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Want to tell which generation a person grew up in? Hand them an N64 controller!

Meg Murphy May 22, 2015
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Released in 1996, the Nintendo 64 game console not only eventually gave us such hit titles as Mario Party and Super Smash Bros., but it also had one of the most unusual controllers of all time. You know the one: that three-pronged contraption with the d-pad on the left, A, B, and C buttons on the right, and the joystick in the middle.

Many of us grew up with those classics, and with many consoles still alive and kicking, even the younger generations are able to enjoy them today. But, did you know that you can tell who grew up in the N64 generation and who didn’t by the way they hold the controller?

Twitter user @roastpork193 relayed his surprise at seeing a young artist’s drawing of a person playing Super Smash Bros. on the Nintendo 64, because the person was drawn holding the controller in what is called the “Famicom position”.

ジェネレーションギャップって年上が年下に感じるのを眺めてるの楽しいんだけど、とある若いミリマス絵師が６４のスマブラやる絵を描いてる時、コントローラが純正じゃないのにも驚いたけどスマブラやる絵なのにナチュラルにファミコンポジションの持ち方で書いててｱ…ｱｱ…ってなりました

— ストーム叉焼 (@roastpork193) May 15, 2015

Here, you can see the three possible ways of holding the familiar albeit oddly-designed controller of yore. There’s the “right position”, “left position” (what?), and the “Famicom position”.

今の小学生に限らず物心付いた時からGCな高校生とかは６４コントローラ持たせると一番右の持ち方するんですかね… pic.twitter.com/H2JYtEI0rx

— ストーム叉焼 (@roastpork193) May 15, 2015

Famicom is the abbreviated form of Family Computer, which is what the Japanese call the original Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES. “Famicom position,” then, obviously refers to the way the original controllers (and, well, pretty much all controllers since then) were held.

Many other Twitterers jumped in, agreeing with @roastpork193:

“Smash Bros. is played in the right position”

“All I ever played was Zelda and Hey You, Pikachu!, so I automatically hold it in the right position”

“I’ve only played Mario Kart, so right position seems normal to me”

True, to those who grew up playing the original Smash Bros., the right position is obviously the correct way to hold the controller. But hand that controller over to someone from a younger generation, i.e. someone who probably didn’t grow up in the midst of the 64 craze (or maybe someone who just preferred their Playstation), and they are likely to hold it in the Famicom position straight away.

One Japanese Twitter user, @sakura390115, decided to test it out on one of those youngins.

▼ “What happened when I had a sixth-grader hold a Nintendo 64 controller”

https://twitter.com/sakura390115/status/600241432918536192

Those of the 64 Generation are indeed from a special generation. It’s time to bust out those old consoles, blow the dust off our favorite games, and teach the young ones of today a thing or two about gaming!

How about you, readers-how do you hold your N64 controller?

Source: Togech
Featured image: Wikipedia (Evan Amos)