NES Controller
| |
| NES Controller | |
| Developer | Nintendo R&D2 |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Nintendo |
| Systems | NES |
| Released | JP: July 15, 1983 NA: October 18, 1985 EU: September 1, 1986 |
| Added to Museum | NES-004: December 25, 1988 Tomee NES-039 clones: July 1, 2022 |
The NES Controller, known as the Family Computer controller or Famicom controller in Japan, is a gamepad controller that was included with the Nintendo Entertainment System.
It was first released in Japan in 1983, in North America in 1985, and in Europe in 1986.
NES-004 controller
The original controller, known as model NES-004 outside of Japan, was a rectangular-shaped gamepad that contained two action buttons, a start button, and a select button. It had a cross-shaped directional pad that was designed by Gunpei Yokoi for the Game & Watch systems.
The NES Controller was colored grey, dark grey, black, white, and red to match the system colors. Likewise, the Famicom Controller was colored gold, black, and red.
The Nintendo Entertainment System had detachable controllers, whereas the original Famicom model had two controllers hardwired to the back of the system.
A microphone was in the second controller of the original Famicom but was not in the NES nor in some later models of the Famicom.
NES-039/HVC-102 controller
The NES controller was remodeled for the release of the AV Famicom, which was known as the model NES-101 outside of Japan. It was released on October 15, 1993.
The remodeled controllers were ergonomically shaped like a dog-bone, which was very similar to Nintendo's then-current console, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.
The only difference between the two models was that the HVC-102 controller had shorter cables.
