A YouTube channel known as Mutekimaru Channel has an unusual way of playing Pokémon – they let their pet betta fish do it. The fish have impressively managed to complete Pokémon Sapphire, the original, in 3,195 hours. It’s probably one of the longest games of Pokémon ever completed, and it definitely wasn’t something people expected fish to do.

Mutekimaru is the name of one of the betta fish, also known as Maurice. The person behind the scenes is a betta enthusiast who has been streaming their team of fish play Pokémon since May/June of this year thanks to quarantine. The team consists of four betta fish, a fish breed known for having beautiful fins but being fickle when it comes to care. Together, with a lot of walking into walls and making bad decisions in battle, they eventually beat the game and are now working on getting through Pokémon Leaf Green. Pokémon truly is a game for everyone, but what’s more impressive is how these fish managed to play the game in the first place.

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They didn’t have cute underwater controllers, but instead a custom-made motion tracking device linked to a controller. Maurice’s caretaker clearly has technical skill and knowledge as they devised and put it together themselves. They don’t go into too much detail on their channel, and it's hard to search their Twitter since both are mainly in Japanese, but the intro in uploaded videos displays some of the methods used.

They show a blueprint drawn out of how a GameCube controller’s inputs and an infrared motion tracker connect through a mini circuit board. The controller is basically taken apart until it’s down to the circuit board and wired to translate the tracker's motion into button presses. This is done through a program that likely reads the tracker’s position, and therefore the fish’s, determines where it falls on a grid and outputs the appropriate button press to the makeshift controller. In the videos, this grid is shown behind the fish so viewers can visually see what buttons the fish is using. The red dot we see is infrared and not visible to plain sight, so it’s unlikely to bother the fish. It sounds far more complicated than it is and has interesting implications for those who have difficulty using a controller or pressing buttons.

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There are few special or custom non-controller-based accessories on the market for those who have difficulty playing video games through traditional means. This setup shows it's possible to create an accessible option for a non-handheld controller where all the player has to do is bend an arm, wave their hand or even just move a finger. A similar grid to the fishes’ could be placed to show clearly where to move for a button press. It wouldn’t be difficult to bring into the gaming world either; the technology is already around. VR tracks the player’s view and controllers, and Nintendo has been using motion tracking in its controllers since the Wii. To make it accessible, these features just need to be used differently.

Fish playing Pokémon is an interesting and impressive feat, but its all thanks to the engineering that went on behind the scenes. Even though it’s minor news, it's good for something like this to make it into the world, and hopefully, it will bring new ideas to companies who create these types of accessories.

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