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| ______ _______________ |
| | /\ | | | Nintendo |
| __|/__\|___ |_______________| |
| |/-| |-\| .---------------. |
| |\-|____|-/| |_______________| _____________ |
| ```|\ /|``` _______________ |B___ A ___ | |
| | \/ | |SELECT START | || | | | | |
| `````` |(::::) (::::)| |`---` `---` | |
| `---------------` '-------------' |
|___________________________________________________|
Nintendo's NES controller was quite possibly one of the most revolutionary controllers ever released. Its simple square design combined with four buttons set the precedent for future console controllers. Indeed, the Game Boy's joypad is based on this design. A concave design made the buttons easier to push because they fitted to the natural curve of the player's thumb
The D-pad took its design from Gunpei Yokoi's popular Game & Watch. An ordinary analog stick would have been far too large to fit on the watch, so Yokoi designed something simple that evolved into what is known as the D-pad. Nintendo then proceeded to patent the design of the D-pad.. As a result, a dispute rose up between Nintendo and Sega when Sega used the D-pad design in their Genesis console
The controller did have some drawbacks though. Developers had to plan their games around two buttons, resulting in limited character functionality. The D-pad was perpendicularly shaped, making diagonal moves difficult. However, Nintendo deserves an honorable mention for making the most use out of two buttons in their Zelda series; the subscreen was used to assign equipment to A and B buttons. Whenever a game absolutely required to use more than two button, developers usually used Select or Start as a means of switching between weapons or items.
However, Nintendo learned from their mistakes; various functionality was added in the SNES controller that again set a precedent in the industry