Game companies are always experimenting with new ways for customers to play their games. That's the reason things like the Wii and online games are so common these days. But for every innovation that turns into an industry standard, there are going to be a few experiments that don't take off quite as well. Sometimes these are good ideas, but still just plain crazy. Here are seven of the craziest video game devices to come out in the past ten years.

7. Gaming Vest/Helmet

Have you ever been playing a game and wishing you could actually feel the bullets as your character got shot? No? Well don't tell TN Games that. The company is currently selling Gaming Vests that allow players to somewhat feel when their characters get hit and is compatible with most of today's popular games. Of course, there's no risk of injury; the vest works using several bladders that quickly fill with compressed air. TN Games is also planning to sell a helmet later this year that will allow players to feel headshots and bullets whizzing around them.

6. Nintendo e-Reader

Nintendo's e-Reader was an attachment for the Game Boy Advance that read special cards to unlock bonus content in certain games. Pokemon cards were still fairly popular at this time, so Nintendo probably just saw another opportunity to hone in on the card-collecting demographic. Depending on the game, you could get extra levels, items, challenges, and other goodies to play with from different cards. The real draw for this thing though were the cards that contained full NES games. It might've worked too, if the full NES games they offered had been more along the lines of Super Mario Bros. instead of games like Urban Champion and Baseball. It was an interesting idea that flourished briefly in Japan and practically died on the spot over here. Years later, Nintendo opened up the Virtual Console for the Wii and found a more successful way to charge people $5 for games from the 80's.

5. DK Bongos

Nintendo has quite the reputation for releasing some of the oddest gaming peripherals around, but I don't think anyone could have predicted a bongo controller. The DK Bongos were bundled with the Gamecube title, Donkey Konga, which involved playing along with several songs using the strange controller. Yeah, it was basically a really simplified version of Rock Band. The controller had two drum heads and a microphone in the center to detect clapping sounds. The controller was also compatible with a later game called, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, where you used the drums to control Donkey Kong in a platformer. It may sound corny, but it was actually quite fun for the time.

4. Rez Trance Vibrator

Rez was a game that aimed to make players feel like they were conducting a trance soundtrack while basically shooting enemies. Even though the game was developed for the PS2, which already had a vibrating controller, a special bundle was released in Japan that included the Trance Vibrator. The device was more powerful and actually synced up to the music rather well, so that a player could literally feel their actions. It was intended to go in user's pocket or hands, but many people found a much more "entertaining" place for the little device. Of couse, what did the game's developers expect with a name like the "Trance Vibrator?" This little *ahem* feature was so popular that the re-release of the game on Xbox Live allowed gamers to designate a second controller as the vibrator.

3. Steel Battalion's controller

There are plenty of games out there that feature giant hulking robots, but none of them can top the complexity that went into Steel Battalion. This Xbox game was practically a mech simulation, and a lot of that was due to huge controller bundled with it. The controller -- which you could not play the game without -- involved two joysticks, three foot pedals, and 40 different buttons. The game was impressively detailed itself though; one of those buttons even worked the mech's windshield wipers. Playing the game required a separate table in front of your TV, not to mention a willingness to spend $200 on a single title. It was quite an investment, but the sort of person who is going to throw down that kind of cash for one game is probably too into robots to be disappointed.
 

2. Novint Falcon

Despite being a novelty gadget at best, the Novint Falcon is probably the most technologically impressive device on this list. It's intended to replace the mouse in computer simulations and games by providing realistic tactile responses. Basically, it can mimic the texture, weight, and physics of anything the player's on-screen hand touches. Believe it or not, people who have used the device say it's actually pretty accurate. Users have been able to identify different substances, such as sandpaper or ice, simply by "feeling" them. In first-person shooters, each gun will actually yield a different weight and recoil when fired, and there's even a pistol grip attachment as well. Still, I don't think Novint is going to see some really strong sales unless they make some more adult-oriented games to go with it (hey, it worked for VCRs).

1. Mind Control Devices

While most companies are trying to make more interactive controllers for games, some want to remove the controller entirely. That's why we've now got at least two "mind reading" devices on the gaming market: the Emotiv EPOC Neuroheadset and the OCZ Neural Impulse Actuator. Both detect minute electrical changes on a person's scalp, which are then translated into actions on screens. They don't literally read a person's thoughts though; instead they respond to tiny changes in a person's facial expressions. You can't exactly dominate a game with your hands tied behind your back -- you still need to use a mouse and keyboard for most functions -- but you can still fire at enemies simply by thinking it. I'm just waiting for the inevitable Star Wars game that lets me chuck Stormtroopers around with my thoughts.