Some article titles have so much information in them that they make you feel like Harry Potter looking at a Firebolt for the very first time, and this is one of them. The creator of the world’s largest Game & Watch controller (I’ll get onto that bit in a second) has made one of the most amazing controllers to use with Super Monkey Ball that I’ve ever seen.
World-renowned super genius Dr Tom Tiley has recently made a soccer ball trackball to use while gaming, and in a post on X stated that ‘everybody’s adding AI to things these days,’ so he’s decided to add AiAi into the mix instead. I mean, couscous is the food so nice they named it twice, so an AiAi controller is better than an AI one, right?
Dr Tom first created his soccer controller and then adapted it with a transparent sphere with a 3D-printed model of AiAi inside. When he moves the ball, AiAi stays in the centre too, allowing you to get hands-on with your favourite Simian superstar while playing Super Monkey Ball. This looks like the trippiest way of playing the game ever and I think it would also make me feel a little like Saruman holding a Palantir… which is something that I wouldn’t mind, in all honesty!
The Super Monkey Ball: Ticket Blitz arcade game used a similar style controller, so it’s nice to see Dr Tom bringing the technology out of the arcade and creating something similar from scratch in his top-secret laboratory for home use, especially since he’s done it by using a mouse, ballbearings, and deodorant roll-on sticks!. He’s working on a modification for this AiAi Super Monkey Ball controller where AiAi’s legs move when the ball is turned too, so I’m excited to see that addition when it drops!
The World’s Largest Game & Watch
Dr Tom Tilley took on a mammoth task back in 2017 and created a handheld that you really need 8 arms to play properly. Taking inspiration from the Game & Watch handheld ‘Octopus’, he created the world’s largest Game & Watch console at 193 cm wide x 116 cm high, a whopping 17 times bigger than the original console. It’s even secured a place in the Guinness World Record books!
Made from a 46″ LCD TV, wood, and some old curtains from his Mother in Law, this gargantuan handheld connects to a laptop in order to display the graphics from the original Octopus game and requires two people to work together to be able to play it properly.
According to Tom, “It took me about 6 months to build the machine, mainly spending an hour out in the garage before work along with some evenings and weekends. I started back in May and completed it in time for Maker Faire Adelaide which was held on Sunday, November the 5th, 2017. I scaled this version of the game around the height of the TV screen.”
Check out the YouTube video below and also take a look at the build process in detail over on Tom’s Website!
