From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The U-Force was a game controller made by Brøderbund for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It employed a pair of perpendicular infrared sensor panels to translate the user's hand movements into controller signals.

From a print advertisement circa 1989^[1]:

Introducing U-Force, the revolutionary controller for your Nintendo Entertainment System. So hot, no one can touch it. Now you can feel the power without touching a thing. It's U-FORCE from Broderbund - the first and only video game controller that, without touching anything, electronically senses your every move, and reacts. There's nothing to hold, nothing to jump on, nothing to wear, U-Force creates a power field that responds to your every command--making you the controller. It's the most amazing accessory in video game history - and it will change the way you play video games forever. It's the challenge of the future. U-Force. Now nothing comes between you and the game.

Reception

The U-Force was ranked the eighth worst video game controller by IGN editor Craig Harris.^[2] ScrewAttack put it on the top of their list of the worst game peripherals ever.^[3] MSN listed it as one of the top 10 worst game peripherals, writing "Second only to the Sega Activator in terms of all-out crappiness, the U-Force also used infrared sensors to create a truly nightmarish controller...'Don’t Touch' said the adverts for the device, in a rare example of an advertising campaign that got it spot on."^[4]

In their list, ScrewAttack specifically cited the fact that there was no specifics as to what you could do with the U-Force. As a result, it was impossible to use even with the flight stick attachment packaged with the U-Force.

References

1. ^ [1] Original advertisement
2. ^ "Top 10 Tuesday: Worst Game Controllers". IGN. 2006-02-21. http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/690/690449p1.html. Retrieved 2009-08-07.  
3. ^ ScrewAttack (May 8, 2007). "The Best and Worst Gaming Peripherals". GameTrailers. http://www.gametrailers.com/player/19276.html. Retrieved Dec. 13, 2009.  
4. ^ "U-Force". MSN. http://tech.uk.msn.com/gaming/gallery.aspx?cp-documentid=149506348&imageindex=9. Retrieved 23 September 2009.  

From Wikia Gaming, your source for walkthroughs, games, guides, and more!

U-Force
Creator	Broderbund
System	NES
Supported games
Release date
Inputs	Flight Stick
Rarity

The U-Force is an accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System made by Broderbund. It employed 2 large infrared sensors and a series of switches allowing the user to program it to recognize movements across the sensors as button presses and send those corresponding signals to the NES.

The U-Force also featured an attachable controller with handles and the A and B buttons. Below the buttons were infrared sensors.

From a print advertisement circa 1989:

"Introducing U-Force, The Revolutionary Controller For Your Nintendo Entertainment System. So Hot, No One Can Touch It. Now you can feel the power without touching a thing. It's U-FORCE from Brøderbund--the first and only video game controller that, without touching anything, electronically senses your every move. And reacts. There's nothing to hold, nothing to jump on, nothing to wear, U-FORCE creates a power field that responds to your every command--making you the controller. It's the most amazing accessory in video game history--and it will change the way you play video games forever. It's the challenge of the future. U-FORCE. Now nothing comes between you and the game."