Multitap

A multitap is a video game console peripheral that increases the number of controller ports available to the player, allowing additional controllers to be used in play, similar to a USB hub or a power strip. A multitap often takes the form of a box with three or more controller ports which is then connected to a controller port on the console itself.

Mainly sports games have supported multitaps due to the multiplayer aspect of some sport games, though some role-playing video games and first person shooters have taken advantage of multitap support.

The earliest multi-controller adapter was the Joypair by HAL Laboratory, released in Japan for Nintendo's Family Computer in 1985, which allows two additional controllers to be plugged into the console's DA-15 expansion port. Originally the Joypair was only intended to allow two players to use specialized controllers (specifically HAL's controllers) in place of the standard Famicom joypads (which were hardwired into the console itself), but Nekketsu Kōkō Dodgeball Bu (the Japanese version of Super Dodge Ball) utilized it to allow up to four players to participate in the game's Bean Ball mode.Hori later released the Twin Adapter in 1989 as an alternative to the Joypair, while certain controllers (such as the ASCII Stick series and certain models of the Family Champ joysticks) came equipped with an additional expansion port that allowed for users to connect an additional controller into them. A more conventional 4-Players Adapter for the Famicom was eventually released by Hori in 1990, which allowed up to four controllers to be plugged into the expansion port (allowing each player to utilize a specialized joypad if they desired). During the same year, Nintendo released their own first-party adapters for the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America: the NES Four Score and the NES Satellite. Despite the fact that the HVC-101 model of the Famicom uses the same controller ports as the NES, 4-player Famicom games are not compatible with the NES multitaps.

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