On: Nintendo, One Year Later

[whoisthemachine]

From what I can tell, the NES controller was the first gamepad to be used on a major console[1].

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamepad#Third_Generation

[ekianjo → whoisthemachine]

There were joysticks with buttons way before the NES. Do you consider putting a piece of plastic instead of a joystick a major invention?

[LukasMathis → ekianjo]

I think the fact that there were many joysticks before the NES came out, and many other kinds of input devices, kind of shows that the d-pad was a non-obvious invention. In hindsight, it seems super obvious, but back then, it was a major invention.

[ekianjo → LukasMathis]

And the Atari 7800 controller from 1984 does not qualify as a gamepad? Come on...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_7800#mediaviewer/File:Ata...

If anyone is rewriting history here, that's certainly not me.

[LukasMathis → ekianjo]

I think the relevant thing is the d-pad.