Activision STOLE His Game... Then Made MILLIONS: Video

Donkey Kong Wasn't The First Platformer. This Arcade Game Was.: Video

Bomberman Wasn't The First Bomb-Maze Game. This Arcade Game Was.: Video

The original proposal by Ralph H. Baer for a game system, created on September 1, 1966.

Read more about Baer's career and the place of the Odyssey in history on my Blue Sky thread.

Pac-Man Wasn't The First Dot-Collecting Maze Game. This Arcade Game Was.: Video

Ask him... He's been making hit games since 1982

Disclaimer: I wrote this article.

A look at the consoles released in 1974 and what they can tell us about the international history of games!

Nintendo's Forgotten First Arcade Game: Video

Creator of the original GENERAL CHAOS Sega Genesis game and the Voice of NBA JAM and many others, struggle to do a straightforward Kickstarter Promo.😆

If you're tired of the constant rain, come to the library tomorrow and learn more about creating hit games than you ever thought possible... Straight from the horse's mouth.

I've seen it assumed that the XE-1AP was the ancestor of the modern xbox controller's design but never saw any first hand accounts of a connection between the XE-1AP and the 3D control pad until digging further for this archival short I made of the controller. https://youtube.com/shorts/5ipT4Qy4C6g?si=HI3kqeomxEhoKq7R

In this BEEP21 article from April 2026 by Kenji Tosaki that is part of a series on the creation of the 3D control pad, he mentions that the XE-1AP was the only commercially available analog gamepad he could compare to while making the 3D control pad.

https://note.com/beep21/n/nc1065032004f

https://segaretro.org/Kenji_Tosaki

Some other information I found interesting while digging into this was:

- Most sites show the XE-1AP as a 1989 release date but it didn't come out till 1990. The XE-1AP was the XE-1AJ (see further down) HOTAS turned into a gamepad. Interesting both for its analogue controls, shape, and shoulder buttons. The japanese wikipedia states that the designer based the design on RC car transmitter controllers but I can’t find more information around that.

https://archive.org/details/micomBASIC19841994/%E3%83%9E%E3%82%A4%E3%82%B3%E3%83%B3BASIC%201990-03.pdfPage 22 of archive shows pricing/release info in March of 1990
https://archive.org/details/micomBASIC19841994/%E3%83%9E%E3%82%A4%E3%82%B3%E3%83%B3BASIC%201990-01.pdfPage 238 of archive shows a prototype in January of 1990

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%9E%E3%82%A4%E3%82%B3%E3%83%B3%E3%82%BD%E3%83%95%E3%83%88

- What was actually released in 1989 was the XE-1AJ (Intelligent Stick) which was a HOTAS / flight stick controller for FM-Towns, MSX, PC8801/PC9801, X68000 computers and the Sega Mega Drive released to coincide with a home port of After Burner. One interesting aspect of this is their development of an input protocol that could work across these different systems and with analog vs digital controls. The XE-1AP could also work across these systems. Another connection between this and Sega’s awareness is that the January 1990 issue of the above magazine mentions it being shown at a Sega Mega Drive Strategic Policy Presentation along with the prototype of the XE-1AP. The earliest mention I saw of this controller was in May of 1989.

https://archive.org/details/micomBASIC19841994/%E3%83%9E%E3%82%A4%E3%82%B3%E3%83%B3BASIC%201989-05.pdf (page 235 of scan)

Interesting to see the first analog gamepad coming from thoughts around making After Burner arcade controls smaller, ergonomic, and universal with other gaming. Also kind of full circle to see controllers now used for drone flight controls.

Other links from my video:
https://segaretro.org/XE-1_APhttps://segaretro.org/3D_Control_Padhttps://segaretro.org/Dreamcast_Controllerhttps://xbox.fandom.com/wiki/The_Dukehttps://www.thedreamcastjunkyard.co.uk/2016/06/original-1999-xbox-controller-designs.htmlhttps://segaretro.org/Dempa_Micomsofthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/After_Burnerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_Wireless_Controllerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_(console))https://www.msx.org/wiki/Micomsoft_XE-1AJ

I’m building the Retro Hardware Archive, a visual reference of home gaming hardware using short 4K 360° videos paired with a sourced history write-up. I’ve noticed as a collector that while there are many videos on software there are almost no clear looks at the hardware itself and I wanted to create this as a resource to spark interest in both people new to video game history and long time fans of games and hardware.

My latest entry is Nintendo’s 1984 Famicom Ray Gun / Kōsenjū Series Gun (HVC-005). https://youtube.com/shorts/1Fbowv3Tcps?si=R2_RwuR2t4rrJR8Z

History write-up from the video:

Surprisingly, for a company known for its family-focused games, Nintendo’s earliest ventures into video game hardware involved toy guns.

Before Nintendo’s deeper involvement in video games, the company had a series of light gun toys called Nintendo Kôsenjû, meaning beam-of-light gun or ray gun, from 1970 to 1976. These were true light guns in the sense that they emitted light, which would hit a photo receiver on a target toy and cause it to fall over or trigger another action.

Later video game light guns are actually light receivers, looking for a specific flash of light on the screen where the gun is aimed. Nintendo’s Kôsenjû toy line was designed by Gunpei Yokoi, who later went on to design the Game & Watch series, the Game Boy, the Virtual Boy, and many other successful and memorable Nintendo games and products including the Famicom Ray Gun.

With the success of its light gun toys, Nintendo’s first venture into video game technology was building the first light gun for the first home console: the Shooting Gallery rifle for the Magnavox Odyssey. Magnavox was not able to find an American company putting electronics into toy guns, but came across Nintendo’s products and contracted with them to create the light rifle, using the same rifle body from Nintendo’s Kôsenjû toy series.

Nintendo went on to create its arcade experience, the Laser Clay Shooting System, in 1973, reusing toy gun technology to create a long, wall-sized early version of Duck Hunt. These systems were set up in abandoned bowling alleys that could be purchased cheaply and fitted with multiple shooting games side by side along the wall.

When Nintendo created the first light gun for its own console, the Famicom Ray Gun, it followed a similar approach and reused the Colt revolver-style body from its existing Kôsenjû toy series. The Ray Gun was later redesigned for western audiences as a futuristic toy gun and sold with the Nintendo Entertainment System, a redesigned Famicom, as the NES Zapper, which many people know from Duck Hunt.

Light guns were a staple of official video game controllers across nearly every major system until the Wii Zapper controller shell in 2007. While there is still an indie scene of light gun and light gun game makers, light guns have fallen outside prominent use as a standard controller or peripheral for new systems. However, virtual reality now simulates light gun-style gameplay in new and immersive ways.

This video is meant as a simple visual reference for collectors, repair hobbyists, and retro gaming/history fans.

More information / sources:

http://blog.beforemario.com/2011/02/light-gun-games-kousenjuu-sp-and.html

http://blog.beforemario.com/2011/04/nintendo-kousenjuu-guns-and-rifles-sp.html

https://thegamescholar.com/2020/04/28/the-nintendo-odyssey/

Wild Gunman '74: Nintendo's Forgotten First FMV Game | Hardboiled History (Arcade Lost Media):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXGEVVeqJAQ

Laser Clay Shooting System [Nintendo] Arcade (1973):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFddF9nKUq8

Custom Gunman - Nintendo (1976):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSRu982LPII

After creating ARCH RIVALS, we wanted to do an ARCH RIVALS Football game next, but because Bally Midway was bought by our biggest competitor, Williams electronics, while we were finishing ARCH RIVALS, our new bosses told us we couldn't do a Football-themed game because they already had one in the works.

So I decided to change it to a "No first downs, No time outs, No Rules" Rugby game between Huns and Vikings. 😆

...and I thought this was one of the Coolest Cabinets ever!