Source: GamePro – Issue Number 33 – April 1992
These days it seems that third party controllers only exist so that people can buy cheap, crappy replacements. First party controllers, though expensive, seem to always be the best. Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo seem to have finally perfected the controller.
However, this wasn’t always the case. Third party controller used to, at least in many cases, improve upon the quality of the OEM controllers. In addition, they also offered additional features not found on first party controllers. These features ranged from more buttons to turbo to wireless capabilities (first party controllers were always wired back in the day) and much more.
The controllers featured in this ad are some that I have never heard of. This leads me to believe that they never really caught on. Perhaps because in this case their quality wasn’t so great or maybe it’s just because they were ugly. In any case, they do offer some rather unique features.
This ad is from the April 1992 issue of GamePro and features the Triton pad TRI-1000 series of controllers. While the advertisement isn’t terribly specific, the fact that the ad mentions Nintendo and Sega and the photo features three controllers probably means that these controllers were for the Super NES, NES (notice the middle one has fewer buttons), and Genesis (black to match that console).
The ad mentions five specific features. The first and main feature is that it is programmable, meaning you can essentially record a series of moves and button presses, up to 9 in this case. This leads into the next set of features, most of which involve playback of those recorded control movements. The first is called “Repeat” which repeats the controls that you have recorded. The second is called “Shrink” (though I’m not clear how this name relates to the function) which allows you to replay a program at Turbo or Super Turbo speeds. Third is the “Hold” feature which allows you to “Play your moves while the Triton Pad repeats programmed maneuvers”. I’m also not clear on exactly what that means or how it is different from the first feature. In any case, the main point is that you can record a series of controls and play them back in different ways. The final feature is a rapid fire feature which was a common capability of almost every third party controller at the time.
I don’t know how well these features worked but I could imagine they would be useful for doing things like repeating special moves easily. The fact that I have never heard of them may mean that they didn’t work so well. Having never used one I can’t say for sure but they are certainly interesting controllers. There used to be quite a bit of variety in controllers (anybody remember the Power Glove?). These days it’s pretty boring. The only choices seem to be the latest Dual Shock controller (or Microsoft/Nintendo equivalents) or a cheap knockoff.
