These days, gaming peripherals are fairly standard and utilitarian. Custom controllers, extra storage, and maybe an arcade stick or steering wheel for specialized games are about the limit of what you can expect. Back in the day, though, companies were willing to experiment with all kinds of hardware to enhance the gaming experience.
Nintendo
consoles of the ’80s and ’90s had their fair share of iconic peripherals. While some were certainly more successful than others, they have an undeniable nostalgia factor that means even the flops can make fun collectors’ pieces today. Here are some of the most notable, and what they’re worth.
We used
pricecharting.com
,
which tracks collectibles sales around the world, to determine the prices for these items. Their values are subject to change.
N64 Controller Pak
Release Year: 1996
Why would a cartridge-based system need a memory card? The Controller Pak was part of the initial strategy for the N64, and while ostensibly it could be used to transfer save data between two copies of the same game, its main use was for
saving files externally, freeing up space on the cartridge itself.
While a few games require the Controller Pak by design in order to save data, the idea was phased out relatively quickly as developers opted to simply use cartridges’ onboard storage.
NES Power Pad
Release Year: 1988
The Power Pad didn’t have many games available for it, but its heart was in the right place. Originally released in Japan as the
Family Trainer
in 1986, its intent was to blend video games and fitness. Players would jump and stomp on the pad’s buttons according to the inputs on the screen.
It’s not a particularly rare item, but it’s a fun accessory, especially taken as a precursor to the
Dance Dance Revolution
pad.
N64 Expansion Pak
Release Year: 1998
Despite being seen as backwards for sticking with cartridges over CDs, the Nintendo 64 was a very powerful machine for its time. With 4MB of RAM, it outpaced its biggest competitor, the PlayStation, which had only 2MB.
Yes, that’s MB, not GB. It was a lot back then.
For some games, though, notable
Majora’s Mask
and
Donkey Kong 64
, the console needed even more processing power. That’s where the Expansion Pak came in. Slotting this accessory into the console
added another 4MB of RAM
, rendering these big titles playable and enhancing the performance of others.
Today, an Expansion Pak still holds value even if it’s not sealed or complete-in-box, since it’s necessary to play some classic games on original hardware. That makes it more utilitarian than a pure collection piece.
N64 Rumble Pak
Release Year: 1997
We expect modern controllers to have a vibration feature built-in, but that was new and exciting technology in the mid-90s. The N64 controller couldn’t vibrate on its own, but instead had a peripheral slot where you could
insert the Rumble Pak
(sold separately, of course).
The Rumble Pak made games like
Star Fox 64
all the more exciting, but it also added a lot of weight to the top of the controller, making it unwieldy. Still, for many gamers it was the first glimpse of a feature that would become standard going forward.
Game Boy Camera
Release Year: 1998
The release of
Pokemon
brought the Game Boy back from the brink, and as the handheld’s ten-year anniversary approached new accessories were still being developed for it. Gadgets like the Game Boy Camera were little more than novelties, but they’re emblematic of Nintendo’s quirkiness.
A standard Game Boy Camera is usually pretty easy to come by, but true collectors will want to find a
limited-edition
Legend Of Zelda
gold version.
Only 2000 were made, and they were available by mail order from Nintendo Power Magazine. Obviously, they’re extremely rare, and
sell for thousands
when they surface.
NES Advantage
Release Year: 1987
The precursor to the modern arcade stick, the NES Advantage was a heavy joystick controller that
used both of the console’s ports
. Its standout feature was its
adjustable turbo buttons
, which allowed you to button-mash simply by holding A or B, and using the dials to set how fast you wanted the input to go.
Despite its name, the controller only provided an “advantage” on some titles, and even then it was more a matter of preference compared to the standard thumb controller. It does have a very satisfying weight to it, though, and if you just want to try it out
a loose unit is fairly inexpensive.
Game Boy Printer
Release Year: 1998
One of Nintendo’s weirder accessories, the Game Boy Printer used thermal paper to create low-resolution images. A few games were compatible with it, but it was mostly used with the Game Boy Camera, another peripheral for the aging handheld.
The Game Boy Printer is a fun addition to a retro gamer’s collection, but if you’re lucky enough to get a sealed unit, it
could be worth getting it graded
if it’s in good shape.. Highly-graded Printers have sold for
around $1500
when they’ve turned up in the past.
NES Zapper (Orange Version)
Release Year: 1988
The Zapper light gun is the
most iconic NES accessory
; you never forget the satisfying feeling of blasting targets in Duck Hunt, Hogan’s Alley, or my personal unappreciated classic of choice, To The Earth. The gray Zapper was part of the original NES package in North America, released in 1985, while the
orange version was available separately from 1988.
While both versions are easily available to collectors if you just want one out of the box, a
sealed or in-box orange Zapper
will cost a bit more to get your hands on than the original model. This is
likely because fewer were sold overall
; most NES owners had a gray Zapper that came with the console, and would only have bought an orange one if they needed a replacement or felt like dropping extra cash on the alternate color scheme.
Super Game Boy
Release Year: 1994
Long before the Switch merged a handheld and a home console into a single, convenient unit, the
Super Game Boy
(PAL version pictured above) astounded players by bringing their portable games to the TV screen – in color, no less! By slotting the SGB into a Super Nintendo console, then putting a Game Boy cartridge into the SGB, you could
play the game without having to squint over a two-and-a-half inch, non-backlit screen.
A few Game Boy games, notably the parallel release
Donkey Kong
had their own color palettes and custom borders preloaded onto the cartridge, while older games let players customize their look with four-color options. Best of all, it didn’t require batteries.
SNES Super Scope 6
Release Year: 1992
The Super Scope 6 was a great idea on paper; the Zapper had worked well for the NES, so why shouldn’t the Super NES have its own super light gun? Everything about the Super Scope went bigger; its design went from a pistol to a
shoulder-mounted bazooka
, and it was packed in with a cartridge that included six shooting games.
Developers weren’t keep on making games for the Super Scope, though, and only a handful of titles from the SNES’s extensive library ended up using it. A complete set, with the cartridge, gun, and all the components, is a pretty good find nowadays, though.