boy Pocket Sonar

Let's get away from consoles for a second and explore the wild and whacky world of portable peripherals. The Game Boy Pocket Sonar was a setup you could plug into your system and detect fish in real life. It even had a little mini-game to pass the time. Now sure, this was a cheap alternative to buying a real fishing sonar system, but who would want to buy it anyway? Do you think a kid would want to pass time with this, or something like Pokémon? The answer is obvious.

22 Actually Useful: Genesis Power Base Converter

The Super 8 was a disaster. I already said that. However, there were plugin accessories at this time that did work. Let's look at the Sega Genesis Power Base Converter.

Welcome to the Sega master race.

This little add-on allowed players to break out their Sega Master System games. If you had to sell that console in order to upgrade, this was a great solution for those still itching to keep their Sega Master System games around. What a neat idea!

21 Shouldn’t Exist: Super Nintendo Capcom Pad Soldier Controller

Here's a Nintendo controller guaranteed to make that hyper Sega one trivial in its name. Ahem, presenting the Super Nintendo Capcom Pad Soldier Controller. It may be hard to see through the wrapper, but the controller is essentially a control stick you hold with your left hand and your right can presumably be used to hit the buttons. It's an attempt at a more ergo dynamic controller for the home that wants to emulate arcade units. Unfortunately, this was not a good effort.

20 Shouldn’t Exist: N64 12-Game Drawer

Talk about an unnecessary piece of hardware. Hey, look kids. If you're hard up on finding a place to fit twelve tiny cartridges then you have bigger problems. A normal plastic tote, or tub would work just as well and those are only like $5-10 max. How much would this hunk of junk set you back in the day? No idea. Right now you can find used ones online between $30-50. I bet they were at least that much, if not more originally. Point is they are overpriced.

19 Actually Useful: PocketStation

The Dreamcast's VMU memory cards were a pretty cool idea. They slotted into your controller and acted like a second screen sometimes. You could even play mini-games on them for certain games like taking care of your Chao garden from Sonic Adventure.

Sony had an answer to that for the PS1 called the PocketStation. Who came up with this tech first? That's not important. What I will note is that this was exclusive to Japan. Too bad. It's a gimmick sure, but it looked fun.

18 Shouldn’t Exist: NES LaserScope

The NES was full of bad ideas like R.O.B. the Robot. That said, it and this are so bad that they are must-haves. I want them to show off to friends. I'm a collector of the absurd. I never knew the LaserScope even existed. Doesn't that model look thrilled to use it? According to non-biased reviews and reports on the contraption, it seemed to work half of the half of the time. That is to say, not at all.

17 Shouldn’t Exist: Reality Quest Glove

Did no one learn from the Power Glove? Was humankind so hungry to use a glove as a controller in this time period? I don't know why that was a fad, but it was. The Reality Quest Glove works not just for the N64, but the PS1 as well. I should put "work" in quotes I guess since, again, these bright ideas rarely operated like they were supposed to. And if they did work, well, it wouldn't be for long.

16 Actually Useful: SNES Dust Covers

It's been debunked now, but back in the day, it was common to blow both your game cartridges and your game consoles. I don't know how it got started, but whoever did it made it spread like wildfire.

Turns out your spit probably corroded the pins inside. There was a way to prevent dust however in the form of these little plastic covers that fit over SNES games. Those are mine up above. Aren't they beautiful?

15 Shouldn’t Exist: Game Boy Nyko Hip Clip

I sadly never owned an original Game Boy. I jumped on the Game Boy train with the Pocket edition when Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue came out. That fit snugly in your pants. The original did not as it was comically huge. What was the solution? These snazzy hip clips. Sure they worked, but it also looked ridiculous. Plus they weren't foolproof. A friend had one and it always caused the Game Boy to fall off at some point. Thankfully it never broke the system itself.

14 Shouldn’t Exist: Panther Light Gun

Whoa there gunslinger. Is that a toy, or is that a real gun? Obviously, there's a cord attached so no one can get confused, but smart kids could chop that off and retool the thing to make it look even more real. I could get into the gun issue in the U.S. to help my point, but I wouldn't want to touch that thing with a thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole! My point is it looks too real. It's dumb and there is no need for it on your Sega Saturn or PS1.

13 Actually Useful: N64 Expansion Pak

The N64 expansion pak was a great idea on Nintendo's part. PCs were releasing add-ons to this effect for certain games for years. It was a cheap way to beef up the system's power. Better yet it came with games that required it.

Now you're playing with power!

Donkey Kong 64 is a great example. Sure it made that game ridiculously expensive, but most games were back then. Oh, you thought $60 is bad today? Try upwards of $80 on the regular back then.

12 Shouldn’t Exist: NES Roll 'N Rocker

Move over Wii Fit pad because there's a new star in town. By new, I mean like two decades before the Wii sensation, but who's counting? The Roll 'n Rocker was a third-party peripheral for the NES. You stand in the middle and can move in any direction, but here's the catch. There are no buttons. How can you play games without A and B buttons? It seems like an obvious flaw, but I guess the titles designed around it didn't really need them. Fun...

11 Shouldn’t Exist: SNES Super Scope

Light gun games are great and all, but they shouldn't look so horrifying. What's the point in creating a giant plastic gun, when all you need is a small light inside the machine? It doesn't make any sense. That replica pistol I mentioned earlier shouldn't exist for obvious reasons, but neither should this. Can we not just have a simple, small, toy gun? I don't understand why it has to look like a bazooka. Who are we pretending to blow away?