The NES at 40: Seven ways it changed the gaming world forever

engadget.com:

Nothing will make you feel old like the anniversary of a much loved gaming console. Perhaps none more so than the 40th birthday of the Nintendo Entertainment System (or the Famicom as it was known for its 1983 Japanese debut).

Having launched in the very same year that the games industry crashed, Nintendo faced an uphill battle to make what would become the NES a commercial success. But we all know what happens next. Nintendo, through some shrewd decisions, creative talent and maybe just a dash of luck would become a console gaming right up to this very day. But it all starts with an unassuming beige and red box that two years later would become the retro-futuristic gray box that we all know and love.

Here are seven gaming legacies that Nintendo’s first home console gave to the world.

It’s hard to imagine now, but there was a time where game controllers were almost as unique as the console they were connected to. As wild as it might sound, the NES was the first home console that sported the humble D-pad. The cross-style design would become a standard on controllers to this day.

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Like all good inventions, it was born out of necessity. Nintendo’s early Game & Watch handhelds needed a control system that was pocket-friendly. A tiny joystick was impractical, plus the company wanted something more reliable than the four directional buttons some systems experimented with. Cue a little bit of design magic and the iconic D-pad as we know it was born.

The design was so effective that it was