Super Nintendo "original" controllers: How many kinds?

[Anotherfluke]

I was going through my parents' storage and found some boxes from my days at Nintendo. Inside I found some SNES controllers. Most had the familiar "Super Nintendo" text printed on the front, like so:



But some have the Nintendo logo engraved on the controller, like this:



(both are hotlinks, forgive me internet gods)

So what's the difference? I notice that on the engraved version, it actually has the super famicom logo on the back next to the SNES logo, and has the model no. SNS-102, whereas the more common version has model number SNS-005.

Any thoughts?

[PacmanPlush]

Yo, 'sup homeboy?

The SNS-102 came with the Model 2 SNES, the smaller one.

The fact that it has several logos on the back was just a cost-cutting measure, so the same mold could be used in all regions.

This is why the front of the controller only says "Nintendo" instead of having the whole Super Nintendo logo like the original SNS-005.

[CosmicMonkey]

Does anyone actually know why it's only the American pads that have concave X and Y buttons?

[PacmanPlush]

Does anyone actually know why it's only the American pads that have concave X and Y buttons?

The same reason why they're the only ones with purple buttons.

In North America, the SNES came out several months after its release in Japan, giving time for the redesigned controller. Ergonomics and all that.

Why this change wasn't kept for the even later European release, or why the controllers weren't similarly redesigned for Japan, I don't think anyone really knows. Probably a lack of communication between NOA, NOJ, and NOE, or it would've been an inconvenience- the multicolored buttons used on the J/EU controllers might have something to do with it.

[Anotherfluke]

Thanks, I suspected as much, but the SFC logo on the back threw me.

[skaar]

I like the multicoloured, my first SNES was a Super Fami and I was sad when it was all purple when it came out here.

One of the reasons why I used my ASCII pad more than any other controller. My Super Fami controllers had like a footlong cord I swear.

[Mimi Nakamura]

The same reason why they're the only ones with purple buttons.

In North America, the SNES came out several months after its release in Japan, giving time for the redesigned controller. Ergonomics and all that.

Why this change wasn't kept for the even later European release, or why the controllers weren't similarly redesigned for Japan, I don't think anyone really knows. Probably a lack of communication between NOA, NOJ, and NOE, or it would've been an inconvenience- the multicolored buttons used on the J/EU controllers might have something to do with it.

Legend has it that NOA fucked up their button order and didn't have time to fix it for the release....

I have no idea if that's true though!

[Grooveraider]

Legend has it that NOA fucked up their button order and didn't have time to fix it for the release....

I have no idea if that's true though!

Totally false. I know because the designer Lance Barr confirmed it to me
back in 2003.

[endingman]

DESIGN DIFFERENCES
Nintendojo interview with NOA designer Lance Barr
http://www.nintendojo.com/interviews...php?1130801472

This will give a little insight to the decisions that were made with different console localizations. Lance designed the Original Model 1 North American NES and SNES, among other things.

I don't know who actually designed the SNES controllers, perhaps Gunpei Yokoi. They definitely match the color scheme and aesthetic to Lance's design.

CONVEX & CONCAVE
I can assume based on my experience with design and also with common sense that the buttons vary in concave and convex so that the user can locate the correct button in the heat of the action without looking down at the buttons. This is a common thing on cell phone and keyboard number pads, with the number 5 having a small nub as orientation for the user.

You have to remember that prior to the snes, most consoles had either two buttons next to each other, or the Sega had three, next to each other, with the 6-button coming out after the SNES controller as retaliation and as a logical response to SFII/MK madness. So, most users were probably not used to a second row of buttons that were not offset in some way. They most likely found this out during testing, so they decied to make a convex/concave tactile identity to the keys that was not irritating, but natural to use for subliminal finger movements.

Sony used the same arrangement of buttons on their PSX pads, no doubt because Sony and Nintendo worked together in some SNES/Play Station dev. However, I found myself sometimes losing orientation on a frantic PSX game because all the buttons are convex!

FAKE CONTROLLERS
I f***ing hate bootleg controllers because the quality is garbage and the fleaBay sellers use devious tactics to con a sale. I never fell for it *ever*. Some friends did though.

THIS IS A REAL SNES CONTROLLER, SEALED
http://www.warpzonevideogames.com/eb...ersealed_a.jpg
http://www.warpzonevideogames.com/eb...ersealed_b.jpg

Note the horizontal seam that is only done by Official Nintendo packaging. If anyone claims that is a sealed SNES controller and it's official, but there's no H-seam, its a damned fake. The fake controller box shown a few posts above look similar too, as if scanned from the original. The visual difference I can see in the graphic is ink retention, color crush, tone-pattern, gloss-sheen and the difference in the shade of green on the little box on the front, left-center.

I hope I've helped a little.

[badinsults]

The one with the engraved Nintendo logo is a fake. They flood ebay, making it next to impossible to find a legit controller. They suck.

[Grooveraider]

Does anyone actually know why it's only the American pads that have concave X and Y buttons?

According to Lance Barr ( Nintendo's Industrial Product Designer ) the concave X & Y buttons were designed on the Super NES to help U.S. consumers to distinguish the two extra buttons given on the SNES D-Pad. The shoulder buttons were a given - obviously placed above the controller. I'm too lazy to go through my Nintendo Power magazines at the moment but I believe this is also mentioned when Nintendo did their very first expose' on the Super Nintendo system in 1991.



For a closer shot of me and Lance in the pic check out my Flickr page:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/grooveraider/3449343469/

Lance Barr was responsible for the case design of the American Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo, the toploader redesign of the 8-bit Nintendo Control Deck, and three of the most popular NES accessories: NES Advantage, NES Max, and Zapper. Unexpectedly, I ran into Lance at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3 2003). Luckily having the name badges otherwise I wouldn't have recognized him without his mustache - XD

Lance Barr is still employed by Nintendo and was also instrumental to the design of the Nintendo Wii console.