Power Glove

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Japanese Nintendo Power Glove, manufactured by PAX

The Power Glove (1989) is a controller accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System designed by the team of Grant Goddard and Sam Davis for Abrams/Gentile Entertainment, made by Mattel in the United States and PAX in Japan. Contrary to popular belief, Nintendo wasn't involved in the design or release of this accessory, though it officially licensed the product. It was the first peripheral interface controller to recreate human hand movements on a television or computer screen. ^[1]

The glove had a traditional D-pad on the forearm as well as a program button and buttons labeled 0-9. A person would hit the program button and a numbered button to do various things (such as increase or decrease the firing rate of the A and B buttons). Along with the controller, a gamer could move his or her hand in various movements to control a character on-screen.

It was based on the patented technology of the VPL Dataglove, but with many modifications that allowed it to be used with slow hardware and sold at an affordable price. Where the Dataglove could detect yaw, pitch and roll, used fiber optic sensors to detect finger flexure and had a resolution of 256 positions (8 bits) per 5 fingers, the Power Glove could only detect roll, and used sensors coated with conductive ink yielding a resolution of 4 positions (2 bits) per 4 fingers. ^[2] This allowed the Power Glove to store all the finger flexure information in a single byte. ^[3]

Only two games were released with specific features for use with the Power Glove, Super Glove Ball, and Bad Street Brawler, a difficult to control beat 'em up, playable with the standard NES controller, but allowing exclusive moves with the glove. These two games were branded as part of the "Power Glove Gaming Series". Two more games, Glove Pilot and Manipulator Glove Adventure, were announced but never released. Super Glove Ball was never released in Japan. Since no games ever retailed in Japan, the Power Glove was sold only as an alternative controller. This decision damaged sales and eventually caused PAX to declare bankruptcy.

[edit] References in popular culture

In The Wizard, Lucas Barton is a kid who likes using the Power Glove. He is particularly known for his line: "I love the Power Glove...it's so bad."
In the movie Beethoven one of the main characters is seen playing Super Mario Bros. 3 with the power glove.
The "Power Glove" is the name of a Legend of Zelda item that appeared in A Link to the Past, but it is otherwise unrelated.
In the Internet-based show Pure Pwnage, one of the villains always wears a Power Glove on his right hand and uses it for attacking.
In the song "Cutsman" by HORSE the band, references to the Power Glove are made in the intro and outro of the song.
In video game based cartoon Captain N: The Game Master, the Power Glove served as an all-knowing deity.
"Power Glove" is the name of a song by the Indie/Alternative band The In-Betweens.
Isaiah Triforce Johnson wore a Power Glove when he became the first person to purchase a Wii in North America. Nintendo's President Reggie Fils-Aime was there to shake his gloved hand.^[4]
Dancers in the music video for Le Tigre's Deceptacon are wearing Power Gloves.
In the "Saw 2" parody used for X-plays' "Top ten scariest games of all time" episode, hosts Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb are strapped with power gloves set to explode unless they name all ten games.
In Chugworth Academy, Sally received a Power Glove as a gift from her boyfriend Kiyoshi.
James Rolfe, The Angry Video Game Nerd, has reviewed the Power Glove, claiming some of the games were almost unplayable with it. He also uses the Power Glove in his review of the Nightmare on Elm Street video game. Ironically, though, he was able to land on the aircraft carrier in Top Gun using the glove, a near-impossible feat.
In "A Nightmare on Elm Street: Freddy's Dead", one of the characters named Spencer (who was a video game junkie), passes out on a couch while watching a broken television and ends up being sucked into a video game created by Freddy. During one of the stages, he falls into a deathtrap. Characters John and Tracy both attempt to save Spencer, by unplugging Freddy's controller. However, they fail to save Spencer when Freddy reveals that he has a Nintendo-style "Power Glove", which in the end uses it to knock Spencer over the edge which caused him to fall to his death.
The Japanese Singer Momoi Halko often is photographed wearing the Power Glove, for album covers or other occasions.^[5]
The Power Glove can be seen on the cover of the 2005 Mindless Self Indulgence album You'll Rebel To Anything; as well various other game controllers.