Before Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution, there was PaRappa the Rapper, a title that ushered in the rhythm game revolution. It was released in 1996 and came to the U.S. the following year. The PaRappa the Rapper franchise includes spinoffs and sequels to the original on multiple consoles, and a remastered addition was released just last week.
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the original game, Sony released a massively scaled-up version of the Dualshock 4 controller, as reported by Gigazine. As you can see in the video, the controller is larger than the screen displaying PaRappa the Rapper Remastered.
Console controllers have always been an issue for hot debate, and one big factor that adds fuel to the fire is size. This one might be too small, while a competitor’s is too big. Sony threw all that out the window when it set up the colossal controller at the SIE (Sony Interactive Entertainment) headquarters in Tokyo.
According to the article, the triangle, circle, cross, and square buttons, as well as the L1 and R1 shoulder buttons and directional pad, are functional. It appears that the R1 and R2 triggers and the touchpad are just for show. The analog sticks can be moved, but they don’t have any function. The light bar does illuminate though, which is a nice touch.
While it looks like fun, this should be viewed as more of a novelty, as gameplay is impeded. However, this adds an interesting to element to the game, which normally relies on the player’s rhythmic tapping of buttons. With the scaled-up controller, the player’s upper body gets involved, as you move your arms and hands to tap each button. This creates a sort of Dance Dance Revolution of the hands. It seems some strength is involved as well, as the buttons have to be pressed hard enough that you hear a bang.
