A Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Controller That Shocks You When You Play as Pichu
This YouTuber built a custom controller that tases the player every time they use one Pichu's self-damaging special attacks.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was released for the Nintendo Switch for the 2018 holidays, and it’s the fifth game in the franchise. Like its predecessors, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a fighting game that lets players battle using characters from a wide range of Nintendo games. And, like its predecessors, the game is taken quite seriously in competitions. Every character has their own unique capabilities and combat moves, so players tend to favor certain characters. Pichu, which is the Pokémon that Pikachu evolves from, has special moves that cause it to damage itself in addition to opponents. Eric, of the Insert Controller Here YouTube channel, has built a custom controller that tases the player every time they use one of those moves.
Eric has made and demonstrated a number of interesting video game controllers on the Insert Controller Here channel, including a pickaxe motion controller for Minecraft and a teabag controller for teabagging defeated opponents. This controller, however, adds a distinct element of danger to the equation. That’s because it will literally shock the player whenever they execute one of Pichu’s self-damaging special attacks. Those are, of course, electricity attacks, so the taser fits the theme in a masochistic sort of way. It’s a bit like introducing a painful handicap for players that are a bit too good at playing with Pichu.
Eric started this project with a GameCube controller that was themed after Pikachu. You can purchase a simple adapter to use GameCube controllers with the Nintendo Switch, so that part of the build was easy. Eric then shoved an Arduino Micro inside of the controller to monitor button presses. It’s programmed to toggle a relay any time it detects a sequence of button presses that corresponds to a self-damaging special move. That relay is connected to an external taser, which is mounted so that the probes make contact with Eric’s forearm. The results are predictably painful. During gameplay, Eric is punished with an electric shock anytime he resorts to using one of Pichu’s self-damaging special moves. This is definitely the most effective way we can think of to keep someone from using those moves in a match.