First NES Advertisement from 1984 -Found! (AVS)

[parallaxscroll]

NES controller prototype:







More from the Winter CES 1985 show:

[celerystalker]

I'd never seen those ads before. It's pretty interesting to see how many changes were made before actual launch, especially that the wireless controller was apparently thought to be a major selling point. Cool stuff.

[eskobar]

I love this tiny pieces of video game history, pretty bummed to have gotten rigged of my huge video game magazine collection a decade ago ...

[Tanooki]

I've seen these, and still prefer that style box to what we got, including the cool multi-colored Famicom carts too. I just hated the controllers as that d-pad rocker looks awful and it looks even less comfortable than the NES style, plus that dumb phone jack plug is a disaster waiting to happen the first tiem someone trips over the cord and everything being locked in goes flying.

[Aussie2B]

Thank goodness they nixed the wireless controllers.

[Niku-Sama]

I'd seen the pictures of the avs but never the advertising behind it. Pretty damn cool

[Greg2600]

Wow great find!

[exit]

That controller would have been awful to use, the d pad alone would have been a nightmare and being wireless wouldn't have done anyone any favors either. I'm really digging that Zapper tho, but my guess is that Nintendo changed the design because it looked too much like a real gun. This was a really awesome find, interesting to see just how much was changed within a year of its release in the US.

[Gamevet]

That controller would have been awful to use, the d pad alone would have been a nightmare and being wireless wouldn't have done anyone any favors either. I'm really digging that Zapper tho, but my guess is that Nintendo changed the design because it looked too much like a real gun. This was a really awesome find, interesting to see just how much was changed within a year of its release in the US.

A real gun from the Star Trek Universe.

[Emperor Megas]

a real gun from the star trek universe.

ahahaha!

[exit]

A real gun from the Star Trek Universe.

Well, Nintendo isn't exactly known for making the most logical decisions.

[Steve W]

I wonder if Nintendo designed the controller ports to look like that because they knew that Atari had essentially copyrighted the standard 9-pin plug that Sega eventually lost a lawsuit over.

[Niku-Sama]

i'd love to find one of these and take it apart...see what makes it tick or see if its just a shell
any thing is possible at this point, atleast since they are north American designs that they aren't in japan atleast.
I mean if that one dude got the playstation prototype and metal jesus got a launch ready NA 64DD then really I think it is only a matter of time

[jperryss]

I'm really digging that Zapper tho, but my guess is that Nintendo changed the design because it looked too much like a real gun.

They did it right in Japan:

[WulfeLuer]

Wow, that li'l monster would have been shockingly appropriate for the 'flash-bang' that went along with the zapper. I can see why it didn't make it across (would have taken all of five minutes for some dumbass to knock off a liquor store with it upon release).

[BlastProcessing402]

Thank goodness they nixed the wireless controllers.

Yes, even in the 90's they couldn't make wireless worth a damn, just that IR line of sight crap. With only wireless controllers, no way does the system become a huge hit. Gaming stays crashed until Genesis comes along in 89.