Turbotronic is a

joystick A joystick, sometimes called a flight stick, is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Also known as the control column, it is the principal control devic ...

marketed by Camerica in the late 1980s. The joystick has two connectors: One with seven

pins A pin is a device, typically pointed, used for fastening objects or fabrics together. Pins can have the following sorts of body: *a shaft of a rigid inflexible material meant to be inserted in a slot, groove, or hole (as with pivots, hinges, an ...

for the

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

, and one with nine pins for several

Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French holding company Atari SA (formerly Infogrames) and its focus is on "video games, consumer hardware, licensing and bl ...

and

Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (India), in India ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ' ...

home computer Home computers were a class of microcomputers that entered the market in 1977 and became common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a s ...

s and

game console A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can typically be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location conne ...

s, as well as the

Master System The is an 8-bit Third generation of video game consoles, third-generation home video game console manufactured and developed by Sega. It was originally a remodeled export version of the Sega Mark III, the third iteration of the SG-1000 series ...

. The Turbotronic closely resembles the

NES Advantage The NES Advantage is an arcade style controller manufactured by Asciiware and released by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987.Nintendo Power: "Also from Asciiware, who actually made the NES Advantage that Nintendo of America t ...

, a joystick released by

Nintendo of America is a Japanese multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi founded the company to p ...

in 1987. In 1988, Camerica released Freedom Stick, a

wireless Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information (''telecommunication'') between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided transm ...

consumer IR Consumer IR, consumer infrared, or CIR is a class of devices employing the infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum for wireless communications. CIR ports are commonly found in consumer electronics devices such as television remote cont ...

version of Turbotronic exclusively for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Nintendo brought legal action against Camerica because of the products' similarity to the NES Advantage. Camerica later redesigned Freedom Stick with an unorthodox triangular base intended for both right- and left-handed players, and called the product Supersonic the Joystick. The bottom of the joystick's base is fitted with

suction cup A suction cup, also known as a sucker, is a device or object that uses the negative Pressure#Fluid pressure, fluid pressure of air or water to adhere to Porosity, nonporous surfaces, creating a Vacuum, partial vacuum. Suction cups occur in nat ...

s to stabilize it on a tabletop. Freedom Stick and Supersonic the Joystick were among the first

game controller A game controller, gaming controller, or simply controller, is an input device or Input/Output Device, input/output device used with video games or entertainment systems to provide input to a video game. Input devices that have been classified as ...

s to communicate via

infrared Infrared (IR; sometimes called infrared light) is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than that of visible light but shorter than microwaves. The infrared spectral band begins with the waves that are just longer than those ...

beam. They were contemporaneous with

Broderbund Broderbund Software, Inc. (stylized as Brøderbund) was an American maker of video games, educational software, and productivity tools. Broderbund is best known for the 8-bit video game hits '' Choplifter'', '' Lode Runner'', '' Karateka'', and ...

's U-Force, a game controller that made innovative use of consumer IR technology.

Notes

References

* * * {{Camerica Joysticks Nintendo Entertainment System accessories Unlicensed Nintendo hardware Game controllers

See also

Notes

References