Like any popular games console, the NES was host to some truly weird and wonderful accessories. Devices like the iconic Power Glove and the Brøderbund's U-Force tried to leverage the huge install base of Nintendo's system, but it's fair to say this was easier said than done and many of these products flopped at retail.
We assumed we'd seen all of the wacky peripherals released for the NES, but Nintendo Life reader Tony Johnson got in touch to share yet another – and it's one that is so obscure even he hasn't seen another example of it, and he actually owns one.
Take it away, Tony:
The Miya 2000 is a gaming peripheral for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was made in 1991 by a company called Miya Epoch, a group that made home golfing simulators and fishing tech.
The Miya 2000 was made for one game (Jack Nicklaus' greatest 18 Holes of Major Championship Golf). Its use? You use a real golf club and ball to play.
You connect the device up to both controller ports and a regular controller into the apparatus. You select everything with the controller, including the club you wish to use, place the ball on the plastic tee, and swing! A few seconds later the golfer on the screen will copy your movement, including the strength used to swing. The Miya 2000 works by plugging it into a wall socket, or by using 4xAA batteries.
It's actually based on a stand-alone device called the Miya Shot Analyzer. It basically tells you the speed of the ball, the distance it would have gone, and where you hit the ball, too.
Have you seen this device before? Perhaps you owned one as a kid? Let us know by posting a comment.
Comments 27
I remember when those were on the market. But then again, I've been alive for the entire evolution of video games.
You use a real ball to play? I'm confused...how does that work? Surely you didn't smack a golf ball round the house?! I'm older than this device yet have never seen or even heard of it.
@PoliticallyIncorrect
Well, here's hoping you don't see it crash for the second time and watch it outright die.
@B4L0R_CLUB - If you zoom in, the box says you can use a net. The photo has a net in front of player as well. I wonder if the net came with it?
Also, I wonder if you need a ball? It probably just has a sensor that measures the speed of the club. I doubt it's much more accurate than that.
Wow. Cool when rare accessories are found.
@Prizm Ah yes, I see the net now. Makes much more sense!
Someone in Japan made something similar for the Super Famicom, an infrared golf putter called the LaserBirdie. Only worked with the included golf game "Get in the Hole!".
Said byuu "How the h*** am I going to emulate this thing?"
@B4L0R_CLUB I see with the commas in the yard length, it must be a UK accessory.
Science has gone too far
@ImBackBB Ya, that really sucked. I remember it well.
The Miracle Piano was an accessory that also only worked with 1 game. But the company leveraged the costs by making it for different platforms, NES, SNES, Genesis, and PC.
I want to see a vid of it in action. Seems pretty cool but I doubt very accurate.
@PoliticallyIncorrect Gen-X! Apathetic fist bump.
@KingMike this is cancelled out by the American spellings of 'analyse' and 'computerised' on the box....!
@matdub It's too bad there aren't really any more arcades like when we were kids. Such great memories. Those were the best meeting grounds. A place where you could get together with your buds and plan the rest of the day. I feel the same as you about golf games and real golf as well! Peace!
Man, I actually owned this game (but not the accessory)
@Prizm I was under the impression you hit the ball, it makes that arm it's held onto move and that's how they measure the speed.
Lee Carvallo's Putting Challenge
I didnt put up a net. I played normally until it came to putting, and used a real putter. Screen flashes for a sec, then your character reacts, same strength of the swing.
This is how the creative process goes. Sometimes you just don't know what will take off. The Switch is a perfect example of a boom idea. I'm sure Nintendo was crossing their fingers when it launched
Wii Sports but in 1991. (The golf part at least)
@KingMike The comma is at the thousands place. It's referring to the yardage of 18 holes. Could be US or UK. Based on the game its for, I'd guess US.
@IcarusUnwinged I couldn't tell because I didn't notice the golf ball "0". Thanks.
Wish this article included a review of this. Was it good? Worth getting?
@NickDaddyCool it is good. Worth getting? Maybe because its so obscure, and an NES peripheral too.
Will try to answer anything i can on it.
@B4L0R_CLUB You do. You're supposed to put a net up so it catches the ball. I just used a putter. Much safer.
@KingMike there's a Japanese address in the manual, think there was an American one one the box
@AG_Awesome Working on it. First I want to make one showing the peripheral itself
@doctorhino you do. Thats a tee to hold the ball in place.
There is also a rarer version called Swing Tech golf simulator. Same everything including the box. Last I heard the miya and the Swing Tech golf simulator have less then 5 still around as of a few years ago. I'm lucky to own the Swing Tech golf simulator version.I don't know how to add a picture here so https://twitter.com/GamersGamie/status/1565494077633732609/photo/1
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