data/claims/nes-controller.yamlNES controller (NES-004)
Nintendo's Control Deck manual gives Select and Start to controller 1 only: Select picks a variation of the game from its menu, and Start begins the game and pauses it. The 4-way Control Pad moves the main character up, down, left, and right, and buttons A and B do different things in different games. nes-controller/manual-use
p. 10, Using the ControllersSELECT BUTTON (Controller ① only). … The SELECT button is used to … select the particular variation you want to play from the menu displayed at the begin-Nintendo Entertainment System Control Deck instruction manual (1988) · p. 10, Using the ControllersSTART BUTTON (Controller ① only) … push the START button to … start the game. The START button can also be used to take aNintendo Entertainment System Control Deck instruction manual (1988) · p. 10, Using the ControllersIf you push the START button in the middle of a game, the game will freeze … (pause) where it is until the START button is pressed again.Nintendo Entertainment System Control Deck instruction manual (1988) · p. 10, Using the ControllersThe ④-way Control Pad moves the main character of the game up, down, left, and right; … although its function may vary from game to game.Nintendo Entertainment System Control Deck instruction manual (1988) · p. 10, Using the ControllersButtons A and B perform different functions in different games.Checked by a second AI model, 2026-11-07.The manual also says some games have no pause. "Controller 1 only" is the manual's rule for games, not the hardware's: both ports report every button (nes-hardware/controller-report), and Super Mario Bros.'s title screen takes Start and Select from either controller (smb1/scheme-title).
Cited by: NES controller
The NES controller is about 124 mm long, 53 to 54 mm deep, and 17.5 to 19 mm thick: iFixit gives 123.4 × 53.2 × 17.5 mm, and the Computer History Museum's catalog 12.38 × 5.4 × 1.9 cm. nes-controller/size
Specifications — iFixit's width is the long side, its height the short side seen from above, its depth the thicknessWidth: 4.86 inches (123.4 mm) … Height: 2.096 inches (53.2 mm) … Depth: .6875 inches (17.5 mm)Nintendo Entertainment System controller (Computer History Museum, X3821.2007) · Item Details, Dimension — the catalog's "w" is the long side, "l" the short side, and "h" the thickness4 7/8w x 3/4h x 2 1/8l (in) … 12.38w x 1.9h x 5.4l (cm)Checked by a second AI model, 2026-11-07.Neither source says where it measured. The thickness differs most, 1.5 mm, perhaps between the shell alone and the shell with its buttons. No source found gives the buttons' sizes or places.
Cited by: NES controller
The controller came with the NES, two to each console, and has the model number NES-004. Nintendo of America introduced the NES in the New York City area before Christmas 1985. nes-controller/release
p. 10, Using the ControllersYour NES includes two identical controllers.Nintendo Entertainment System controller (Computer History Museum, X3821.2007) · Item DetailsNES-004 (MODEL NUMBER)Nintendo Entertainment System Controller (iFixit device page) · overviewThe controller shipped with the original Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985. It has the model number NES-004.Computer Entertainer, Vol. 4, No. 11 (February 1986) · p. 12, The Nintendo Entertainment System — Joe Blenkle's review of the console; the line before reads "was introduced to the New York City"area a little before Christmas, 1985 by Nintendo of America.Checked by a second AI model, 2026-11-07.The Computer History Museum dates its controller "1985 (Made)". Nintendo of America's list of NES games dates its launch games to October 1985 (super-mario-bros-history/na-release).
Cited by: NES controller
US patent 4,687,200, "Multi-directional switch", describes a switch formed in the shape of a cross on a hand-held game with a liquid-crystal display, where it moves the game's characters. Ichiro Shirai is its inventor and Nintendo its assignee; it was filed on 9 August 1985 as a continuation of an application of 5 August 1983, since abandoned, and issued on 18 August 1987. nes-controller/cross-patent
p. 1, front page — the front page's two columns interleave in the text layer, so the filing date and "doned" sit apart from their labelsMULTI-DIRECTIONAL SWITCH … Aug. 18, 1987 … inventor: Ichiro Shirai, Kyoto, Japan … Assignee: Nintendo Co., Ltd., Kyoto, Japan … Aug. 9, 1985 … Continuation of Ser. No. 521,116, Aug. 5, 1983, aban … doned.US 4,687,200: Multi-directional switch · col. 3, description of FIG. 2character moving switch 8 is formed in the shape of a … cross and is adapted such that characters 9a to 9d are … selectively displayed responsive to the pressing direcUS 4,687,200: Multi-directional switch · col. 3, description of FIG. 2 — from the description of FIG. 11, a body 1 comprises a liquid crystal display plate 2.US 4,687,200: Multi-directional switch · col. 3, description of FIG. 2Referring to FIG. 2, the hand-held type game playing apparatus is the same as the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, except the below described points.Revised after a check by a second AI model, 2026-11-07.The patent prints no Japanese priority, and no Japanese counterpart has been found.
Cited by: NES controller
The patent's claim 1 doesn't say "cross": it claims a switch worked by a fingertip in several directions, one key member tilting over a base, its top concave to take the fingertip. Claim 6 adds protrusions reaching outward from the key's center, and claim 8 sets four of them on two crossing axes, a "cruciform shape". The description shapes the protrusions as a cross, sloped toward a concave center that fits the finger. nes-controller/cross-patent-claims
col. 6, claim 11. A multi-directional switch which can be manually … actuated in multiple directions by a depressing action … with the tip of a finger of an operatorUS 4,687,200: Multi-directional switch · col. 6, claim 1(b) an integral key member disposed above said base … having a downwardly concave upper surface for … receiving a fingertip of the operatorUS 4,687,200: Multi-directional switch · col. 6, claim 66. A multi-directional switch according to claim 1, … the manipulation portion of said key member includes … a plurality of protrusions extending outwardly … from a central portion of said key memberUS 4,687,200: Multi-directional switch · col. 3the shape of a cross is formed with inclinations so as to … become concave in the center. With these inclinations, … the operational surface 14 is fitted perfectly for the … touch of the fingersUS 4,687,200: Multi-directional switch · col. 7, claim 88. A multi-directional switch according to claim 6, … including four protrusions, two of said protrusions ex … said four protrusions thereby defining a cruciform … shape.Revised after a check by a second AI model, 2026-11-07.Claims 2 to 5 add indicia on the key, use in a hand-held game with a display, a casing with an opening, and the sustaining member's press against the key.
Cited by: NES controller
The earliest known cross pad is Game & Watch Donkey Kong's, released in June 1982, a year before the Famicom. Nintendo dates the cross key's first use to it, the second game in the Game & Watch Multi Screen series. nes-controller/earliest-cross-pad
page 5, Izushi — Izushi is speaking of Donkey Kong (note 21)それに、このタイトルでは … 初めて十字ボタンを採用しました。Our translationAnd this title was the first to adopt the cross button.社長が訊く「ゲーム＆ウオッチ」 Vol.1, page 5 · page 5, Iwataファミコンが発売される１年前に … 十字ボタンが『ドンキーコング』で初めて採用されたんですよね。Our translationThe cross button was first adopted in Donkey Kong, a year before the Famicom came out.社長が訊く「ゲーム＆ウオッチ」 Vol.1, page 5 · page 5, note 21『ドンキーコング』＝ゲーム＆ウオッチのマルチスクリーンシリーズの第２弾ソフト。 … １９８２年６月発売。Our translationDonkey Kong: the second title in the Game & Watch Multi Screen series. … Released June 1982.ゲーム＆ウオッチ ヒストリー (Nintendo Game & Watch history page) · Multi Screen seriesまたこのシリーズから方向入力に初めて十字キーが登場しました。Our translationAnd with this series the cross key first appeared, for direction input.Checked by a second AI model, 2026-11-07.Nintendo's own word is "first"; "earliest known" is as far as these sources reach, since neither surveys other makers' controls.
Cited by: NES controller
Game & Watch's developers went through many prototypes of the cross button, and Gunpei Yokoi insisted on details such as a slightly concave center so that it could be worked without looking. nes-controller/cross-pad-concave
page 5, Yamamotoこの十字ボタンは、ものすごく試行錯誤していました。Our translationWe went through an enormous amount of trial and error on this cross button.社長が訊く「ゲーム＆ウオッチ」 Vol.1, page 5 · page 5, Izushi本当にたくさんの試作品をつくりました。 … 手元を見なくても、きっちり操作できるように … 十字ボタンの真ん中を少し凹んだ形状にしたりとか、 … 横井さんはものすごくこだわっていましたから。Our translationWe made a great many prototypes. So it could be worked precisely without looking at your hands, Mr. Yokoi was very particular, about things like making the middle of the cross button slightly concave.Checked by a second AI model, 2026-11-07.The patent describes the same concave center (nes-controller/cross-patent-claims). The page names him only as Mr. Yokoi (横井さん).
Cited by: NES controller
Nintendo launched the Family Computer in 1983; the NES is its name outside Japan. nes-controller/famicom-launch
1983Launched the home video game system, Family Computer System (known as Nintendo Entertainment System outside Japan.)Checked by a second AI model, 2026-11-07.Cited by: NES controller
The Famicom's two controllers, wired to the console in 1983, carry the cross pad with A and B, as the NES controller does later. nes-controller/famicom-controllers
nes-hardware/controller-report (nesdev) gives the second controller's missing Select and Start; nothing pinned here describes the 1983 controllers themselves.