The Nintendo Entertainment System is great as it is, but there's always room for Jello. Well, no, you don't want any of that in your Nintendo. But there is room for accessories and peripherals! These are some of the ones I've acquired over the years.

Born from the legendary Game and Watch project, the digital cross pad of the NES controller has set the standard for direction inputs in games ever since. The right-angled corners seem like they would be uncomfortable, but those with larger hands seemed to get by without any issues.

It's very likely that everybody and their cousin has used the Zapper. It's a light gun, which is a bit of a misnomer. The Zapper doesn't emit light, but instead receives it using a photoreceptor behind a focusing lens. This photoreceptor feeds data to the NES, which then determines if the trigger was pulled while the Zapper was being aimed at a target on the TV screen. With each trigger pull, the NES rapidly replaces target sprites with white blocks in a specific sequence, and the timing of the signal received from the Zapper tells the NES which target was hit. Rather ingenious. Light guns for other systems, such as the Atari XEGS, the Atari 7800, and the Sega Master System, operate in a similar manner, though may not be inter-compatible with each other.

The Zapper comes in two variations. The original gray with a red trigger, and a later orange revision, with a black trigger. It should go without saying that you should never point the Zapper at anything but a TV, and certainly never at a police officer, but if you play stupid games, you may win stupid prizes.

When you have friends over to beat Gauntlet II, you'll need lots of space, and the Satellite gives that to you by un-tethering your controllers from the NES via infrared connectivity. This beast of a remote relay requires six C cells, so it makes the Game Boy look like a fasting ascetic monk in battery-consumption comparison.
Being an IR device, it requires line-of-sight connectivity with its receiver on the NES, so random pedestrians and pets getting between you and the TV causes even more chaos with your gameplay. Like the Four Score, the conveniences still outweigh the demerits. Being able to swap controllers without borking the game up via jostling the NES, selectable turbo fire, and long reach are the obvious selling points. Raiding flash lights for more batteries could prove dangerous in the event of an emergency, so exercise restraint.

I guess calling it the Four Play would have upset quite a few people, or invited some uncomfortable questions from children. The Four Score is the wired companion of Nintendo's flagship multiplayer adapter, the Satellite. Sporting a rather long cord, and needing no batteries, the Four Score seems to be the most logical (and lower- cost) option of the two devices. In addition to is primary function of allowing up to four simultaneous players in supported games, the Four Score also provides switchable turbo-fire for the A and B buttons of all connected controllers, though this cannot be set individually for each player. That would require the use of the NES MAX, NES Advantage, or third-party controllers with turbo-fire capabilities.

You know it means business, because its name is in all-caps. The NES MAX is an interesting and futuristic game controller. It features a gripped design with a curved shell, and sports turbo-fire buttons. Of course, its main feature is the Cycloid pad, and interesting sliding disc design that purports easier directional control than the innovative digital cross pad featured on the base controller. In my opinion, this Cycloid pad may have been a venture in the wrong direction, as it seems to jam up on occasion, and distress the thumb with prolonged play. Maybe if there was a version that changed the angle of the buttons, and had a traditional (for Nintendo) directional pad, this could have become the new standard.

Perhaps a bit of an unfair advantage, just short of cheating. The NES Advantage is an arcade-like stick with a rather weighty base that features a ball-topped joystick, two large fire buttons with independent and variable turbo-fire capabilities, as well as a slow-motion function which operates by automatically and rapidly pressing the Start button. This slow-motion function may have varying results in games, but the turbo fire is most welcome in many titles. The variable turbo settings can let you finally master the famous infinite-bomb-jump in Metroid. Had the Advantage used micro-switches for its stick and buttons, it would have been a legend, but it still fares well for what it is.

The Game Genie provides a renewed breath of life to games that you had beaten like a rented mule. Want to play through Dragon Warrior or Final Fantasy again, but that slog that is leveling is keeping you away from it? Boom, gain insane experience and gold by killing slimes and goblins. Want to see what it's like if you're always Hammer Mario in Super Mario Brothers 3? Done. With some study and effort, you can even make your own codes. The Game Action Replay from STD (hehehe) is an interesting alternative to the Game Genie, if you can't find a Game Genie in your area, but I've never used one, myself.

Simulate an earthquake in your own home. The Power Pad comes with the NES Power Set, and facilitates full interactivity with largely fitness-oriented games. Just be sure to safely store any delicate items on your shelves, or hanging on your walls before playing on a non-basement floor, because playing World Class Track Meet will result in a whole lot of shakin' goin' on. If your knees are messed up, you can be a real super-player by using a pair of spoons to play, instead of your actual feet. You can rapidly swipe the spoons left and right, onto and off of the sensors in the pad to simulate running like Barry Allen.

Taking some cues from the Super Nintendo controller (SNS-005), this new style of controller eschews all of the right angles of the original model for a more comfortable grip. The new angle of the A and B buttons is similar to the NES MAX, which may grind the gears of players more comfortable with using the tip of their thumb for B, and the joint for A. This style of controller was released with the re-design of the NES (NES-101). It's nice, but I still prefer the original. To each his own, though.

If the NES Advantage is a bit too bulky for you, the Joycard is your replacement NES controller. Made by Hudson Soft, the Joycard SANSUI SSS features adjustable turbo fire for the B and A buttons, as well as a headphone jack and volume slider so you can play NES games with headphones, via the RCA connector for the audio port on the NES. Styled after the Famicom pad, the Joycard won't win awards in ergonomics like the NES MAX would, but it's by no means uncomfortable. A solid controller.

The power is in your hand. And wrapped around the corner of your TV. The Power Glove is a rather unique controller, derived from virtual reality interface development. Too bad we're not likely to see any VR games in the home for a long, long time. The glove operates by receiving sound pulses from three emitters attached to a frame that you mount to the corner of your television, using pulse triangulation to determine where the glove is, and relays this data along with finger flex inputs to the NES. While Mattel says the Power Glove has intentional functionality with specific NES games, I can't say that it makes playing Punch-Out anything but needlessly difficult, and never mind trying to play Rad Racer with it. Hope you have lots of muscle endurance.

This Power Glove is the small version, made for younger children, or people with tiny baby hands. It's not comfortable by any measure to wear for an adult. I'll have to look for the larger version. You can tell the difference between the two by whether or not the emitter on the back of the gauntlet extends significantly beyond the pinky finger or not.