Power Glove
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{{short description|Controller accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System}}
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{{Infobox VG system
| title = Power Glove
| image = NES-Power-Glove.jpg
| caption = Power Glove, American model
| developer =
| manufacturer = Mattel (United States)
PAX (Japan)
| family =
| type = Game controller
| generation = Third generation era
| releasedate = {{vgrelease|NA| October 1989}}{{cite magazine | title=Popular Mechanics | page=106| first=Frank | last=Vizard | magazine=Popular Mechanics Magazine|date=October 1989 | volume=166 | issue=10 | issn=0032-4558 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g-MDAAAAMBAJ&q=Power+Glove+nintendo&pg=RA1-PA106 | access-date=15 March 2018 | quote=...Power Glove comes in two sizes, and is targeted at players between the ages of 8 and 14...}}
| discontinued = {{End date|1990}}
| lifespan = 1 year
| price = US$75 (Equivalent to $184 in 2023)
| unitssold =
| unitsshipped =
| media =
| os =
| power =
| soc =
| cpu =
| memory =
| storage =
| sound =
| input =
| controllers = 1 Crosshead A B Action Buttons Start Select Buttons Turbo Buttons
| connectivity = Serial port
| platform =
| service =
| dimensions =
| weight =
| compatibility = Nintendo Entertainment System
| successor =
| related =
}}
The Power Glove is a controller accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The Power Glove gained public attention due to its early motion control mechanics and significant marketing. However, its two games did not sell well, as it was not packaged with a game, and it was criticized for its imprecise and difficult-to-use controls.{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/tv/goodgame/stories/s2248843.htm|title=Backwards Compatible - The Power Glove|date=19 May 2008 |work=ABC website - Good Game|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)|access-date=2009-06-06}}
Development
The Power Glove was originally released in 1989.{{cite web|url=http://www.ageinc.com/tech/index.html|title=A.G.E. Tech|publisher=Abrams Gentile Entertainment|access-date=2009-05-13|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150525222703/http://www.ageinc.com/tech/index.html|archive-date=25 May 2015}} Though it was an officially licensed product, Nintendo was not involved in the design or release of the accessory. Rather, it was designed by Samuel Cooper Davis for Abrams/Gentile Entertainment (AGE), made by Mattel in the United States and PAX in Japan. Additional development was accomplished through the efforts of Thomas G. Zimmerman and Jaron Lanier, a virtual reality pioneer responsible for codeveloping and commercializing the DataGlove,{{cite web | title=History | url=http://www.laparoscopic.md/surgery/robotics/history.html | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081230194222/http://www.laparoscopic.md/surgery/robotics/history.html | archive-date=30 December 2008 | publisher=Scott Belsley, MD, FACS | access-date=16 December 2015}} who had made a failed attempt at a similar design for Nintendo earlier.
Mattel brought in Image Design and Marketing's Hal Berger and Gary Yamron to develop the raw technology into a functional product. They designed Power Glove over the course of eight weeks.{{cite news |last=Applegate |first=Jane |date=21 June 1991 |title=Putting a Design on Bigger Market Share |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-06-21-fi-1180-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times|access-date=2014-09-28 }}{{cite journal | journal=Design News | date=4 December 1989 | volume=45 | issue=23 | title=Inside story on: The power glove (Cover) | page=63 | url=http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/bibuxton/buxtoncollection/a/pdf/powerglove%20design%20news%20%20article.pdf | access-date=16 December 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://www.lumbroso.fr/lionel/03_Plume/RV/RV_Ch07.htm|title=La Réalité Virtuelle - Chapitre 7|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304025707/http://www.lumbroso.fr/lionel/03_Plume/RV/RV_Ch07.htm|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}} The Power Glove and DataGlove were based on Zimmerman's instrumented glove.{{cite web|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US4542291A/en|title=Patent US4542291A - Optical flex sensor}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} Zimmerman built the first prototype that demonstrated finger flex measurement and hand position tracking using a pair of ultrasonic transmitters. His original prototype used optical flex sensors to measure finger bending which were replaced with less expensive carbon-based flex sensors by the AGE team.{{cite web |title=Losing Their Grip: An Oral History of Nintendo's Power Glove |url=https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/91939/losing-their-grip-oral-history-nintendos-power-glove |first=Jake |last=Rossen |work=Mental Floss |date=22 February 2017 |access-date=11 February 2025}}
Design and functionality
The Power Glove is based on the patented technology of the VPL Dataglove, but with many modifications that allow it to be used with modestly performing consumer hardware and sold at an affordable price. Whereas the Dataglove can detect yaw, pitch and roll, uses fiberoptic sensors to detect finger flexure, and has a resolution of 256 positions (8 bits) per finger for four fingers (the little finger is not measured to save money, and it usually follows the movement of the ring finger), the Power Glove can only detect roll, and uses sensors coated with conductive ink; their analog signal is converted into two bits per finger.{{cn|date=April 2023}} yielding a resolution of four positions (2 bits) per finger for four fingers.{{cite web|url=http://mellottsvrpage.com/glove.htm|title=PowerGlove FAQ|last=Townsend|first=J. Eric|publisher=Mellott's VR|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306074503/http://mellottsvrpage.com/glove.htm|archive-date=6 March 2016|url-status=dead|access-date=17 December 2015}} This allows the Power Glove to store all the finger flexure information in a single byte.{{cite web|url=http://www.csun.edu/cod/conf/1993/proceedings/Glove~1.htm|title=1993 VR Conference Proceedings|year=1993|publisher=North Carolina State University|access-date=2009-05-13|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090707015732/http://www.csun.edu/cod/conf/1993/proceedings/Glove~1.htm|archive-date=7 July 2009}}
The design of the Glove was based on RoboCop from the 1987 film of the same name.
The glove has traditional NES controller buttons on the forearm as well as a program button and buttons labeled 0–9. The user presses the program button and a numbered button to input commands, such as changing the firing rate of the A and B buttons. Along with the controller, the player can perform various hand motions to control a character on screen.
Games
File:Power Glove on display at the Video Game Museum, Berlin.jpg
Two games were released with specific features for use with the Power Glove: Super Glove Ball, a faux-3D puzzle maze game; and Bad Street Brawler, a beat 'em up. Both games are playable with the standard NES controller, but include moves that can only be used with the glove. These two games are branded as part of the "Power Glove Gaming Series". Since no Power Glove-specific games ever retailed in Japan, the Power Glove was sold only as an alternative controller.
Two more games, Glove Pilot and Manipulator Glove Adventure, were announced but never released. Another unreleased game, Tech Town or Tektown, is a virtual puzzle solving game in which the player moved a robotic hand around a deserted space station type of setting, using the glove to open doors and to pick up and use tools. It can be seen in a sneak peek in the Official Power Glove Game Players Gametape.{{cite AV media|work=Official Power Glove Game Players Gametape|volume=1|issue=9|title=New Game Available|date=Spring 1991|type=VHS|url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=87bH9ugSStg |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/87bH9ugSStg |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}
The Power Glove was adopted by the emerging virtual reality community in the 1990s to interact with 3D worlds in a cheaper way to the popular high end DataGlove produced by VPL Research. REND386 was the bridging shareware software to support it.
Reception
The Power Glove sold nearly one million units and was a commercial success.{{cite magazine|last=Zachary|first=George|date=November 1996|title=Generator|url=https://archive.org/details/NextGeneration23Nov1996/page/n25|magazine=Next Generation|issue=23|page=24}} However, it generally received extremely poor reception, because the controls for the glove were incredibly obtuse, making it completely impractical for almost every game on the console. Only two games were specially constructed for the Power Glove, and many users had no practical use for it for other noteworthy games of its time.{{Cite web |date=2015-03-25 |title=How the Nintendo Power Glove Worked |url=https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/nintendo-power-glove.htm |access-date=2024-03-14 |website=HowStuffWorks |language=en-us}} Consumer complaints also noted the poor connection signal between the glove and the console, build quality of the materials, and high price point for 1989 (retail price was $100, approximately $250 in 2024).{{Cite web |title=The promise of the Nintendo Power Glove |url=http://www.acmi.net.au/stories-and-ideas/nintendo-nes-power-glove/ |access-date=2024-03-14 |website=www.acmi.net.au |language=en}}
In popular culture
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The Power Glove is featured in the 1989 film The Wizard, wielded by antagonist Lucas Barton (Jackey Vinson), who infamously declares, "I love the Power Glove{{snd}}it's so bad."{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/flashback-the-wizard-unveils-nintendos-power-glove-70404/ |title=Flashback: 'The Wizard' Unveils Nintendo's Power Glove |first=Andy |last=Greene |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=2015-05-28 |access-date=2023-08-19}}
In 2013, a documentary titled The Power of Glove was put into development.{{cite web|url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-07-13-the-power-glove-gets-its-own-feature-length-documentary|title=The Power Glove gets its own feature-length documentary|last=Matulef|first=Jeffrey|date=13 July 2013|work=Eurogamer|publisher=Gamer Network|access-date=6 August 2014}}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2013/07/power-glove-documentary/|title=There's a Nintendo Power Glove Documentary Coming (Yes, It Has a Wizard Reference)|date=11 July 2013|magazine=WIRED|last1=Watercutter|first1=Angela}} The film was released in 2019.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/09/feature_uncovering_the_unlikely_story_of_the_worlds_worst_controller_in_the_power_of_glove|title=Feature: Uncovering The Unlikely Story of the World's Worst Controller in the Power of Glove|last=McFerran|first=Damien|date=2019-09-19|website=Nintendo Life|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-09-22}}
The Power Glove was featured in the 2021 movie 8-Bit Christmas, and New York Times writer Calum Marsh describes the Power Glove's "awfulness" as what "sets the [film's] plot in motion".{{cite news |last=Marsh |first=Calum |date=2021-11-24 |title='8-Bit Christmas' Review: Now You're Playing With Power |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/24/movies/8-bit-christmas-review.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=2024-07-03}}
References
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External links
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{{Mattel}}
{{Nintendo Entertainment System}}
Category:Nintendo Entertainment System accessories