Retro Gaming Technologies Released Before Their Time

Barence writes "Motion-sensing golf game controllers that appeared 20 years before the Nintendo Wii and the 1980s handheld console that operated on solar power are just two of the gems unearthed in this article about retro gaming secrets. Davey Winder has delved into his extensive personal collection of retro hardware to unveil the first handheld console to play '3D games' from 1983, 'the most realistic "gun" game controller ever produced' from way back in 1972, and the device that offered multiplayer computerized Scrabble almost 30 years before the iPad."

Re:Leo Laporte

[WED Fan]

Yeah, and he puts his byline on his writing, too. Yeah, what a tool.

Re:Analog joysticks

[WED Fan]

I hate to do it...wait, no I don't...we used to build our own joysticks and wheel controllers, a few pots and pulleys. I think it was Byte magazine that ran an article that showed how to build a light pen for the Sinclair ZX81. Analog was nice.

Title of story is fucked up

[dangitman]

The title given to this slashdot story is weird on a couple of levels. Firstly, these devices weren't released "before their time," they were released at precisely their time. Moreover, "retro" refers to exactly the opposite of something that is ahead of its time, it refers to something that is a throwback to an earlier time.

Re:Analog joysticks

[Inner_Child]

The 5200 joystick wouldn't have been so bad if it would have just auto-centered! No, wait, it still would have been terrible...