Have you ever said to yourself, "Wow, I love the Nintendo Switch, but I wish it was compatible with the Power Glove?" Yeah? No? Well, wonder no more why YouTuber Will It Work? managed to connect the infamous NES accessory to a Switch, and the results were amazing to say the least.
It will work? demonstrated that with an NES controller to USB adapter and some technical knowledge, it is possible to play games on the Nintendo Switch with the Power Glove accessory.
The video first shows gameplay for Pokémon Legends: Arceus, in which Will It Work? he can use the Power Glove to move the player character by moving the accessory in different directions.
The main event, however, is decidedly more impressive. It will work? features Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, which is played with the Power Glove while steering the kart as if holding a steering wheel. This is especially impressive given that Mario Kart Live uses real toy karts during gameplay.
Is the Power Glove really that bad?
It's remarkable that someone managed to get such an ancient device to work on modern hardware, but it's worth noting that for most people, connecting a Power Glove to a Nintendo Switch is far from a walk in the dark. A good portion of the YouTube video is devoted to the setup process, which is fascinating, but clearly requires some degree of programming knowledge to work properly.
This might be the best use of the Power Glove we've ever seen. The infamous peripheral turned heads in 1989 thanks to its unique look and premise. It literally fits like a glove and is one of the first examples of a motion controller peripheral to hit the market.
Still, despite being an official Nintendo controller (and heavily promoted by the company itself), the Power Glove certainly doesn't have the best reputation. The device setup process on the NES was rather obtuse, and impatient young gamers quickly realized that it just didn't work very well with most games, quickly reverting to those simpler rectangular controllers.
However, while notorious today, the Power Glove is certainly an iconic device in Nintendo's long history of hardware experimentation. And if nothing else, he's a charming and quirky controller who was perhaps a little too ahead of his time.