Sega Activator

Summary

The Activator was released in 1993 by Sega in America and is an all-body octogonal control unit for the Sega Mega Drive. The controller consists of eight parts, which are assembled to be placed on the ground. Infrared rays detect the movements performed by the player and transfer them to the game. Each of the 8 parts emits different rays to represent the classic buttons (l, r, u, d, A, B, C and start). In practice, the rays are very easily disturbed, for example by an odd ceiling, ceiling fan or room lights. Activator games that require fast reactions, such as combat games, were not very good to control, so players resorted to a conventional mega drive controller. Commercial success has never occurred and Sega took the Activator out of the market a few months after publication.