^ I would say that AC: NewL push through maximum of 11million copies and at minimum 7 milllion copies both digital and retail.

AC ww 10m by January 2015

You mean AC: New Leaf?  Because AC: Wild World has already sold ~ 11.8m

edit - oops. World Wide and I thought Wild World... lol

Last year I explored some of the more interesting and obscure controllers that various accessory makers had developed from the NES and SNES systems. That was a great time for peripherals because, well, everybody, was completely insane and insane people do some wonderful things in addition to horrific ones.

I thought I had said all that needed to be said on the matter when I was able to work the phrase "Using the LaserScope meant that they were helpless as you drove them into the line of fire and ended their little pixilated lives with a cry of 'I am the God of Murder!'" into the article, but guess what? There are still lots and lots of strange Nintendo controllers just waiting to be showcased. So here we go!

Way ahead of its time was the Exertainment system that allowed you to pair your SNES with a Lifecycle 9XS to both exercise and participate in the onscreen action. The controls slipped onto the handlebars, and you could both interact with the game on screen as well as keep track of your distance, calories burned, etc. just like a regular bike.

The accessory only worked with two specific games, Exertainment Mountain Bike Rally and Speed Racer, but it absolutely owned at how powerful it could make your gaming experience/exercise session. Want to have a picture in picture so you can watch both your fitness progress and the onscreen action at the same time? No problem. You even get encouragement on screen for your accomplishments as well as a headset and a special mode for those who maybe very out of shape or just starting out. You know, like gamers.

These are still around, and usually sell for around $2,000 on eBay. Make sure all parts are included.

U-Force

It's rightly well known that the Power Glove was for all intents and purposes one of the crappiest things ever foisted on us as far as controllers go, but Broderbund came up with a similar idea around the same time that makes the Power Glove look like NASA engineering. Introducing the U-Force, which is to gaming what Theremins are to Rachmaninoff.

Don't believe that admittedly awesome commercial up there, the U-Force did not by any means let you play the NES play in a way the Wii still hasn't entirely gotten right. Using it to go up against Mike Tyson in Punch-Out was about as effective as you going up against Mike Tyson in real life. The concept was there, we're all using it now in fact, but the technology was nowhere near good enough to allow for great game play. Mostly there was just a lot of flailing around then crying. It was impossible to use effectively...

Or was it? Joe McKenna decided to prove the naysayers of the U-Force wrong after finding one for cheap at a Funcoland in the '90s. Since then, not only has he mastered playing with the U Force in a way that looks half like sorcery and half like a beautiful interpretative dance on some of the most difficult NES games of all time, but he's taken it to the next level by using it on emulated SNES and even N64 games. Maybe the U-Force didn't suck after all. Maybe everyone but Joe Mckenna sucked instead.

Sonic Screwdriver Wiimote

Just to show you that not all bad controller ideas come from the NES and SNES eras, there was an official sonic screwdriver-inspired Wiimote that accompanied Doctor Who: Return to Earth on the Wii in 2010. Neither the game nor the controller was released in America, being pretty much exclusive to European markets.

And yes, I have it because I'm a huge Who nerd, and I can tell you that it's a pretty good buy. It works with all the standard games, though horizontal use is a bit more awkward than the regular Wiimote, and is slightly lighter and easier to manipulate. There are some reports of the batteries not holding a charge, though I haven't experienced that myself.

The only real downside to the thing is that the game it is supposed to compliment is pretty awful. Seriously, why is making a good Doctor Who video game so hard? Even Eternity Clock, which I loved, is at best a B- outing. Ah well, they keep trying to get it right. That's something.

Also known as the Roll n' Rocker because the letters "a" and "d" are for mere mortals. The controller was yet another attempt to make something as easy and instinctive as using the D-pad into something as difficult and alien as tightrope walking.

Basically, LJN's machine was designed to have you lean precariously with your feet close together in order to move your character while still using the regular controller to press A and B. It's like someone looked at the Super Chair I profiled last time and failed to realize that the part that interested people wasn't fun with leaning, but exerting the absolute least amount of physical effort possible while gaming.

At least husky kids could use it as some kind of weird isometric workout, right? Nope, it had a 100 pound weight limit. What do you expect from a product that sells itself on being "enteractive" and apparently is only used by the kind of people who would beat up Punky Brewster and take her shoes.

When games offer alternate controller methods they are supposed to be catering to our urge to better simulate awesome activities. Guns for shooting? Check. Pad for Olympic sprinting and jumping? Check. Hardcore knitting? Grandma, go home. You're drunk.

Nope, the idea was totally real, and even made it into a 1987 brochure. The NKM would allow players to use specialized software in order to knit actual sweaters with the controller. Sure, the idea sounds kind of cool now. You know why? Because we're getting old and boring, that's why. How many kids are going want to even receive sweaters as a gift, let alone make them themselves when you could be whipping Dracula?

The NKM was debuted at an electronics show them dropped out of sight. The wording of the ad kind of gives a clue why. "It's not a game; not a toy; not something that a girl can outgrow in three or six months or even a year." Translated from old-school gender role speak that reads, "Don't worry about your son playing Mario Bros and wasting his life. Your daughter will learn valuable husband-catching skills in a way that we freely admit is not fun!"

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/artattack/2012/11/5_nintendo_controllers.php

While talking about NES accessories... I liked the part where his cat is going after the targets in Duck Hunt.

That is the U force.  I moved the pic to where it actually talks about it.  I need one of those sewing machines to make Nintendo shirts!

spurgeonryan said:   Wii U’s browser is better equipped for HTML5 than Internet Explorer 10 on PC November 1, 2012 2:27 PM Jeffrey Grubb Add a Comment    in Share    HTML5 is the language of the Internet. It’s what makes most things possible on the web and the browser in Nintendo’s Wii U console can handle it better than Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 10 for PCs. That information comes from benchmarking website HTML5test.com. Here’s how the Wii U, Internet Explorer, and other popular browsers fare (scores out of 500 + 15 bonus points):  Wii U browser – 323 + 8 Internet Explorer 10 – 320 + 6 Chrome 22 – 434 + 13 Xbox 360 Internet Explorer 9 – 120 + 5 Nintendo 3DS NetFront – 109 + 0 iOS 6 Safari – 486 + 9 You can find all of HTML5test’s results here. It measures the browsers ability to handle the HTML5 specifications as dictated by the W3C, the standard’s governing body. The bonus points measure the browsers ability to handle audio and video HTML5 features. It’s also important to note that this is just a benchmark and that real world use can vary greatly. All this means is that the Wii U browser, at 323, has a little bit more support for HTML5 than IE10, at 320. That doesn’t necessarily mean the Wii U browser will run every webpage better than IE10. Still, the web-viewer for Nintendo’s new console blows away its console competition. It easily bests the current champion, Internet Explorer 9 on Xbox 360, by 260 percent. Read more at http://venturebeat.com/2012/11/01/wii-us-browser-is-better-at-html5-than-internet-explorer-10-on-pc/#2sck1r19YXJj5q7t.99

Very neat info.

@The article about the GamePad and racing/simulator games. I think the author got a bit carried away by his wishes rather than reality. That article is almost a joke. Fixing the GamePad and using the Balance Board as the pedals? Really? And when he says the other players could be the mechanics with wiimotes is laughlable.

The vast majority of the people that will play those games will use the Gamepad, and since it doesn't have analog triggers (or has it?) it won't be better than other controllers. It will be used for other things thanks to the gyroscopes and touch screen, but that won't make it better.

@WiiU browser: Not bad results from now. Let's hope they keep improving it. By the way, do we know who makes the browser? Is it still Opera or it is someone else?

GungHo is making a 3DS game. The Studio is known for their Ragnarok franchise.

http://www.siliconera.com/2012/11/01/gunghos-president-talks-about-vita-and-the-future-of-ragnarok/

@spurgeonryan: Soon we'll find the answer.

@Sing: I see a problem with the game. From that wid, the GamePad show you the letter of the song, which is good, but have you noticed that the microphone cable don't go to the Gamepad? If the microphone goes to the console, I can see many people complaining about it.

Why didn't they make it go to the GamePad or, even better, make it wireless?