On March 4, 2004, the U.S. Patent Office issued U.S. Design Pat. No. D505,424 to Nintendo Co Ltd and Namco Ltd. The patent concerned the ornamental design for the “controller [of an] electronic game machine.” However, as you can see in the following figure, this would be no ordinary controller.
Indeed, this design patent would go on to inform the famous DK Bongos, an accessory for the Nintendo GameCube that was designed to be used with the rhythm-based Donkey Konga series.
The Bongos represent an era of video games where companies flocked to sell plastic toy instruments to accompany their interactive experiences. While Nintendo and Namco had their own take on this trend with the DK Bongos, other mainstream options for such controllers were tied in with the famous Guitar Hero and Rock Band game franchises.
