My last post concerned my Wipeout collection. As any Wipeout fan is aware, when it comes to getting champion track times, the 4-way digital pad is out. But when the original Playstation and Wipeout came out, that’s all there was, you’re thinking. Dual Shock wasn’t even a glimmer in Kutaragi’s eye. Well, there was one alternative: the NeGcon.

Perhaps the most unique controller I’ve ever encountered, the NeGcon was a Playstation controller put out by Namco which featured most of what the standard Playstation controller had to offer, with the notable addition of an analog “steering” style control in the form of a split down the middle of the unit, with the left and right halves connected by a swivel-joint. What’s more, the left shoulder button as well as the front X and square buttons were analog with a notable travel distance to them. The player would twist the unit to steer his or her craft while applying the desired level of thrust to the analog buttons. A player’s potential performance, when armed with the NeGcon in a game like Wipeout, is far beyond that of the unfortunate player chained to a D-pad.

A number of games supported this controller early on, among them: the entire Wipeout series, Gran Turismo, and the Ridge Racer series. The NeGcon was never a well-known controller, but there are players who, to this day, consider it to be the superior analog controller for the Playstation. I’m pleased to have found one back in ’96 at a local toy store. I never play Wipeout without it.

Apparently I really like WipEout. I posted a pic of my computer room on Amiga.org and a reader saw, in the foreground, the original “long box” of WipEout for the Playstation. He wrote to tell me it’s very rare. Is it? At any rate, it prompted me to take a photo of my wipE’out” collection. Enjoy.

I do hold a special place for the game. I was very anti-console in the 80’s and early 90’s. Back in ’96 a friend told me to stop by and checkout his new Playstation and this great 3D racing game. I had never used a Playstation before. He fired up WipEout and literally before five seconds had passed, I knew I would be purchasing a Playstation and that game as soon as was humanly possible. I was stunned. 15 hours and one trip to Circuit City later, I was playing in front of my own TV. (I still have and use that original Playstation, which I have since mod’ed.)

Coincidentally, the latest issue (#35) of Retro Gamer magazine features the article, “The Making of: Wipeout.” A good read. (And, for the love of God, subscribe to that excellent mag!)

UPDATE [3.14.2007]: It was eating at me, the lack of Wipeout XL for the Playstation, so I eBayed a copy and retook the collection picture. Now at least one version of every WipEout title, other than the Europe/Australasia-only Wipeout 3: Special Edition, is represented.