If you’ve ever wanted a squishy controller then the PL-6681 NERF Controller by Pelican might be perfect for you. It’s super cheap feeling and an absolute nightmare to play games with. At least it won’t annihilate your TV or monitor screen when you launch it after rage quitting. It should bounce off quite nicely.
On the surface, it’s a pretty generic PlayStation 2 controller. It has a d-pad, two thumbsticks, and all the other expected buttons. Each and every one of them feels awful to use. Mushy buttons and nasty plastic thumbsticks. All surrounded by a soft foam outer coating.
It’s not great…
That outer coating deforms disturbingly easily when in a pair of hands. I expect my controllers to be fairly solid and weighty whilst playing my games, and this thing is neither. It’s also very easy to damage. Any small amount of pulling force could rip the foam apart. And as I bought mine second-hand, there is already a rip in the material below the right thumbstick. Generally, it’s also too chunky for any kind of comfortable play. It particularly gets in the way when trying to use the shoulder buttons. It’s just too big! And my hands aren’t even that small.
At least it does look kinda cool. The NERD logo is emblazoned dead in the center of the device. It also released in a variety of eye-catching colours including an orange/silver and green/blue two tone designs. The particular one that I have is a fetching silver/green match-up. Mine didn’t come with the required dongle to connect it to a PlayStation 2, but I don’t have a real desire to use it anyway. Although I bought the controller for £1 on Whatnot (referral link), the dongle itself is around £10 on other sites.
Shoot…and miss
NERF is mostly known for its selection of soft projectile weapons, but they have branched out from time-to-time. This collaboration between Pelican and Hasbro seems to have been a complete shot in the dark. One that didn’t do all that well. Although it was received quite well in a preview article by IGN back in the day. There have been more NERF-themed controllers since this foam covered monstrosity came out, but none so soft and squishy.
I can’t say this particular NERF Controller is for me. It’s quite an interesting talking piece though, and it looks pretty good on a shelf in my collection. A disturbing oddity for sure, and one that I’m actually quite happy to have. Unlike the CSL USB Gamepad…
