Pokemon streamer builds a controller so bad that it takes them a full 80 minutes to walk to FireRed's first city

Psyduck looking stressed next to Misty
(Image credit: The Pokemon Company)

We pretty much perfected the video game controller when the DualShock launched back in 1997; nearly every controller since has been some adaptation of that layout (or whatever weird thing Nintendo was up to). And it’s maybe because of that fact that we see so many people play through games with weird, unintended control methods. There’s the streamer who is better at Elden Ring with a DDR dance pad than I am with any controller, or the streamer who beat Elden Ring using a boxing dummy (souls games are a breeding ground for this stuff).

Arguably the worst way to play a game is via a Twitch chat comments, which was popularized by Twitch Plays Pokemon. But now another streamer has found what is possibly an even worse way to play Pokemon, through the power of pachinko (or as scholars call them, the 2p machines at any dodgy arcade).

Streamer UWOSLAB went live earlier this week and built a controller on stream where dropping tokens into specific holes will input one of the GBA buttons. The problem is there are a ton of pins in the way, so where you want it to land isn’t always where it will go. After the tipping point machine was made, they booted up Pokemon Fire Red to test their creation out.

From there they took the journey every young Pokemon master has to take: getting your starter from Professor Oak, venturing out of Pallet Town, and making the journey to Viridian City. And after a metric ton of tokens were thrown through the machine and they finally reached it, they opened up the save menu, which held the news that it had taken them one hour and 20 minutes of real time to make it there.

For comparison’s sake, I decided to boot up Pokemon Fire Red to see how long it would take me. I forgot how the beginning of the game went and made a couple of mistakes, but after a long and grueling journey, I made it to Viridian City. I opened up that save screen and looked in awe as it took me a grand total of six minutes, which definitely puts things into perspective.

Speaking of Pokemon, it was recently announced that the cutesy stop-motion series Pokemon Concierge's second season is launching in September of this year.

Scott McCrae
Contributor

Scott has been freelancing for over two years across a number of different gaming publications, first appearing on 12DOVE in 2024. He has also written for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, VG247, Play, TechRadar, and others. He's typically rambling about Metal Gear Solid, God Hand, or any other PS2-era titles that rarely (if ever) get sequels.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.

Read more
Pikachu fainted, looking worn out on the ground in the Pokemon anime.
An AI is trying to 'teach' itself Pokemon Red after its previous versions weren't smart enough to solve it, and it's very slowly working its way through the Kanto gym leaders
an ai chatbot plays a modded verion of pokemon red and jumps down a ledge to talk to an npc
An AI's mission to 'teach' itself Pokemon Red is going as well as you think - after escaping Cerulean City after tens of hours, it went right on back
A Flareon in a top hat from the Pokemon anime
Pokemon streamer beats the hardest challenge the RPG offers after 4,000 attempts over 15 months, all thanks to the Flareon that could
Botw
The Switch is the one console with a controller that splits in two, but these AGDQ speedrunners still cuddled up to break Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Malenia seen in Elden Ring's cinematic story trailer.
After 1,428 deaths, Elden Ring player literally beats the whole game using a real boxing dummy as a controller, and not even Malenia was safe
Photo taken by writer Rosalie Newcombe of the Pokeball Plus controller for Nintendo Switch.
The Pokeball Plus cemented my appreciation of the Nintendo Switch, I just hope the Switch 2 carries on the tradition of weird and wonderful accessories
Latest in Pokemon
Psyduck looking stressed next to Misty
Pokemon streamer builds a controller so bad that it takes them a full 80 minutes to walk to FireRed's first city
Pokemon Horizons: The Series
New Pokemon leak reveals a surprise first for the next chapter of the anime series – and it fixes a complaint fans have had for over 25 years
Pokemon Legends: Z-A screenshot of a Mega Lucario standing in a street.
Pokemon Legends: Z-A is breaking years of tradition to get 10+ age rating, and I think I might know why
Pokemon Go players brace for the worst as Niantic is sold off for $3.5 billion: "This game is entering its death knell"
Pokemon Go player trying to catch a Croagunk
Pokemon Go developer Niantic is being bought for $3.5 billion, CEO says it'll help its games be "'forever games' that will endure for future generations"
Lapras seen in the Pokemon anime.
Former Pokemon world champ uses a "stupid strategy" that "should never work" to transform a Lapras into an OHKO machine so powerful it can even take out enemies in alternate dimensions
Latest in News
Psyduck looking stressed next to Misty
Pokemon streamer builds a controller so bad that it takes them a full 80 minutes to walk to FireRed's first city
Spider-Man Noir
Spider-Noir star says the show might be released in black and white as it was shot like a "very genuine film noir"
Doom
All 55 of these games are under $5 in Steam Spring Sale 2025, which is just silly for Metroidvanias, RPGs, roguelikes, and more gems this good
Aaron Paul in Ash
Breaking Bad star's new sci-fi horror movie debuts to an almost perfect score on RT as first reactions compare it to Event Horizon
Concept art of the Arkavir, a bulky alien race from Exodus with sharp and scaley skin.
Mass Effect veteran's new sci-fi RPG Exodus introduces an alien race, and they're so hardcore they put the Krogans to shame
Jurassic Park Survival
As Jurassic Park Survival, John Carpenter's Toxic Commando, and the Star Wars KOTOR remake remain MIA, Saber CEO promises "everything that we have talked about is still in development"