If you played games in the late 90s and early naughties, GameShark is a name that might be very familiar. Its target market was gamers looking to cheat, or at the very least, gain an unfair advantage over tricky mechanics. Now, it’s onto the modern-day equivalent of cheat codes, an AI game controller that learns your every move and adjusts to help you in clutch moments.
Much can be said for how AI is changing daily life, and its readiness for mass rollout, but GameShark believes it’s onto a winner in the games hardware industry with its CES 2024 reveal. The AI Shark Controller won’t be among the best PC controllers on the market, largely because we can see the tech being ousted by developers at their earliest convenience.
The AI Shark Controller uses sensors to adjust the sensitivity of joysticks while monitoring the use of the D-pad and face buttons aiming to increase the responsiveness where needed. It can even suggest remapping options when it has learned from your playstyle, to make it easier to pull off complicated combos in a fighting game.
Despite this, there could be an argument for the tech inside the AI Shark Controller to be far better used as an accessibility tool. Rather than looking to help gamers who shamelessly seek an advantage over their opponent, why not look to help those who struggle with even the basic aspects of gaming with a controller?
This could mean communicating with a game ensuring inputs are correctly timed, and adjusting sensitivity when the player struggles to bring a camera under control.
Entering the AI market is an inevitability for many brands, and I’m not the least bit surprised to see GameShark jump on the bandwagon. There appears to be some acknowledgment that the AI Shark Controller could be of use in the ways I’ve discussed. On the product page, the following is declared:
“For new players, it’s like having an intuitive guide, while for veterans, it’s a tool that constantly evolves and fine-tunes itself to match their expertise. This controller isn’t just an input device; it’s a gateway to a more intuitive and enjoyable gaming experience.”
A gateway to a more intuitive and enjoyable gaming experience would be fantastic, but gaming veterans don’t necessarily need that. Worse still, the tool, in its current form, seems ripe for abuse by the lowest of the low who make it their goal to ruin others’ experiences in online lobbies.
Perhaps this is an overreaction to a product that hasn’t even hit retail shelves yet. But in an ideal world, the tech within the AI Shark Controller is detectable by anti-cheat systems, and this can at least act as a deterrent in the short term.
Stick with us for more CES 2024 news, including hands-on previews and interviews live from the show floor in Las Vegas.
