LJN Roll & Rocker: A Terrible Controller
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- Опубликовано: 10 фев 2025
- Thank you to Warby Parker for sponsoring this video. I've been wearing their glasses for years, and I can't recommend them enough. Order your Home Try-On Kit FREE at www.warbyparker.... Offer only valid in the US.
1989 was the year of NES controllers. Mattel introduced the Power Glove. Broderbund debuted the U-Force. And then there was LJN's Roll & Rocker. The Roll & Rocker was a stand-on plastic board that rocked back and forth to control directional movement in games. It promised radical gaming action. But did the Roll & Rocker deliver?
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I'm currently working on two big videos, but I thought I would appease the RUclips gods and release this. Enjoy!
2021 will be a better year, and this is why
Thx mister!
Will one of these be a new Nomogatari video? I've been waiting on one of those for a while.
:)
Thank you!!!! We crave the gaming historian :)
I think that an AVGN quote sums this up the best.
“So even if it did work, what’s the point? If I’m holding the controller anyway, why not just use the controller? It blows my mind it’s like what were they thinking?!”
They weren’t thinking to be honest.
They were thinking, we can make $$$ selling this, at least for the short term.
Yea...it wasn't about thought. It was about dollar signs.
Thinking about the profit part
I would use it as a controller extension.
Man y'all are so cynical lol. Times were different back then and gaming was a relatively new industry, there a lot of experimentation. Sure they wanted to make money but they were also a toy company, they wanted to create a new kind of toy
One thing is sure: whenever and wherever LJN is mentioned, James Rolfe will be mentioned too.
Let's not forget who's behind it all... Fred Fuchs!
I like how the nerd said to Fred Fuchs "Finally I get to kick his are"
All i could think of was the fuckin nerd drinkin a rolling rock on the roll and rocker 😂😂😂 AVGN has attained legendary status
This video memorializes the first time in history that the words "Unfortunately I don't own two Roll N' Rockers" were spoken together in that order.
Tbf its the first time someone other than James Rolfe has said the words "roll and rocker" since the early 90s
That box art is the most “1989” thing I’ve ever seen.
Totally radical!
I want it just for that box art
Yep-
It feels already 90s to me, while the box with the most 80s style I can think of is the Sega Genesis one with the grid pattern on a dark background.
“Unfortunately, I don’t own two Roll & Rockers.”
But is it really that unfortunate?
Its fortunately unfortunate
Someone sound the SSFF call!
he could have ask James for his Roll and Rocker?
@@thegamefree1 yeah it would be awesome to see these two collaborate
@@amazingboat0769 Well, Norm has a cameo in AVGN - Aladdin Deck Enhancer video so it's better than nothing.
Man, if only there was a specific beer brand I could drink while using it.
On the Rolling Rocker right
Guinness.
Fosters
@@arbiter1er Cheers! 🍻
Too bad that there is no beer that has a similar name
"This thing is the biggest shit-biscuit I've ever seen."
- The Angry Video Game Nerd on the Roll 'n' Rocker
85% of comments: AVGN quotes
15%: “Nice / informative video, Norm.”
Bruh 10 mins has passed and its more than 70%
James introduced me to this crazy thing, so he deserves all the praise!
@@GamingHistorian I guess.
On an unrelated note, have you ever daisy-chained two Roll’n’Rockers? One from you and one from a friend?
@@GamingHistorian WARNING I am the unprettiest human alive and I need YT to afford my house and the desires of my two girlfriends so please observe my highly stimulating videos, dear gam
@@GamingHistorian James introduced a lot of us like myself who have never heard of this thing or even knew it existed along with other NES accessories that didn't get a commercial or show up in a movie except for the Konami Laser Scope which was on an episode of Video Power when the show's host, Johnny Arcade went to the Winter edition of CES in 1991. So James deserves all of the praise.
Another great video Norm! Thank you gamer!
Hello Beardman.
You guys rock!
Wait you aren’t The completionist. You’re the mega man x guy
cringe
@@AnAverageGoblin ENDLESS TRASH
Not included: A pissed off gaming nerd with a taste for Rollin Rock brand beer.
And a cat (RIP)
That was back when the show was good
On the Rolling Rocker
if they re-release it should come with a tiny living nerd in each package
I'm drinking Rolling Rock! On the Roll & Rocker!
Norman, I'm baffled at the quality of your NES footage. What upscaler are you using?
I’m assuming he’s just using emulation
@@Samlem14 Not necessarily. It wouldn't surprise me that Norm uses either a AVS or Analogue NT for HD Footage.
@@squirrelguy2195 probably right, Norm doesn’t mess around when it comes to NES footage
If you pause it at 0:17 and look at the bottom right of his TV you will see a Famicon disk drive. ON top of that you can just make out the front right corner of a silver analogue NT
@@Samlem14 Im not quite sure how well calibration would work with these third party controllers. Doesn't seem like he wouldn't use plug n play as it was intended
"Rolling Rock, on the Roll & Rocker!"
-AVGN
Crap, I was going to use that joke.
"Rolling Rock.... Rolling Rocker!l
Ahhh the nostalgia
A crappy beer for a crappy controller. They were made for each other!
Beat me to posting it. First thing I thought of when I saw this video.
Watching Norman go from college kid to cool dad is a nice side benefit of the Gaming Historian.
I remember when this came out, and my rich friend that had a wall of games got it. He absolutely hated it, but pretended it was amazing. So he let me play with it. Despite it being awkward to use, I really had fun playing Mach Rider with it. Sadly, it broke, and he threw it away.
Mach Rider is awesome! It is tough already with a regular controller, it must have been a nightmare on the Roll & Rocker
I was gonna say, I bet it actually could be interesting (and possibly enjoyable) to use with a first-person game like that! Glad to hear that it isn't out of the question. Despite the hate this thing gets, as a designer I do see that it could have had some cool application.
For the first time in 13 years of watching RUclips videos I'm actually going to checkout a sponsor! Thanks! Have a good day
"Since we're using an LJN controller, let's finish our test with a classic LJN game."
the eternal constant of roll & rocker coverage
What’s next “THE WRIST GAAAAAAAMMME!!” ???
16 bit, 8 bit, 2 bit, THE WRISTT GAMMMMMME!
@@DEADEYESTUDIO 4-bit, 2-bit? 1-bit? Half bit? QUARTER BIT? ....THE WRIIIISSTTT GAAAAAAME
@@Echidneys 16-bit, 8-bit, 4-bit, 2-bit, 1-bit, half bit, quarter bit. OVERUSED JOKE!!!!
@@1degabyte238 I was just adding the bits they forgot. Overused would mean you see the joke everywhere, though
@@Echidneys sure it may not be overused but this one's oversaturated like goddamn
There’s nothing more intimidating than Norm on a Roll & Rocker with designer sunglasses. Holy hell.
You might not like it but, this is what peak male performance looks like
you see norm rollin' towards you on a roll & rocker with designer sunglasses, wyd?
Is this the "new norm"? :DDD
@@UndedDisfunction fear
That should be a PubG unlockable outfit. Gaming Historian on the Rolling Rocker
One thing you forgot, the roll and rocker was so unsuccessful that Nintendo power gave them for free as part of a raffle
Imagine if the Laughlin’ Jokin’ Numbnuts returned
EA has taken the reigns on shitting out cash grab licensed games.
@@kevinhibbard320 I know right? Worst thing of all, they’re everywhere!!
@@kevinhibbard320 does EA stand for Eating Ass?
It's not. I beat em up on avgn deluxe real good.
LGN will always get beaten by EA for low quality games
Good lord never stop making videos. Your content is so refreshing in a sea of subpar, under researches, Hot Takes. You rock!
Norman: So how does the roll n' rocker work?
AVGN: It doesn't! [Drinks beer]
Historically speaking, you could argue that this is an excellent case of how not to market third party controller scheme hardware. The rolling rocker probably could've been a big success if it came with 2 or more compatible games that were specifically designed for use with the rolling rocker.
I feel like that was the problem with so many NES peripherals. They either had no games specifically designed for their use (the U-Force) or only a small handful of mediocre titles that never grew after the first year or two (the blaster, ROB, Power Glove, Power Pad, heck even the Super Scope with the SNES).
My only experience with the roll & rocker is when i tripped over one at my m8 his place when i was a kid and smashed my head against the table. Probaly lost 50 IQ with it
Dang, hope you got your IQ points back later.
Shoot
Lol. Sounds about right.
Exactly the kind of content that makes Gaming Historian one of the most essential channels on youtube.
Watched this in bed whilst recovering from a very hot shower.
Bravo Norman!
when it's LJN, you know it's crap. When it's Gaming Historian, you know it's good!
Laughing Jokin' Numbnuts never fails to deliver!
Hey. I liked the Karate Kid game.
Jaws will always have a special place in my heart
LJN's releases for the NES ranged in quality from mediocre to horrible, but they published a few good games for the SNES.
@@Ginormousaurus Yeah, True Lies (also on Genesis), is a top quality action game, and a good example of how to adapt a movie.
The more extensive, full-on documentary videos are good and of high-quality, but I'll always enjoy your smaller, more hands-on videos with you in front of the screen demonstrating and giving some your opinions the most
THIS should’ve won the “Is This Peripheral Really Necessary” award. Also, I’m happy you got a sponsor. I don’t recall you ever getting sponsored before.
This isn't his first sponsored video. He's had others:
Dollar Shave Club (32X)
LastPass (Sonic's Secret Games)
ExpressVPN (Link's Awakening)
Audible (Nike sued Sega)
Honey (twice; Mario Paint, Mega Man on DOS)
@@GamingDelight Okay, thanks. I guess I forgot.
"Rolling rock on the Roll & rocker" One of the AVGN iconic quotes.
6:30 I wish he would have had a power glove on here! Then he'd be the most radical of all gammers!
I just realized you can daisy chain those shit biscuits together.
Add Rad Racer and the 3D glasses as well, you can't get anymore rad than that!
I love the quality of this channel. All the videos are so well done and interesting. So much research and editing, so amazing.
"Aw yeah this is happening"
Time to rewatch this 15 times
I'm tripping out about the TnC surf game.. it's a retail store here in hawai'i. never thought they woudl have made a video game
I had a T and C surf shirt!!
Shittyest skate game ever.
I wanted one of these SOOOO bad when I was a kid, thank god my parents were cheap xD
I begged and begged for CD-I when I was little because of their infomercials. Yep, kids can be suckers for new shiny things if advertised correctly. :p
I'm glad the power glove was so expensive. That would have pissed me off!
LJN should've gotten the rights to the He-Man movie. There's a scene where he's flying around on a disk. Should've made a game of that and bundled it with the rocker.
Its like mixing silver surfer with a piece of plastic
Never knew about this when I was a kid. I had the UForce though, and it worked pretty well.
I imagine some kid almost broke his neck while playing with this thing.
Only reason I know it's existence is because the avgn
@@Soapy_Papoose Damn man, that's exactly what i ment, but at least you're ok now
Lol
In the ‘80s, it was LJN. In the ‘90s, it was Acclaim. In the ‘00s, it was THQ. Today, it’s Ubisoft.
Nah, it's Outright Games.
You skipped a decade
I thought it was EA
@@brutallyhonest123 for a minute I was like, did they? Forgot it was 2021
I swear my brain is stuck behind in 2018 sometimes.
How about Accolade?
You make some of the best content on RUclips by far. Hope to see more from you soon! You are literally the only channel I have notification bell on for.
Roll-n-Rocker, perfect for one handed people that like RPG's
Even then its bad because of all the extra random encounters you get lol
I guess a Fire Emblem game would work nicely with the Roll & Rocker
I still think they'd prefer to go back and forth with one hand rather than use this thing.
Except for Earthbound. You just need a controller.
I love to watch your videos while eating dinner. I've been watching them from a few years now and I'm always impressed as how you seem to keep improving the quality of your videos, even after all these years, good job!
The one time the Gaming Historian talked about LJN without mentioning the Angry Video Game Nerd.
I never understand who downvotes your videos. Your content is a gift to us all. Keep up the good work!
"I'm drinking Rolling Rock on the Roll n' Rocker" ~ The Nerd
Rolling Rock, Roll n' Rocker!
I was very entertained by the Warby Parker ad. Well done.
Video was great too, but your videos are ALWAYS great lol. Thanks Norm!
How has norm not been gobbled up by tv executives? I’m glad he’s still with us, but we do t deserve Content this good. Wholesome, and competent, but absolutely the furthest thing from lame.
Always great to see another Gaming Historian episode
"I'm drinking rolling rock, on a rolling rocker!"
- A wise man
Another fantastic video. Out of all the RUclips channels I watch, and I watch a lot, I'm never as quick to click on a video as I am when I see one of Norman's videos pop up on my feed. Always informative and entertaining without fail. Highest quality gaming content you can get on the platform full stop.
Rolling rock, on roll & rocker
Rolling rock, on roll & rocker
Rolling rock, on roll & rocker
let's try LJN games !
What a day to learn about these gaming's histories and back stories.... Thanks, man.
gamer: "WTF, this roll & rocker sucks"
ljn: "Ok, fine it sucks. But you know what would be really good? TWO roll & rockers."
I got this for Christmas one year as a kid. I felt so bad that it probably cost a fortune for our family and that I didn’t like it. I still feel bad about it honestly.
Thanks Mom.
I tried this once, can't even remember when or where. I recall it being extremely uncomfortable.
Great to see another video from you man!
"i'm drinking rolling rock on the rolling rocker rolling rock rolling rocker"
“Rolling rock, rolling rocker”
dude all the games u played except the marbal one brang back so many memoris so thank you :)
I like how some low-effort gimmick device LJN just threw out there keeps getting youtuber coverage to this day
Good to see these continuing. Much love dude. Stay safe out there.
"ROLLING ROCK ON THE ROLL AND ROCKER" - AVGN
Warby Parker makes some great glasses. They’ve been my go to for years.
Glad they sponsored an episode. ❤️
ROLLING ROCK *ON THE ROLLING ROCKER!*
Gaming Historian and Nostalgia Nerd is all I need.
I'm drinking Rolling Rock on the Roll n' Rocker!
Great video as always!! Love how you took it apart and showed the inside and how it worked I had always wondered that and now I know it’s Mercury switches! Thank you Norm!!
Imagine trying to beat Wii Fit with this thing.
Great to see you back, man! -- This was definitely from that phase of time when I was in my gaming "prime", meaning I knew nothing, my parents knew nothing and I jumped out at anything that looked "COOL". This was definitely one of the items that would have caught my eye, I would have got it for xmas or a birthday and never played it again. I got a game called TOTALLY RAD by this same principle. Played it for one week, gave up and never looked back. A tough but important lesson in demographic advertising dynamics.
I'M DRINKING ROLLING ROCK, ON THE ROLL AND ROCKER.
“Its another hunk of plastic!!! Who made this thing?!”
Has anybody else been getting ads for those new force feedback vests? Seems like LJN is trying to make a comeback lol
love these videos man! i have watched every single on some multiple times! thanks for taking me back to my childhood!
Crack open a cold Rolling Rock. This one's a doozy.
9:46 Absolutely beautiful syncing on "power glove" :)
I'm gonna need to crack open a Rolling Rock for this!
Great work from one of my all time fav content creators! Thanks.
"What they were thinking?!"
"Despite criticism, LJN continued anyways..."
You don't say.
Aaaaaaasss
Legend has it that daisy chaining together ten Roll & Rockers lets you instantly beat any LJN game.
great video 🤘
Great as always. I love how you put your videos together!! Looking forward to the two big ones coming up!
You're 5 minutes into Gaming Historian and chill when he gives you this look...
6:32
It’s always exciting to see a new Gaming Historian video!
I'm curious to how many outtakes you have of saying Rock n' Roller by mistake.
Always a pleasure to see new content, my man. Thank you!
95% of comments: AVGN references
5% of comments: other
Next to AVGN, this is my favorite content creator. I love it when I hear you've uploaded a new video! Thank you Gaming Historian.
I can kinda imagine this being fun for something like Pac-Man or Clu Clu Land.
your content is top notch, so much that I'm not even bother by the long worby parker intermission, I honestly felt interested in their glasses after it!
I am drinking ROLLing ROCK on ROLL n ROCKer
Marble Madness doesn't actually ONLY use the d-pad. The A button is a "turbo" boost.
Oh you best me to it, a posted the same a few moments ago. And just for the hell of it I tried playing the game without using the a button, the last level is impossible to finish without the a button, without it you can’t build up enough speed to cross that first little gap in to the tunnel thing at the beginning. And if you want to be even more technical the game uses the start button to start the game in posit in the select button to select two players.
Here is one for your next “errata” video: “Now here’s a game that only uses the d-pad, marble madness.” Incorrect. The game uses, of course, the start button as well as the select button, but more importantly, the a button is used to make the marble go faster, the last level is impossible to finish without the a button, I played the game without pressing the button just to make sure before I posted this comment. The last level is impossible without the a button, You can’t build up enough speed on that first gap to hop into the tunnel thing or whatever that is at the beginning. PS I love marble madness on the NES LOL
Glad to see my life savings paying off
My excitement cannot be contained when I see a new GH upload.
This is a misunderstood gadget and was way ahead of it's time.
Yeah, sure.
Did anyone else notice at 9:47, when Norm says "Power Glove", so does the on-screen actor from The Wizard? Nice editing, Norm! :D
Dolphins sweater? Is that a tribute to getting the Chief's home field advantage in 2019 clearing the way for the Superbowl?
I'm glad you're still making the good content you always have. Keep it up, please don't stop!
do take breaks if need be though
"95% ofvthe Roll & Rocker is plastic."
Just like Kim Kardashian.
But let’s take a look inside
Only reasons why I heard of the Kardashians was because of the ass pic and because Kim was Kanye's husband.
I said _was._
What an original and timely reference
Thank you for all the work and effort you put into your videos, they truly are fascinating to watch, all of them. Take care. Oh, and more please.
The curse of Laughing Joking Numbnuts (LJN). A rainbow made out of shit
Love it when Norman uploads.