My Top 3 Craziest Retro Nintendo Products In History

The 80’s were a iridescent time full of neon lights, synth pop and headband wearing guys and girls in tight jeans and multicolored sneakers. So it’s hardly surprising that the absolute craziest retro Nintendo products in history came from around that time as well.

I, as the founder of NintendoRetroLove, am dedicating my past time to find all kinds of retro Nintendo collectibles and vintage Nintendo items from the 80’s and 90’s to curate for you. So of course i’m stumbling over a lot of really quirky and weird Nintendo stuff from around the 80’s.

In this blogpost i want to share with you, fellow Team1UpEm reader, my top 3 of the most crazy/funny/weird stuff Nintendo has come up with to make you throw your money at them. Sometimes more successful, sometimes (much MUCH) less.

You surely know about the usual Nintendo collectibles: from watches, figures and posters to pins, cereals and patches. But some items barely made it into people’s homes because they were just too… special?

Keep reading to learn all about the 3 most exceptional Nintendo products that have ever been released to the public.

THE SUPER MARIO SHOWER POWER

Nintendo Shower Power

We all know the Nintendo Bubble Bath and Shampoos. But Nintendo had even more plans to completely take over your bathroom supply by introducing the official Super Mario Shower Power.

Yes, an official Nintendo handheld shower that wouldn’t only look like Mario and Luigi on top of each other holding a shower head, but also protect your kids from showering with too hot water through scald protection… just in case navigating between blue and red weren’t your little ones’ strong point.

It read “A new generation of safe shower play” on the box, which really goes to show that Nintendo was all about family, safety and play. And also a tiny bit about creepy gaming merch.

THE BRODERBUND U-FORCE

Nintendo U-Force

Ranked by IGN as the eighth worst video game controller in history, the U-Force was the world’s first hands-free controller ever. It was released in 1989, designed for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Essentially it was a screen packed with motion sensors that needed to be placed upright or flat between the player and the television screen. Once plugged into the console, players could manipulate on-screen action by placing their hands and bodies within the U-Force’s 3-dimensional range.

The idea was that you could, for example, play Mike Tyson’s Punch Out, and throw a left jab simply by punching the air in front of your on-screen opponent. The only problem was, it was a freaking nightmare to play, because, apparently, it just didn’t work.

Alongside with advertising claims like “most amazing accessory in video game history” and “it will change the way you play video games forever”, the U-Force was ironically promoted with the line “Don’t touch” or “So hot, no one can touch it”. Uhm.. yep. And no one did.

THE NES HANDS FREE

Nintendo Hands Free

The first-party peripheral was actually a pretty epic one, and a legitimate life safer for disabled people that would like to play NES.

The 2.5-pound device was strapped over your chest, and provided a chin-fitted joystick as a directional pad. Using a tube, gamers could puff and sip instead of pushing buttons. With more pressure you would hit Select and Start.

Nintendo sold a whopping 100 units of the Hands Free which wasn’t even considered as a flop by Nintendo. That’s why it was only available through Nintendo’s customer service line. All Nintendo wanted was to bring home console gaming to people with physical disabilities.

An announcement in the Nintendo Power read:

“Nintendo Of America Inc is happy to announce the newest adition to it’s versatile line of video game accessories: the Hands Free Controller (HFC). As its name implies, the new device will allow its users traditional control of a video game without the use of hands. It has been designed to serve our physically limited, special needs players who are unable to manipulate the conrtollers curently offered. (…)

As a result, HFC players strengthen their neck muscles while playing their favourite video games. (…)

We will sell the HCF directly to consumers through our Consumer Service number (1-800-422-2892) as a non-profit item.”

The only two downsides of the Hands Free were: a) that you would look like a super villain from a Doctor Who episode, and b) the high price of $120. And you thought modern controllers are expensive, huh?

That’s it for today! I really hope you enjoyed reading my list of the craziest retro Nintendo products that have ever been released to the public. If yes, share this article with your friends and have a peek over NintendoRetroLove.com to find more rare retro Nintendo collectibles and Nintendo merchandise!

Cheers,

Chris

 

What’s good everyone, my homies Edd and Ray are in the 2nd season of their podcast called Goblin On The Couch. I will be a regular contributor this season, just telling wild stories, in the vein of Phonetap. 1st episode just went live on YouTube. You can peep it above my segment is around 27 minutes. Peace to Edd, Ray, Benny, and @fridaypizzaparty for the amazing artwork.

Sim City for NES is a Christmas Miracle!


The incredible Frank Cifaldi has given the gaming community a special gift for Christmas, Sim City for NES. This prototype was thought to be lost forever until Frank and his team of preservationists got their hands on a pair of copies. Theyve released the rom and you can download it below along with a bunch of bonus’s this is just the type of stuff we like to see at team1upem.com.

Sim City NES DOWNLOAD

The Story of Punch-Out | Gaming Historian


The Gaming Historian is back with The Story of Punch-Out, when I met him a few months back he was talking about working on this video and he really nailed it and dives deep and leaves no stone unturned.

Flight of Pigarus New Master System Homebrew

Flight of Pigarus is a new Master System Homebrew game and it looks fantastic very reminiscent of Parodious. Kagesan from SMS Forums did some amazing work on this one. If you want to download hit the link below.

Flight of Pigarus INFO
Flight of Pigarus DOWNLOAD
FlightOfPigarus-SMS-1.00.zip (229 downloads)

The Paprium and Watermelon Games Debacle

Watermelon Games are throwing a party this weekend for the release of their long awaited games Paprium. While people are excited for the release there’s still a lot of drama and shadiness on the heels of this celebration. Vega weighs in.

Analogue Is Introducing The MEGA SG, FPGA Sega Console

Analogue, the company behind the Analogue NT and Super NT, premium Nintendo console maker running on FPGA hardware has released news that theyre now going the Sega route and I personally couldnt be happier! Finally Sega lovers rejoice. Here’s what I know so far, The Mega SG by Analogue will play US Sega Genesis Games, European and Japanese Mega Drive games. Video output will be via HDMI in 720p or 1080p not exactly sure yet but one of those. There will be cartridge adapters so you can play other legacy consoles such as SG-1000, SC-3000, Mark III and Game Gear and those are speculated to retail for $10 a piece (F you Polymega) but its rumored that Master System Adapter will come packed in. The Mega SG will retail for $189 and will come in 4 colorways, classic Genesis (Red, Grey, Black), classic MD (black, blue, red), model 2 (grey and black) and all new white! They look really good! Sega CD compatibility is a go, 32x looks like it might be out of the question at the moment due to the daisy chaining of video output, I wouldnt count it out completely but as of right now its a no go but Analogue is working on it.

How awesome is this news!? Im very excited for it oh and its coming this april, heres some footage!

Introducing PlayStation Classic w/ Pre-Order

Well, it’s now been announced dropping just in time for Christmas with a price tag of $99 the Sony playstation classic! It will include 20 games, has hdmi out and appears to come with wired controllers. Games that appear in the video we can expect at launch… Final Fantasy 7, Ridge Racer Type 4, Tekken 3, Wild Arms, Jumping Flash. Thats only 5 of the 20 games, what other psone classics would you like see come to this mini console? My wanted games, Castlevania SOTN, Motor Toon Grand Prix, and Alundra. Make. It happen Sony!

pre order now at bestbuy