Nintendo has always been patent heavy – obtaining them on every idea they have ever had. Which is probably a good idea which you’ll see in a moment. Presented for your enjoyment are some of the Weird and Recognizable Nintendo Patents.

First up we have a Famicom to NES Adaptor. It looks that perhaps Nintendo mulled the idea of accomidated imported Famicom games for play on the NES. I suspect this didn’t fly as the final tray design probably wouldn’t accomidate the Famicom cartridges well. 3rd party unlicensed vendors eventually found a work around. View the full patent HERE.

This next one should be recognizable by any Nintendo fan. Clearly its the patent for the Nintendo NES Advantage joystick. At the time it offered what was probably the closest arcade experience you could get at home. Unfortunately the sticky buttons kinda ruined that. Read the patent HERE.

Anyone who has repaired a Nintendo NES will recognize this. It is the tray assembly and 72-pin connector. Live on you awesome piece of hardware! Full patent HERE.

Some might consider this patent to be one of Nintendo’s most important. This is a side view of the original D-Pad on the Nintendo NES control. Once issued no company in the United States could legally produce a similiar controller with a cross shaped D-Pad. That was until the patent expired and SEGA used it in the design of the Dreamcast controller. Read the patent HERE.

This one is obvious. It’s clearly the Game Boy. Full patent HERE.

Nintendo’s Rob the Robot was a great idea, but it never really caught on. This is actually their 2nd Robot Patent. 2nd patent HERE. First patent with the cyclops robot can be viewed HERE.

Here is an example of an unused patent. Well, sorta. This is actually the shell for the Super Famicom. Nintendo opted for a different design for the Super Nintendo. What’s really interesting is the dates in the patent. Clearly Nintendo was working on the Super NES for several years. Full patent HERE.