This Rare Nintendo Joystick Was Never Compatible With Nintendo Consoles – SlashGear

The YouTube channel Michael MJD, which produces videos about vintage computers, consoles, and software, gives a detailed look at the unique Nintendo joystick, pointing out just how unusual such a product is. “Nintendo is known for usually sticking to their own hardware,” the host says in a video breakdown of the Nintendo 3D1. “Occurrences of them branching out into other platforms are extremely rare.” However, the video notes that though the Nintendo 3D1 is a licensed Nintendo product, the golden seal of quality included, it wasn’t manufactured directly by Nintendo. Rather, it was produced by the Laral Group, a hardware company based in New York, which also made a pair of Nintendo-branded wireless headphones for PC around the same time.

The Nintendo 3D1 sold for $69.99 when it was released in 1997. Though the box it came in looked very much like other Nintendo products, its labeling made it clear that the device was for PC only and not Nintendo consoles. It also boasted that the joystick provided computer users “the maximum control your game allows,” including “3D rotation mobility” and “slide throttle control.” The device was primarily a flight stick as opposed to an arcade-style joystick or thumb stick you would use for traditional platformers, though you could switch modes to a more arcade-style configuration.

The joystick could bend in multiple axes and had four buttons on its handle, as well as four base buttons and a slide switch. Despite being made for Windows 95 and other PC platforms, it evoked the Nintendo 64 aesthetic, with its base the same black coloring as the Nintendo 64 console, and the stick the familiar shade of gray sported by the controller included with the console. The joystick was even branded with the iconic three-dimensional “N” logo of the Nintendo 64.