R.O.B.

R.O.B. (Robotic Operating Buddy), released in Japan as the Family Computer Robot (ファミリーコンピュータ ロボット), is an accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It was launched in July 1985 in Japan, and October 1985 in North America. It had a short product lifespan, with support for only two games which comprise the "Robot Series": Gyromite and Stack-Up. R.O.B. was released with the intention of portraying the Nintendo Entertainment System as a novel toy in order to alleviate retail fears following the video game crash of 1983. R.O.B. is available in the Deluxe Set, a configuration for the console that includes, among other things, R.O.B. and Gyromite. Stack-Up is packaged separately and includes its own physical game pieces.

R.O.B. has also appeared as a cameo character in various video games.

Operation
R.O.B. receives commands via optical flashes in the screen. Once the screen lights up, R.O.B. is ready to receive six commands. Just like the NES Zapper, R.O.B. only functions correctly when coupled with a CRT (cathode ray tube) type of television. Both Gyromite and Stack-Up include a test feature, sending an optical flash that should make R.O.B.'s LED light up.

Hardware
The R.O.B. unit's height is 24 cm (9.6 in). It has a head movement range of a 45° horizontally centered tilt. The arm movement range is 240° left and right with five stopping points, 7 cm (2.75 in) up and down with six stopping points, and 7 cm (2.75 in) between hands when open. The unit has five accessory slots around the hexagonal base, numbered clockwise, starting at the rear-left from the robot's point of view; and notches on the hands allow for specialized parts to be attached for each game. The optional tinted filter can be attached over the eyes to compensate for overly bright televisions. The unit is powered by four AA batteries.

Games
R.O.B. can function only along with the two games comprising the Robot Series for the Nintendo Entertainment System: Gyromite and Stack-Up.

Gyromite
The Gyromite retail package consists of the following items: two claws for R.O.B.'s hands; two gyros (heavy spinning tops); two red and blue trays upon which the gyros will rest, causing buttons to be pressed on the second NES controller; one spinner motor for accelerating the gyros; and two black trays upon which the gyros are placed when not in use. Direct game mode is a feature used to learn how to use R.O.B. or to play with R.O.B. without playing the game. Gyromite is a puzzle-platformer in which the character has to collect dynamite before the time runs out, with several red and blue pillars blocking his way. In Game A, the commands are made by pressing START and then pushing the direction in which to move R.O.B., and using the A and B buttons to open and close his arms. If R.O.B. places a gyro on the red or blue button, it pushes the A or B button on the second NES controller, moving the pillar of the corresponding color. If both buttons need to be pressed at the same time, the gyros are placed in a spinner so that they will stay balanced on the button without R.O.B. holding it. Game B has the same controls, except that START does not need to be pressed to make R.O.B. accept a command.

Stack-Up
Stack-Up comes with five trays, five different colored blocks, and two claws worn by R.O.B. for grabbing the blocks. In the Direct game mode, the player makes their block stack match with the one on screen by moving Professor Hector to the button that corresponds to the desired movement. In Memory, the player has to make a list of commands to recreate the displayed block set up, and then R.O.B. follows the list afterward. In Bingo, the player makes the shown block stack, where the color of the block does not matter. There are two enemies: one causes the player lose a life, and the other makes R.O.B. perform undesired actions.

8-Bit X-Mas 2014
A limited release Christmas themed NES cartridge, 8-Bit X-Mas 2014 featured R.O.B. as a title screen character and interacted with R.O.B by making it 'dance' to christmas music. Released by independent homebrew developer Retrozone as part of its annual Christmas themed NES cartridges with blinking Christmas lights. The actual game on the cartridge, however, did not make use of R.O.B in any capacity.

Reception
The creation and marketing of R.O.B. as a "Trojan horse" after the North American video game crash of 1983 was named fifth in GameSpy's twenty-five smartest moves in gaming history. Yahoo ranked R.O.B. as one of the craziest video game controllers and noted the unfortunate fact that the gaming peripheral only worked with two games.

Legacy
R.O.B. has appeared as a cameo character in various video games, such as StarTropics, Kirby's Dream Land 3, the Star Fox series, the WarioWare series, the F-Zero series, the Super Smash Bros. series, and Viewtiful Joe; his head appears in Pikmin 2, called the Remembered Old Buddy. R.O.B. is featured as an unlockable character in Mario Kart DS and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, he is forced to act as one of the story mode's antagonists, and leaves R.O.B. as the last of his kind at the story's close. R.O.B. returns as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.