Mouse for original Nintendo NES console?

[TheBiRD | 137]

Hello everyone!  Ever see this?  What games it can be used with? Is it a mouse?! lol

 

[RH | 4,913]

I wouldn't call that a mouse but more of a track ball/roller ball.  I'd imagine it could be used for games like arkanoid or even a bowling or Golf game, though I've never heard/seen anything like this for an NES. 

Where'd you get it?  Any chance it was from a lot that could contain prototype hardware?  Also, what buttons does it have?  It looks like there's may be one.  This thing is... odd.

Edited March 6, 2023 by RH

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

I'm pretty certain that's not a mouse, as it doesn't have a ball on the bottom to be able to provide the movement data that a mouse would have (or, if it's not vintage, an optical sensor to do the same thing).  It really looks like one, but it absolutely cannot be.  However, it does appear to be an IR receiver for a pair of some sort of wireless controllers.  I can't say which for sure, but it doesn't match up to the ones that Acclaim came out with, nor Camerica, as I've got both of those, and their receivers are different.  Definitely a neat find, though!

[Nugfish | 652]

The NES has ALOT of crazy peripherals. It's always cool to see what was thrown at the wall and never stuck...

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

1 minute ago, RH said:

I wouldn't call that a mouse but more of a track ball/roller ball.  I'd imagine it could be used for games like arkanoid or even a bowling game, though I've never heard/seen anything like this for an NES.  Where'd you get it?  Any chance it was from a lot that could contain prototype hardware?  Also, what buttons does it have?  It looks like there's may be one.  This thing is... odd.

I don't think it's a trackball due to how big the round area is shown to be and the fact that it's not deep enough to be able to hold a ball that would be of that size/circumference.  Plus, it has plugs for both ports, which leads me to believe that it's an IR receiver for wireless controllers, most likely with a dark, smoked plastic over the ball portion, with the rest being glossy so as to reflect up at it, in case of a bad angle.  Not sure who made it, though, as the only "big time" wireless controllers I remember seeing back in the day were the Acclaim ones (single and double), and then the Camerica ones, but both of those featured totally different IR receivers.

[fcgamer | 4,729]

Unfortunately, I've got to agree with @darkchylde28 on this one. Looks like a receiver on my end as well.

On a different note, there were tons of mouses (mouse? mice?) for the Famicom. Different topic for a different day though.

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

9 minutes ago, fcgamer said:

On a different note, there were tons of mouses (mouse? mice?) for the Famicom. Different topic for a different day though.

Given that I've come across and picked up vintage, third-party Wiimote-esque motion controllers for the NES (not once, but twice), I have no difficulty in believing this.  What software were they used for?  I know there were similar looking single-handed controllers primarily meant to be used for RPGs (and own a couple, but don't have the time to dig them up nor the memory of who the manufacturers were to be able pull up photos from the web of the two that look similar to what OP posted about), but wasn't aware of any mice, nor anything that operated in such a manner.  Definitely a neat footnote in the history of the platform, though.

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

I dug through every result that would currently come up on eBay for "NES wireless receiver" and sadly couldn't find a match to what was in the first post, although I did discover 2-3 additional third party wireless controller setups that I wasn't previously aware of.

With that being said, what @fcgamer said started ringing bells in my head until I realized that the unit shown doesn't necessarily have to be for an NES, since the AV Famicom ended up using the same controller ports (and IIRC, is directly compatible with its US counterpart and all controllers that will plug into them).  I still believe this item to be a wireless receiver, but not necessarily one intended for the NES market.  Not that that helps us really narrow down exactly what it is, lol.  Sorry if I've inadvertently widened the scope of the search and/or made finding an answer that much more complicated.

[TheBiRD | 137]

very interesting, thank you everybody for your feedbacks!