Matt Mechtley - keepin' it real
“I love the Power Glove. It’s so bad.”
When Lucas Barton uttered those immortal words in the 1989 movie The Wizard it made every single Nintendo fan on the face of the planet want one.
The reality was a little less impressive, but thankfully modder Matt Mechtley is ensuring that this iconic peripheral isn’t forgotten; he’s tinkered around with it to add additional functionality, although he’s yet to actually code any programs that take advantage of it.
Matt had this to say:
It's been 20 years now since Mattel released the Power Glove, in 1989. Especially in the last few years, the availability of sophisticated sensing equipment to hardware hackers has grown by leaps and bounds. Technology like programmable microcontrollers, accelerometers, and Bluetooth are readily available - and cheap. In short, the time is ripe to re-make the Power Glove - and make it right.
Amen to that. Nintendo fandom salutes you, Matt!
1. Corbie
07 Apr 2009, 11:07 BST
I dug mine out a few months back and you're right, it's as bad now as it ever was. What piece of junk.
2. TwilightV
07 Apr 2009, 11:12 BST
They should make commercials for VC games. They could use the slogan: Now Your Playing With Power: Old School Power! I can almost guarantee downloads will increase. XD
3. Mopsical
07 Apr 2009, 11:18 BST
The Power Glove is back from the dead! EVERYBODY PANIC!!! SIRENS
4. pHaT-aNt_
07 Apr 2009, 11:31 BST
Pretty much the most iconic hardware in the entire gaming history, how on earth did it ever get released?!
5. Big A2
07 Apr 2009, 11:38 BST
"They should make commercials for VC games. They could use the slogan: Now Your Playing With Power: Old School Power! I can almost guarantee downloads will increase."
Not like it'll ever happen. However, I once mentioned somewhere on the interent that the slogon should be "Now your playing with power, AGAIN!"
6. goldwyvern
07 Apr 2009, 11:40 BST
@4 because they knew the best speed metal/video game cover band ever would take the product's name.
look up the band powerglove now
7. chunky_droid
07 Apr 2009, 12:51 BST
The Power Glove is like the only NES peripheral that evades me, I'll have to look up E-Bay now
8. Ren
07 Apr 2009, 14:22 BST
interesting how it basically could do what it was supposed to now with a wii remote strapped to it - especially one with Motion +. It'll be cool to get one and embed a remote in it just for the nostalgia.
9. thewiirocks
07 Apr 2009, 15:45 BST
The funny part is that it's not that the Power Glove was such a horrible idea. In fact, it was very popular in VR circles of the time. (I still have my parallel port converter that I built!) The biggest problem with the Power Glove was that it was a 3D input device trying to make a go of it in a 2D world. When playing games in 2D, the device simply wasn't that useful. (Ok, so point left to go left, right to go right, twitch your fingers for buttons... GAH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?! Center, center, center...)
If there had been more games designed with the Power Glove in mind, it might have been a more interesting peripheral. Unfortunately, the library pretty much started and ended at Super Glove Ball. Which was exceedingly boring. Worse yet, it proved that the NES just wasn't a powerful enough system to be contemplating 3D. That would have to wait until at least the next generation and something called the SuperFX chip...
10. Kawaiipikachu
07 Apr 2009, 16:20 BST
I have heard of it a few years ago but only recently I learns that it uses simaluar priciple to the Wii Remotes sensor technology.
11. Lode Runner
07 Apr 2009, 20:12 BST
Cool I want a Power Glove too
.
12. Kid_A
08 Apr 2009, 21:24 BST
I still don't really know what it did, exactly. But it sure looks pretty badass!
13. JRAPOCALYPSE
10 Apr 2009, 15:01 BST
The power glove looked cool with it's old school sleek design but just could not perform to save it's life (as mine sits in a box) but then again the U-FORCE was no better! but nintendo was way ahead of time and everybody else with their crazy designs and peripherals! who ever played a game with a robot back then but us and nintendo? (rob) i still play with my rob the robot and gyromite because i just do not see that game coming to vc without rob......rob should make a come back.
14. Mike
12 Apr 2009, 19:30 BST
A complete piece of junk. I tried it at friends house once, and wow was it a pain to use. Love the Angry Video Game Nerd's review of it.
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