As with any games console there are going to be accessories, and for the most part, to improve the gameplay or to immerse yourself in further. When you combine Nintendo and 80's together, there is no shortage of these accessories. So here is my top 5 that I have found after some digging.
5 – NES ZaPPer;- Why they just didn't bite the bullet and call it a gun I will never know, but the Zapper was a ''light gun'' that only really worked with old CRT TV's, I've tried it on an LED screen and it does not work. The most popular game this worked with was Duck hunt, but also worked with titles such as Freedom Force, Barker Bill's and Gumshoe to name a few. Not the most impressive accessory, as other consoles had there version, but still cool all the same.
4 – Advantage Controller;- When the NES first came out, Arcade games were huge, especially in the Eastern Market. And for those people that loved the feel of the Arcade style controls, they could now have them at home with the ''huge'' Game pad. It came with turbo buttons for both 'A' and 'B' buttons, which were both adjustable. It also has a slo-mo button to slow down fast paced games, but didn't work on every game though. And on the other side you had a traditional arcade style directional stick that you could hammer away on all day every day.
3 – Power Pad;- Most modern Consoles today will have a fitness angle to it, Xbox had the Konnect, Wii had the fit board and play station has the glow stick/ball of doom. But in the 80's NES released the power pad as a fun way for families to get fit. Surprisingly, it sold well and it had a fair few games that was compatible with it. And this was a full decade before the Nintendo piss came out... sorry, Wii.
2 – NES Satellite;- Today, Multiplayer is to be expected with any new game that is released and we would be disappointed if less than 10-20 people play it at the same time as you. But back in the late 80's, the NES satellite is wireless and would allow up to 4 players hooked into one console, so you would invite 3 of your mates round and another to be a brew bitch and get playing titles like bomber man, Nintendo world cup, Kings of the beach, Bowling or rocket rivals..... yeah, not many games supported 4 players but at least you could make a lot of noise pissing your parents off doing it though.
1 – NES Double Player;- Just as most modern game consoles come as standard with a wireless pad, in the late 80's early 90's having a wireless anything was voodoo but to be able to buy 2 wireless pads for the NES was sheer myth and witchcraft. But the controllers were actually very good, they had a range of 30 feet, included turbo and slow motion and worked with any 2 player games. As a British man once said, they are the tits you want. …. it was me.... I said that.... when I was 18...
So there you have it, the best of the bunch as the majority of the accessories you could get for the NES were... well... shit. And I shall do a top 5 worst nes accessories in a future post.
Thanks for reading
Stu @TechMojo
Images...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NES_Zapper
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NES_Advantage
http://games.neonstreetlight.com/nes/powerpad/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NES_Satellite
http://www.astrogiochi.com/en/retrogames/nintendo/nes/nes-double-player-wireless-detail.html
Awesome!!! I had all of those except the satellite, never even heard of that actually.
i had the wired 4 socket version but only played bomber man with it.
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I only had the Nintendo Super Scope for the SNES, a bazooka, which is the successor to the NES Zapper. Which was so weird when I think about it now. A bazooka is not exactly something you could use in many games :) I don't even remember which games I played with it, was way too long ago.
I have a future write up half written on SNES accessories and that was gonna be my number one. along with the Super gameboy cartridge. oooo, decisions decisions.....
I had the Super Gameboy cartridge too, but rarely used it. The cool thing about the Gameboy was that you didn't need to fight your siblings, or in my case an older sister, for TV usage rights :) For the Gameboy I had all the official accessories, the printer, the camera, everything. Man, I loved that thing. The newer gameboys weren't as good, much lower quality, but the original Gameboy? Indestructible. I've heard there is one in a museum, hit by a grenade in a war, half melted, but it still works and runs Tetris.
i just posted up another top 5 for the gameboy too
https://steemit.com/retro/@techmojo/retro-games-top-5-part-14-nintendo-gameboy-accessories