/vr/ - Retro Games

>>3335202
Then along comes the NES gamepad. Every major system on the market today, even portables, can have its gamepad traced back to this controller. No exceptions.

The NES launched in Japan in 1983 and it brought over the D-pad from the 'Game and Watch' Donkey Kong portable. The D-pad was needed because they had to have full two dimensional control for the game but couldn't fit a joystick inside a clamshell case. Necessity is the mother of invention. Gunpei Yokoi designed it and later the Gameboy, the first successful 'portable console' that could play cartridges. In addition he mentored Miyamoto, helped to design Donkey Kong, co-designed Mario Bros, and designed Metroid. He is basically one of the corner stones of video games.

How influential was the NES gamepad? When the third generation Sega SG-1000 launched in 1983 its controller looked a lot like a lot of other controllers from the second and third generation. Nothing special. By the time its first revision hit the street only a year later the controller was basically the only non-cosmetic change made. They copied the layout of the NES gamepad and ditched the joystick for a primitive thumbstick. Why not copy the D-pad though? Because Nintendo had invented it and had a PATENT on the technology. It took them a few years to figure out a non-infringing way to copy it for the Mark III/Master System (which was just an improved SG-1000). Every major console from the 4th generation except the Neo Geo launched with a D-pad on its controller. Even the portables. Enough said.

>>2678645
>NES controller
>Y

underage b&

Can anyone recommend a good USB adapter for the NES controller? I have a Mayflash SNES adapter that works perfectly with the SNS-102 controller, and it looks like they have adapters for most controller, but it doesn't look like they have one for the NES. I'd rather not gamble on getting one that might not work well. Does anyone own one they can recommend?