HANDS ON: Largest NES game controller earns Guinness World Records spot

Today Shiny Shiny and our sister site Tech Digest went along to London’s Liverpool Street Station to get some hands-on time with the daddy of all retro controllers. Read more about our (potentially) record breaking Tetris game and our interview with British electrical engineering student Ben Allen who put together the huge NES…

The Guinness World Record for the largest videogame controller on the planet has been broken! British electrical engineering student Ben Allen along with co-creators Stephen van ‘t Hof and Michel Verhulst put together a gigantic 12ft x 5ft 3 in x 1ft 8 in, 18 stone NES controller to take the title, a joypad so big it needs two people to operate!

“The idea basically came from a brainstorm,” said Allen.

“We were sitting around between lectures having a chat and a coffee, someone came up with the NES idea and we ran with it. From the conception to the completion of the controller took about six months, and after spending a lot of time planning, the actual build took about four weeks. There were lots of late nights, and lots of not sleeping! In fact, I even fell asleep on the controller for about half an hour one night!”

Showcasing the achievement at London’s Liverpool Street Station, Tech Digest and Shiny Shiny got some hands-on time with the daddy of all retro controllers. Though it takes some getting used to, the oversize buttons responded really well, pushing back against our hands with a satisfyingly spongy feel. Together we managed a respectable 67 lines on the NES version of Tetris, a potential record in itself on the unique controller.

The event was held in order to promote the release of the Guinness World Records Gamer’s Edition 2012, which also features other quirky gaming records like “Longest Gaming Session in Free-Fall” and “Largest Competitive Pokémon Videogame Family”. We can’t begin to imagine what the conversation around that family dinner table must be like!

“We’ve been burning the midnight oil like ninjas for the 2012 Gamer’s Edition: witnessing record attempts, talking to developers and playing as many videogames as we could handle.” said Guinness World Records Gaming Editor, Gaz Deaves.

“Gamers all over the world can finally get their hands on the result of our hard labour, and this year’s book packed with all the amazing records, facts and feats that they have a right to expect from Guinness World Records.”

Out on Thursday 19th January, the Guinness World Records Gamer’s Edition 2012 will be available from all good bookstores. And some rubbish ones too!