NES controller

The game controllers for the Nintendo Entertainment System of the 1980s were brick-like, and had a very simple configuration. No L or R buttons, or Z buttons, or multiple colored buttons, it consisted of a cross-shaped directional pad, two red buttons labeled B and A (in that order), a Start button, and a Select button. Its simple nature often forced game developers to use combinations of buttons for certain game functions, such as B and A pressed together to make a character jump, or Up and A to make a ship fly faster, etc. The controllers were incredibly sturdy, standing up to the kinds of beatings that make newer controllers shatter into multiple jagged fragments, something of a necessity in the days of the awesomely difficult Nintendo game library.

For other controllers and accessories for the NES, see List of NES accessories.