The Amiga Joyboard (1982)

The Joyboard was an Atari 2600 accessory designed by Amiga. Players would stand on top of it and shift their balance to control what was happening in a game. And by "a game," we mean there was only one title, called Mogul Maniac, that worked with the peripheral. It had players shifting their weight on the pad to control a skiier trying to go through slalom gates.

While the Joyboard did not spawn an entire franchise series of games, in many ways it led to the creation of Nintendo's Wii Fit Balance Board, which was released in mid-2008. Nintendo's version uses pressure-detecting pads that feed information to the console through Bluetooth and offers a far higher degree of precision than the Joyboard ever did. It also has more enjoyable pack-in games, including a fitness trainer that tracks your weight and workout progress.

September 8, 2009 4:00 AM PDT

Photo by: AtariAge.com

| Caption by: Josh Lowensohn