Trigger Happy: A Visual Celebration of Video Game Controllers Review

It’s fair to say that the very notion of the Bitmap Books output is serving a niche area. But even within this, their latest release is perhaps even more specialist. We love it when you get books focused on subjects a bit more outside the norm as they tend to be the ones with the most detailed research and that are real passion projects for the writers. We’ve been here before with The Secret History of Mac Gaming, but a book focused solely on video game controllers is certainly leftfield.

Written by Christian Wenk, who also acts as photographer for the book, we are invited to take a ‘playful voyage’ that is heavily designed to play on the readers own nostalgia for various controllers and the games played with them. In this way, the book will likely take on a highly personal meaning for many people reading. We found ourselves transported back to the early 8-bit computers, remembering various joystick designs which had long left our memory and the games that ended up causing us to brake them.

Content is exhaustive as well. Obviously, not every single design is in here but there is comprehensive coverage of just about every major joystick and controller from the dawn of gaming up to the present day. There’s even a section on newer ‘retro’ devices such as the Sega Astro City and the Evercade. Add in looks at some of history’s most famous oddities such as the infamous Nes Power Glove and peripherals such as racing wheels and you can see how well covered all things controller are. Don’t expect any light guns though, this book focuses on things which require a bit more direct player input.

The book does an excellent job in walking readers through initial designs for various consoles and computers, with insightful comments on the purpose and effectiveness of each. The photography is also exceptional. These are easily some of the best pictures we’ve seen in any Bitmap book and they help to really bring the controllers to life. Don’t be surprised if your mind starts wandering towards trawling Ebay for old controllers to look at.

In terms of layout, most of the controllers are given a couple of pictures with two or three paragraphs of text to go with them. The more prominent ones then get some full-page shots as well. Very occasionally you’ll get a shot of a video game with some reminiscing about how a controller effected the performance of the game, such as playing Street Fighter 2 on the Mega Drive pad. It doesn’t create a lot of variety, but each individual subject matter is well informed, interesting and often whimsical which acts to draw readers through the wealth of information. And this is a book that begs to be read in full, rather than used as quick coffee table reference material, it’s just too interesting for anything else.

Overall, Trigger Happy is one of Bitmap Books most interesting and well put together releases. And when you consider how excellent all their output is that is a high bar to reach. There’ s just something about the way it’s written, the quality of the pictures and the niche subject matter that makes it totally compelling. For those looking to dig into one of the more leftfield sides of the video gaming this is just about perfect.

Link to Bitmap Books store - Trigger Happy: A Visual Celebration of Video Game Controllers