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Power Pad

 
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The Power Pad (known in Japan
Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
 as Family Trainer, and in Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 and briefly in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 as Family Fun Fitness) is a floor mat game controller for the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System

The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe and Australia in . In most of Asia, including Japan , the Philippines, China, Vietnam and Singapore, it was released as the ....
. It is a gray mat with twelve pressure-sensors embedded between two layers of flexible plastic.






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Nespowerpad
The Power Pad (known in Japan
Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
 as Family Trainer, and in Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 and briefly in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 as Family Fun Fitness) is a floor mat game controller for the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System

The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe and Australia in . In most of Asia, including Japan , the Philippines, China, Vietnam and Singapore, it was released as the ....
. It is a gray mat with twelve pressure-sensors embedded between two layers of flexible plastic. It was originally developed by Bandai.

Bandai first released the accessory in 1986 as the Family Trainer pack for the Famicom
Nintendo Entertainment System

The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe and Australia in . In most of Asia, including Japan , the Philippines, China, Vietnam and Singapore, it was released as the ....
 in Japan, and later released in the United States under the name Family Fun Fitness. Soon after its American release, Nintendo bought the rights for it and rereleased it in 1988 as the Power Pad, along with the game World Class Track Meet, which was a rebranding of an earlier game.

The accessory is laid out in front of the video display for various games, generally plugged into the second controller port, with players stepping on the large buttons to control gameplay. There are two illustrated sides to the pad: Side A, which is rarely used, has eight buttons, while side B has twelve buttons numbered from 1-12.

Games using the Power Pad often test players on their timing and coordination, memory, "running" speed, or allow them to play music with their steps. Games such as Dance Dance Revolution
Dance Dance Revolution

Dance Dance Revolution, stylized DanceDanceRevolution, abbreviated DDR, and previously known as Dancing Stage in PAL territories until the announcement of Dance Dance Revolution X, is a long-standing music video game series produced by Konami....
 can trace the lineage of their control mechanisms back to the Power Pad (see dance pad
Dance pad

A dance pad, also known as a dance mat or dance platform, is a flat electronic game controller used for input in dance games. Most dance pads are divided into a 3?3 matrix of square panels for the player to stand on, with some or all of the panels corresponding to directions or actions within the game....
).

Revival

It was recently announced by Namco Bandai Games
Namco Bandai Games

is a Japan arcade game and home video game producer which is the product of a merger between Bandai's video game division and Namco's video game division of the original Namco Bandai Games is a wholly owned subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings and specialises in production and sales of home video games and arcade games....
 that the Power Pad will see a reappearance for the Wii
Wii

The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo. As a History of video game consoles console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3....
. This version of the pad will also work in conjunction with the Wii Remote
Wii Remote

The Wii Remote is the primary Game controller for Nintendo's Wii console. A main feature of the Wii Remote is its Motion detection capability, which allows the user to interact with and manipulate items on screen via movement and pointing through the use of accelerometer and technology....
. It will be released as Active Life: Outdoor Challenge in North America (known as Family Trainer Athletic World in Japan and Family Trainer in Europe) in 2008.

Compatible games

There are 11 games in total which were created for use with the Power Pad. All but one of them were developed and published by Bandai, though some of them were rebranded and republished by Nintendo. The following is a list of all games that were developed and released for the Power Pad:

See also

  • Bandai
    Bandai

    is a Japanese toy making company, as well as the producer of a large number of plastic model kits. It is the world's third largest producer of toys. Some ex-Bandai group companies produce anime and tokusatsu programs....
  • Dance pad
    Dance pad

    A dance pad, also known as a dance mat or dance platform, is a flat electronic game controller used for input in dance games. Most dance pads are divided into a 3?3 matrix of square panels for the player to stand on, with some or all of the panels corresponding to directions or actions within the game....
  • List of Nintendo Entertainment System accessories
    List of Nintendo Entertainment System accessories

    The array of accessories designed and released for the Nintendo Entertainment System is considerable....


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