R.O.B.

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Robotic Operating Buddy

R.O.B.
Media type	Game controller
Capacity	It has: Height: 24cm/9.6inches Runs on 4 AA batteries Head movement range: 45° tilt, horizontally centered Arm movement range: 300° left/right (five stopping points), 7cm/2.75in up/down (six stopping points), 7cm/2.75in between hands when open Five accessory slots around the hexagonal base (numbered clockwise, starting at the left rear) and notches on the hands allow for specialized parts to be attached depending on the game. Optional tinted filter could be attached over the eyes to compensate for use with overly bright televisions.
Read mechanism	LED
Developed by	Nintendo
Usage	For the use of Nintendo's Robot Series

R.O.B. (Robotic Operating Buddy) is an accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released in July 1985 in Japan as the Famicom Robot and later that year in North America as R.O.B. It had a short product lifespan, with support for only two games which comprised the "Robot Series"; Gyromite and Stack-Up. R.O.B. was released with the intention of portraying the Nintendo Entertainment System as something novel in order to alleviate retail fears following the video game crash of 1983.^[1][2] R.O.B. was available in the Deluxe Set, a configuration for the console that included, among other things, R.O.B. and Gyromite. Stack-Up was purchased separately and included its own physical game pieces.

[edit] Operation

R.O.B. receives commands via optical flashes in the screen. Once it lights up, it is ready to receive six commands. R.O.B. only functions correctly when coupled with a CRT type television, much like the NES Zapper.

All the Robot series games included a test feature that sends an optical flash that should make R.O.B.'s LED light up. In Gyromite, Direct is a feature used to learn how to use R.O.B. or to play with R.O.B. without playing the game. Gyromite is a puzzle-platformer in which the character has to collect dynamite before the time runs out, with several red and blue pillars blocking his way. In Gyromite game A, the commands are made by pressing Start and then pushing the direction in which to move R.O.B., and using the A and B buttons to open and close his arms. If R.O.B. places a gyro on the red or blue button, it pushes the A or B button on the second NES controller, moving the pillar of the corresponding color. If both buttons need to be pressed at the same time, the gyros are placed in a spinner so that they will stay balanced on the button without R.O.B. holding it. Game B has the same controls, except that Start does not need to be pressed to make R.O.B. accept a command.

Stack-Up comes with 5 trays, 5 different colored blocks, and arms that the blocks fit into. In Direct, the player makes their block set up match with the one on screen by moving Professor Hector to the button that corresponds to the desired movement. In Memory, the player has to make a list of commands to make the shown block set up (R.O.B. follows the list after finishing). In Bingo, the player has to make the shown block set up (the color of the block didn't matter, however). There are two enemies, one which made the player lose a life and the other of which made R.O.B. perform undesired actions. Stack-Up, however, is a rare NES game, especially outside of the US. The Stack-Up accessories are some of the hardest to find amongst the NES's considerable number of accessories.^{[citation needed]}

R.O.B. in the Stack-Up Kit

R.O.B. in the Gyromite Kit

The two different variants of R.O.B, the "eyes" being the main difference

[edit] Appearances in media and reception

R.O.B. has appeared as a cameo character in various video games, such as Kirby's Dream Land 3, the WarioWare series, the Star Fox series, the F-Zero series, Startropics, and is found as a treasure in Pikmin 2. R.O.B. is also featured as an unlockable character in Mario Kart DS and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.^[3] In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, he acts as one of the game's antagonist, the Ancient Minister, for most of the game's single player mode.^[4]

The creation and marketing of R.O.B. as a "Trojan horse" after the video game market saturation of 1983 was named the fifth in GameSpy's top twenty-five smartest moves in gaming history.^[1][2] However, ScrewAttack called R.O.B. the fifth-worst game peripheral ever, citing that it only moved up and down and side to side, was noisy and slow, was nearly impossible to put together by yourself, and specifically noted the lack of games you could play with it.^[5]

[edit] References