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I picked up an old controller that reminded me of the classic SNES or Sega Genesis six-button controllers, but I haven't been able to ID exactly what type of controller this is. I'd appreciate your help to figure out exactly what system(s) this controller would work with. Thanks!

controller

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    I had one of these. It's a super nintendo controller. The 6 middle toggles are turbo modes. There is an "OFF", "PRESS" and "AUTO" turbo mode for all of the buttons. I used to use this controller and spam low kicks by holding in the button and toggling "PRESS" turbo mode – FoxMcCloud Nov 10 '17 at 20:02
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    Would guess 3rd party super famicom from the button colors... which may account for why you're having trouble tracking it down. – Jared Smith Nov 10 '17 at 21:58
14

It's a "Blockbuster brand" SNES controller. They're apparently very rare. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be much information online besides that.

Blockbuster SNES Controller 1
(forum thread this came from)

Blockbuster SNES Controller 2
(Ebay listing this came from)

I found the first link by searching "snes fighting controller" and the second (after finding the first) by searching "snes blockbuster controller"

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  • Thanks for identifying the brand of controller and providing those links! – Timtech Nov 11 '17 at 20:42
15

Looks like a third party SNES controller.

First party ones look like this: Real controller

The port that it plugs into looks like this: Controller port

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  • Any clue what brand of third-party controller this would be? – Timtech Nov 10 '17 at 19:29
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    @Timtech it looks a lot like some ASCIIPad brand I keep seeing on google, except yours has the switches in the center horizontally placed and the extra L and R buttons. The ones on Google that have horizontal buttons don't have the extra L and R buttons. – Timmy Jim Nov 10 '17 at 19:36
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    That's a super famicom controller in your photo. The SNES had grey and purple buttons. – Jared Smith Nov 10 '17 at 21:56
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    @JaredSmith No, later editions of the SNES used the colours as well, as did all of the versions in some countries. (Our one, purchased in Australia in late 1993, was marketed as SNES not Super Famicom.) Check the photo caption here: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Nintendo_Entertainment_System – Margaret Nov 11 '17 at 18:49
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    @Margaret I didn't realize it was regional other than Japan, I've never seen one with colored buttons in the US. – Jared Smith Nov 11 '17 at 22:24
10

This is a third party controller that - if I remember correctly - was designed for the SNES but also worked for the Sega Genesis (megadrive).

The switches in the middle were autofire cheats. If the switch was on, then the controller would automatically and repeatedly trigger the corresponding button, so you didn't have to hammer your controller.

Asciipad is a brand that does similar controllers:

https://www.amazon.com/Super-Nintendo-Turbo-Controller-AsciiPad/dp/B000W3ZDXO

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  • That explains the strange position of the L and R buttons. – Taladris Nov 11 '17 at 8:35
  • This appears to be incorrect. The L/R buttons are beneficial for fighting games. It has nothing to do with Genesis. – BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft Nov 11 '17 at 21:13
  • I am very unhappy with the term ‘autofire cheats’. A cheat is something that I enter into the game to modify it. The turbo functions ‘only’ overcome the limitations of human slowness. In the Japanese speedrunning community, controllers using turbo functions are typically endorsed (while most western speedrunning communities ban them if they weren’t present on the original hardware). – Jan Nov 12 '17 at 14:25
  • @Jan Different game communities take opposing stances on autofire / bumpfire cheats, but they are designed to give an unfair edge in multiplayer games which is why most would consider them to be "cheats". – Timtech Nov 12 '17 at 21:38

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