Ultra Hand

Ultra Hand
Inventor Gunpei Yokoi
Company Nintendo
Country Japan

The Ultra Hand was a toy manufactured by Nintendo in the late 1960s. It was created in 1966 by employee Gunpei Yokoi.[1]

The Ultra Hand consists of several criss-cross-connected plastic elements, and operates on the "lazy tongs" pantograph principle. One end of the Ultra Hand has scissor-like handles and is operated like scissors, extending when the handles are pinched together and retracting when they are parted. On the other end of the Ultra Hand are two bowl-shaped grips with which ball-like objects can be gripped when the Ultra Hand is fully extended. Three colored balls were included in the Ultra Hand package,[2] along with stands on which the balls can rest.

Ultra Hand was a commercial success, selling over a million units.[1] It was the first of several toys developed by Yokoi that helped to save the company from serious financial difficulties.[3]

Video game appearances

Ultra Hand made an appearance in Wario: Master of Disguise, as well as various WarioWare titles. Wario was also seen using the Ultra Hand for one of his power shots in Mario Power Tennis. It also appeared as a furniture item in Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Most recently, Ultra Hand is seen underneath Mario Kart: Super Circuit's Mario Circuit's hairpin turn, suspending the track in Mario Kart 8 and as a decoration behind the counter in the Bomb Shop, in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D.

A WiiWare game titled Grill-Off with Ultra Hand! was released in North America on March 31, 2010 as an exclusive to Club Nintendo members. The game features the Ultra Hand stretching out to grab cooked meats from barbecue grills. In single-player mode, the goal is to last as long as possible. There is also a versus mode that has two players competing for the most points in 90 seconds.[4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Sheff, David (1994). Game Over: How Nintendo Conquered the World. Vintage Books. ISBN 978-0-307-80074-9.
  2. ↑ Goldberg, Harold (2011). All Your Base Are Belong to Us: How Fifty Years of Videogames Conquered Pop Culture. Random House. p. 59. ISBN 978-0-307-46356-2.
  3. ↑ Gregory, Tony (2013). Freelancers!: A Revolution in the Way We Work. ISBN 978-1-62516-616-6.
  4. ↑ Wahlgren, Jon (5 April 2010). "Grill-Off with Ultra Hand! (WiiWare) Review". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
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