R.O.B.

{{Short description|Video game console peripheral}} {{other uses|Rob (disambiguation)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox information appliance | name = R.O.B. | image = NES-ROB.jpg | caption = R.O.B. has the NES color scheme. | manufacturer = Nintendo | type = Video game controller | aka = Robotic Operating Buddy<br />Family Computer Robot | generation = Third generation | release_date = {{Vgrelease|JP|July 26, 1985}}{{Vgrelease|NA|October 18, 1985}}{{Vgrelease|EU|September 1, 1986}} }}

'''R.O.B.''' ('''Robotic Operating Buddy''') is a toy robot accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). He was key to the NES's launch in October 1985, as a redesign of the {{nihongo foot|'''Family Computer Robot'''|ファミリーコンピュータ ロボット|Famirī Konpyūta Robotto|lead=yes|group=lower-alpha}} which had been launched in July 1985 in Japan for Famicom and was available as part of the Deluxe Set until 1988.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Contri |first=Pat |title=Ultimate Nintendo guide to the NES library 1985-1995 |isbn=9780997328301 |edition=3rd printing |pages=IX }}</ref> During its short lifespan, only two games in the ''Robot Series'' were released: ''Gyromite'' and ''Stack-Up''.

Following the North American video game crash of 1983, Nintendo courted a fearful retail market by rebranding its Japanese Famicom video game console as the Nintendo Entertainment System—a new platform focused on R.O.B. to further reclassify the system as a uniquely sophisticated toy experience instead of simply as a video game console.<ref name="g4tv">{{Cite episode |title=NES |url=http://www.g4tv.com/gamemakers/episodes/4844/NES.html |access-date=January 30, 2013 |series=Icons |publisher=G4 |date=December 1, 2005 |season=4 |number=10 }}</ref><ref name="gamespy.com">{{Cite web |url=http://archive.gamespy.com/articles/july03/25smartest/index22.shtml |title=25 Smartest Moments in Gaming |publisher=GameSpy.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070612194348/http://archive.gamespy.com/articles/july03/25smartest/index22.shtml |archive-date=June 12, 2007 }}</ref> ''Computer Entertainer'' called R.O.B. "the world's only interactive robot".<ref name="Computer Entertainer June 1985"/>

The NES's extensive marketing plan immediately and successfully centered on R.O.B., with the October 1985 test market launch in Manhattan, New York. This was Nintendo's debut in the North American video game console market, which eventually revitalized the entire video game industry. R.O.B. was quietly discontinued a few years later, and became remembered as a successful Trojan Horse of marketing.{{citation needed|date=August 2025}} He is a cameo or playable character in many Nintendo games such as the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series, and appears in the 2026 film ''The Super Mario Galaxy Movie'', voiced by Ed Skudder.

==History== ===Development=== [[File:Video robot page of Nintendo CES 1985 brochure.png|thumb|alt=This gameplay diorama features an NES prototype with top-loaded Famicom cartridge, AVS style controllers, and R.O.B. The caption says, "Our new video robot is the first of a long line of winners to come from Nintendo".|R.O.B.'s page from Nintendo's pre-announcement brochure was intended to attract distributors at CES in June 1985, and show his flagship status within the company's launch strategy.]] {{main | History of the Nintendo Entertainment System#Redesign as the Nintendo Entertainment System (1985) | l1=Famicom's redesign as NES}} The new Nintendo of America subsidiary, having already successfully bet its own launch upon its conversion of its failed ''Radar Scope'' (1980) arcade game cabinets into the successful new ''Donkey Kong'' (1981) arcade game, wanted to debut in the home video game console market using the Japanese parent company's successful Famicom system. But the entire American video game industry, which had been devastated by the video game crash of 1983, first needed a relaunch.

Following the crash, many retailers had lost confidence in the Atari-led video game market even while the toy market was strong.<ref name="Power-Up"/>{{rp|213–214}} With a high volume of low quality products and dead-inventory shovelware,<ref name="Power-Up"/>{{rp|213}} some retailers and industry critics considered video gaming to be a passing fad altogether.<ref name="Rise of Nintendo">{{cite video |people=Jeremiah Black (director), Jeff Rubin, Josh Shabtai, Dan Ackerman, Libe Goad, Shandi Sullivan, T. J. Allard |date=July 13, 2007 |title=Play Value: The Rise of Nintendo |url=http://www.onnetworks.com/videos/play-value/rise-of-nintendo |format=Flash Video |medium=podcast |publisher=ON Networks |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110118044723/http://www.onnetworks.com/videos/play-value/rise-of-nintendo |archive-date=January 18, 2011 |access-date=November 2, 2015}} [http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xh58ea_rise-of-nintendo_fun Alt URL]</ref> Therefore, Nintendo spent much of 1984 re-conceiving its Family Computer (Famicom) platform from Japan to be portrayed in America not as a traditional video game console, but as a new kind of sophisticated entertainment experience.<ref name="In Their Words"/><ref name="Power-Up"/>{{rp|213–214}}<ref name="goldberg"/>

Nintendo saw the industry's overwhelming trend away from game consoles and toward home computers, but its prototype of a lavish Famicom-based home computer and multimedia package called Advanced Video System (AVS) was poorly received at the January 1985 Winter Consumer Electronics Show, so that was redesigned into a cost-reduced toy motif.<ref name="goldberg"/> The Famicom's whimsical appearance was again rebranded with a serious naming and industrial design language similar to the AVS, called the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The NES is based on the Control Deck game console, which is shaped like high-tech videophile equipment with a front-loaded and door-enclosed cartridge port in the style of the modern VCR instead of a typically top-loaded "video game console".<ref name="goldberg"/>

thumb|left|The Japanese Family Computer Robot on display.

The Family Computer Robot, a recent niche entry in the Famicom's aftermarket accessory lineup in Japan on July 26, 1985, is a mechanized toy robot with working arms and crude eyesight, resembling "a cross between E.T. and R2-D2".<ref name="Power-Up"/>{{rp|213–214}} It was designed and patented by veteran Nintendo designer Gunpei Yokoi.<ref name="R.O.B. patent">{{cite patent |country=US |number=4815733 |title=Photosensing video game control system |fdate=February 23, 1988 |gdate=March 28, 1989 |status=application |inventor=Gunpei Yokoi |assign1=Nintendo Co Ltd }}</ref><ref name="Profile: Gunpei Yokoi">{{cite web |title=Profile: Gunpei Yokoi |work=Nsidr |date=October 23, 2000 |url=https://www.nsidr.com/archive/profile-gunpei-yokoi |access-date=July 3, 2019 }}</ref> Used as a functional companion for playing select video games within a custom playset, it was recolored for the NES and was thrust forth as essential to the NES's new identity as a futuristic, robot-powered experience. ''The Milwaukee Journal'' said, "The key to the NES is the interactive robot ... You no longer have to fight only the aliens on the screen; you have a robot to contend with as well."<ref name="New Nintendo system">{{cite news |newspaper=The Milwaukee Journal |date=October 5, 1985 |first=Edward J. |last=Semrad |title=New Nintendo system way ahead of the field |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/gamehistoryorg/33202683011/in/album-72157679529464930 |access-date=September 12, 2024 }}</ref> ''Computer Entertainer'' called it "the world's only interactive robot", because no other video game system or home computer package ever had one, greatly distinguishing the NES to retailers and consumers alike.<ref name="Computer Entertainer June 1985"/>

Nintendo of America staff received the first R.O.B. shipment from Japan, initially thrilled with anticipation while unboxing and using the robot. Howard Phillips remembered, "The technology was so cool! [...] like voodoo magic [...] But then his actual motion was just hysterically slow." Nintendo marketing executive Gail Tilden recalled, "That thing was definitely like watching grass grow. It was so slow, and to try and stand there and sales-pitch it in person and try to make it exciting; you had to have the eyes lined up just right or it wouldn't receive the flashes. It was kind of a challenge." Product designer Don James laughed, "[''Gyromite''] was hard as hell! [...] So you really had to think two or three moves ahead to allow him to do what he was going to do. But it's cool to look at, right? [...] It was a really neat, unusual little device. And it was fun to play! But again, like Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots, I wouldn't want to do it for 40 hours."<ref name="In Their Words">{{cite web |title=In Their Words: Remembering the Launch of the Nintendo Entertainment System |date=October 19, 2015 |first=Frank |last=Cifaldi |work=IGN |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2015/10/19/in-their-words-remembering-the-launch-of-the-nintendo-entertainment-system |access-date=July 1, 2019 }}</ref> Tasked with all of the NES's naming and branding, the sole marketing staff member Gail Tilden said the name was "originally going to be OTTO, which was a play on the word 'auto'", but she settled on Robotic Operating Buddy, or R.O.B.<ref name="Power-Up">{{cite book |last=Kohler |first=Chris |title=Power-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life |date=2004 |publisher=Brady Games |location=Indianapolis, IN |isbn=0-7440-0424-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VuA7DQAAQBAJ }}</ref>{{rp|213–214}}

As the centerpiece of the new NES platform, R.O.B. was revealed at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago in June 1985.<ref name="Computer Entertainer July 1985">{{cite magazine |magazine=Computer Entertainer |title=Computer Entertainer |date=July 1985 |volume=4 |issue=4 |url=https://archive.org/download/ComputerEntertainer/ |access-date=July 2, 2019 }}</ref><ref name="The NES Launch Collection"/> Nintendo's brochure for attracting distributors shows a prototypical hybrid between AVS and NES with R.O.B., saying, "The future of home entertainment is staring you in the face. Our new video robot is the first of a long line of winners to come from Nintendo."<ref name="The NES Launch Collection"/><ref name="goldberg"/> and that R.O.B. is the "star of a new Entertainment System that's programmed to make you rich".<ref name="In Their Words"/><ref name="The NES Launch Collection"/> The robotic persona reportedly "worked like a charm" to drive intrigued visitors to Nintendo's booth, but nobody signed up to be a distributor of the upcoming NES.<ref name="goldberg">{{cite web |last1=Goldberg |first1=Marty |title=Nintendo Entertainment System 20th Anniversary |date=October 18, 2005 |website=ClassicGaming.com |url=http://www.classicgaming.com/features/articles/nes20th/ |access-date=February 12, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051124042223/http://www.classicgaming.com/features/articles/nes20th/ |archive-date=November 24, 2005 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

''IGN'' reflected that "[R.O.B.] might have been the key to getting the system into players' hands, and once they had players, Nintendo was convinced the rest would be easy."<ref name="In Their Words"/>

===Release=== Nintendo anticipated that R.O.B.'s flair for futurism, personality, and physicality was so crucial to the success of the NES, that the toy was featured prominently in much of the advertising media of the system and its game library, even more than any particular game and even with only one robot game. The robot was portrayed as a bridge between the player and the game.<ref name="The NES Launch Collection"/><ref name="Here's how"/> The retail floor displays were each topped with a huge R.O.B. head model, and the launch party centered on a colossal robot replica with many small silver-plated robot models.<ref name="In Their Words"/> The toy robot is the highlighted accessory within the first and most premium NES consumer product offering, the Deluxe Set boxed bundle of Control Deck, R.O.B., Zapper light gun, ''Gyromite'', and ''Duck Hunt''.

The NES was launched as the Deluxe Set, in the October 1985 test market of New York City, then in further test markets including Los Angeles,<ref name="In Their Words"/> Chicago, and San Francisco, and finally nationwide. The NES's design language with R.O.B. and the Zapper, recategorized the retailers' perception of the NES from a video game to a toy. This bypassed the crashed video game stigma and launched it more safely from the toy sections of retail stores<ref name="goldberg"/> next to established hit robot toys like Transformers, Voltron, Go-Bots, Teddy Ruxpin, and Lazer Tag.<ref name="In Their Words"/><ref name="Rise of Nintendo"/>

Soon in 1985 came the second and final entry in the ''Robot Series'', ''Stack-Up'', packaged separately along with its own physical game pieces. The NES was soon sold much more popularly in the form of only the Control Deck and ''Super Mario Bros.'' — without R.O.B. Optionally, ''Gyromite'' was repackaged separately, and R.O.B. was repackaged separately for {{US$|49.99}}. In the following few years, R.O.B. and the two-game ''Robot Series'' were quietly discontinued.<ref name="Power-Up"/>{{rp|214}}

==Hardware== thumb|right|In the patent filing, R.O.B. is placed at the right, facing the CRT screen to receive the game's commands via the screen's optical flashes.<ref name="R.O.B. patent"/> The patent underlying the R.O.B. product was filed by Gunpei Yokoi as "photosensing video game control system",<ref name="R.O.B. patent"/> with the same optical electronics as a Zapper,<ref name="Power-Up"/>{{rp|213}} and likewise only functions correctly with a cathode-ray tube (CRT) television and not an LCD.<ref name="HTG Zapper">{{cite web |title=How the Nintendo NES Zapper Worked, and Why It Doesn't Work On HDTVs |date=October 6, 2018 |first=Jason |last=Fitzpatrick |work=HowToGeek |url=https://www.howtogeek.com/181303/htg-explains-how-the-nintendo-zapper-worked-and-why-it-doesnt-work-on-new-tvs/ |access-date=July 3, 2019 }}</ref><ref name="Duck Hunt's VC">{{cite web |title=Duck Hunt's Virtual Console debut, and why the original hates your new TV |date=December 18, 2014 |first=Andrew |last=Cunningham |work=ArsTechnica |url=https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/12/duck-hunts-virtual-console-debut-and-why-the-original-hates-your-new-tv/ |access-date=July 3, 2019 }}</ref> Games can send six distinct commands to R.O.B. by flashing the screen. The test feature within ''Gyromite'' and ''Stack-Up'' sends an optical flash that should activate R.O.B.'s red light.

==Games== Only two officially licensed games were published for R.O.B., which comprise Nintendo's ''Robot Series'': '''''Gyromite''''' and '''''Stack-Up'''''. ''Computer Entertainer'' reported Nintendo's supposed plans as stated prior to CES June 1985, for four more nondescript ''Robot Series'' games, but they were never released.<ref name="Computer Entertainer June 1985">{{cite magazine |magazine=Computer Entertainer |title=Nintendo Plans to Dazzle with World's Only Interactive Robot! |date=June 1985 |volume=4 |issue=3 |page=1 |url=https://archive.org/download/ComputerEntertainer/ |access-date=July 2, 2019 }}</ref>

===''Gyromite''=== [[File:First NES.jpg|thumb|right|R.O.B. is part of the NES display at Nintendo New York, ready to play ''Gyromite'' with his gyro attachment on his right side and the gyro spinner device at his left side.]] The ''Gyromite'' retail package consists of the following items: two claws for R.O.B.'s hands; two heavy spinning tops called gyros; two red and blue trays upon which the gyros will rest, causing buttons to be pressed on the second NES controller; one spinner motor for accelerating the gyros; and two black trays upon which the gyros are stored when not in use. The Direct game mode is a feature used to learn how to use R.O.B. or to play with R.O.B. without playing the game. ''Gyromite'' is a puzzle platform video game in which main character Professor Hector must collect dynamite before the time runs out, with his path blocked by several red and blue pillars and by dinosaur-like creatures called Smicks. Hector cannot jump, so he can only collect dynamite by descending upon it. He can collect radishes that attract the Smicks when dropped.<ref name="Computer Entertainer February 1986">{{cite magazine |magazine=Computer Entertainer |date=February 1986 |title=Nintendo Update |url=https://nintendotimes.com/1986/05/26/computer-entertainer-nes-reviews-news/ |access-date=July 2, 2019 |archive-date=July 3, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703002855/https://nintendotimes.com/1986/05/26/computer-entertainer-nes-reviews-news/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> In Game A, the commands are made by pressing START and then pushing the direction in which to move R.O.B., and using the A and B buttons to open and close his arms. If R.O.B. places a gyro on the red or blue button, it pushes the A or B button on the second NES controller, moving the pillar of the corresponding color. If both buttons need to be pressed at the same time, the gyros are placed in a spinner so that they will stay balanced on the button without R.O.B. holding it. Game B has the same controls, except that START does not need to be pressed to make R.O.B. accept a command.{{citation needed|date=November 2013}}

===''Stack-Up''=== {{CSS image crop |image = Nintendo Family Computer Famicom (1983) 2.jpg |bSize = 470 |cWidth = 180 |cHeight = 200 |oTop = 30 |oLeft = 0 |Location = right |Description = The Famicom version of R.O.B. with the ''Stack-Up'' blocks }} ''Stack-Up'' comes with five trays, five different colored circular blocks, and two claws worn by R.O.B. for grabbing the blocks. Again, the player controls Professor Hector. In the Direct game mode, the player makes the block stack match with the one shown on screen by moving Hector to the button that corresponds to the desired movement. In Memory, the player makes a list of commands to recreate the displayed block setup, and then R.O.B. executes the list. In Bingo, the player makes the shown block stack, where the color of the block does not matter. There are two enemies: one causes the player to lose a life, and the other makes R.O.B. perform undesired actions.

===Aftermarket=== In 2014, independent game developer Retrozone produced a limited release NES cartridge titled ''8-Bit X-Mas 2014''. The title screen features R.O.B. character graphics, and interacts with the toy by making it dance to Christmas music.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.retrousb.com/product_info.php?cPath=30&products_id=132 |title=8 BIT XMAS 2014 - retroUSB |publisher=RetroUSB |access-date=July 16, 2015 }}</ref>

==Reception== In January 1986, an independent research firm commissioned by Nintendo delivered a survey of 200 NES owners, showing that the most popular given reason for buying an NES was because children wanted the robot—followed by good graphics, variety of games, and the uniqueness and newness of the NES package.<ref name="Here's how">{{cite web |title=Here's how Nintendo announced the NES in North America almost 30 years ago |date=October 31, 2015 |first=Owen S. |last=Good |work=Polygon |url=https://www.polygon.com/2015/10/31/9651584/nintendo-nes-anniversary-original-launch-documents |access-date=July 1, 2019 }}</ref> The creation and marketing of R.O.B. as a "Trojan Horse" after the video game crash of 1983 was placed fifth in GameSpy's twenty-five smartest moves in gaming history.<ref name="g4tv"/><ref name="gamespy.com"/> Yahoo! ranked R.O.B. as one of the craziest video game controllers and lamented that the peripheral only worked with two games.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hard to Handle: Craziest Game Controllers - R.O.B. |url=http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/hard-to-handle-craziest-game-controllers/hard-to-handle-craziest-game-controllers/1399729/8 |date=May 26, 2010 |publisher=Yahoo |access-date=January 30, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100602031258/http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/hard-to-handle-craziest-game-controllers/hard-to-handle-craziest-game-controllers/1399729/8 |archive-date=June 2, 2010 }}</ref>

By 1987, the two-year-old R.O.B. and ''Robot Series'' had received none of Nintendo's promised updates while the rest of the NES's library had exploded with classic flagship franchise-building hits like ''Super Mario Bros.'', ''The Legend of Zelda'', and ''Metroid''. In 1987, Mark Seeley of ''Crash!'' magazine visited a toy fair in England to observe a playthrough of ''Gyromite'' with R.O.B., saying of the struggling demonstrator that he had "never seen anything so complicated and difficult in all my life".<ref name="Crash March 1987">{{cite magazine |magazine=Crash! |title=Lasers Lasers Everywhere! |first=Mark |last=Seeley |date=March 1987 |quote=I asked for a demonstration of this system using the robot assistant, and have never seen anything so complicated and difficult in all my life. The product manager assigned to do the demo was in real trouble - he had to keep talking at the same time as changing screens, moving the robot up and down, spinning the gyroscopes and moving the little man on the screen. Sounds like just the sort of game we could use for a reviewer's challenge... |url=https://archive.org/stream/Crash36Jan87/Crash/Crash38-Mar87_djvu.txt |access-date=July 1, 2019 }}</ref> In July 1987, ''Family Computing'' magazine advocated buying the much cheaper and more entertaining setup of the Control Deck and ''Super Mario Bros.'' instead of R.O.B., saying, "Anyone who has seen a Nintendo ad on television would think that R.O.B. is the heart of the system. Not so. R.O.B. is an ingenious idea [but] while R.O.B. is a cute little guy, there isn't much you can do with him. ... [N]either [of his two games] generates much excitement."<ref name="Family Computing #47">{{cite magazine |magazine=Family Computing |publisher=Scholastic |location=New York, NY |issn=0738-6079 |oclc=15690658 |volume=5 |issue=7 |title=Video Games Reborn |page=16 |url=https://archive.org/details/family-computing-47/page/n17 |access-date=July 1, 2019 }}</ref>

In 2018, Owen S. Good of ''Polygon'' remembered his childhood experience with the vintage R.O.B. and assessed the setup as "a novel, if almost Rube Goldberg-esque way of 'playing' with its users ... that quickly got dull".<ref name="A Look Back">{{cite web |title=A look back at some of Nintendo's strangest hardware and accessories |work=Polygon |date=April 15, 2018 |first=Owen S. |last=Good |url=https://www.polygon.com/2018/4/15/17239630/nintendo-weird-accessories-hardware-power-glove-rob-wii-vitality-sensor |access-date=June 25, 2019 }}</ref>

Historian Chris Kohler was unimpressed with the product's long-term entertainment value. "As video game controller peripherals go, R.O.B. was a particularly gimmicky one. Once the novelty of controlling a robot's arms and spinning a glorified top had worn off, usually within days or even hours, R.O.B. got in the way of enjoyment. He required battery replacements too often, and it was immediately apparent that the maze barriers in ''Gyromite'' could be turned on and off just as easily by tapping the A and B buttons on a standard controller, which was all that R.O.B.'s complicated motions ended up doing."<ref name="Power-Up"/>{{rp|214}}

In retrospect, Kohler considered R.O.B.'s discontinuation to have become immaterial because the product's whole existence has ultimately amounted to "merely a Trojan Horse to get NES systems into American homes". He said "The gambit worked like a charm, and nobody missed R.O.B. or the Zapper once players realized that games played with the standard video game controller, like ''Super Mario Bros.'', were much more fun."<ref name="Power-Up"/>{{rp|214}}

===Legacy=== After many failures, the late addition of R.O.B. gave a key product distinction to the launch of the Nintendo Entertainment System, reclassified the platform as a toy, and served as a Trojan Horse to enable the platform's successful launch. This, in turn, secured the survival of Nintendo of America and revitalized the entire video game industry. A followup promotional poster from Nintendo simply pictured R.O.B. and said, "They said reviving the video game market wasn't humanly possible. It wasn't."<ref name="The NES Launch Collection">{{cite web |title=The NES Launch Collection |publisher=The Video Game History Foundation |first=Frank |last=Cifaldi |date=February 27, 2017 |url=https://gamehistory.org/nes-launch-collection-1985/ |access-date=July 4, 2019 }}</ref>

R.O.B. has made cameo appearances in many video games, such as ''StarTropics'' (1990) for NES,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://startropics.com/cameos.php |title=StarTropics.com :: Cameos |website=startropics.com |access-date=September 2, 2017 }}</ref> ''F-Zero GX'' (2003),<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/7kk4WghEbmc Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20080207173859/http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=7kk4WghEbmc Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kk4WghEbmc |title=F-Zero GX - Port Town Aero Dive (SSBB Stage Setting) |author=CrappyCaptureDevice |date=January 29, 2008 |via=Youtube.com |access-date=September 2, 2017}}{{cbignore }}</ref> the ''WarioWare'' series,<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/K5HK_g4Kng8 Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20140928083948/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5HK_g4Kng8 Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5HK_g4Kng8 |title=WarioWare: Starfox/starwing |last=Junahu |date=May 31, 2007 |website=Youtube.com |access-date=September 2, 2017}}{{cbignore }}</ref> ''The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask'' (2015, 3DS), the ''Star Fox'' series,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://kotaku.com/everything-we-know-about-nintendos-experimental-new-sta-1711733204 |title=Everything We Know About Nintendo's Experimental New&nbsp;Star Fox |first=Stephen |last=Totilo |website=Kotaku.com |date=June 16, 2015 |access-date=September 2, 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2016/04/guide_knowing_your_enemy_in_star_fox_guard |title=Guide: Knowing Your Enemy In Star Fox Guard |first=Gonçalo |last=Lopes |date=April 24, 2016 |website=Nintendolife.com |access-date=September 2, 2017 }}</ref> and ''Mario Kart World''.

R.O.B. is an unlockable character in ''Mario Kart DS'',<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gamefaqs.com/ds/920788-mario-kart-ds/cheats |title=Mario Kart DS Cheats, Codes, and Secrets for DS - GameFAQs |website=www.gamefaqs.com |access-date=September 2, 2017 }}</ref> ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'',<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.smashbros.com/wii/en_us/characters/hidden07.html |title=R.O.B. |work=Smash Bros. DOJO!! |publisher=Nintendo |date=March 6, 2008 |access-date=January 30, 2013 }}</ref> ''Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS'' and ''Wii U'',<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.smashbros.com/wiiu-3ds/us/characters/secret06.html |title=Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U |website=www.smashbros.com |access-date=September 2, 2017 }}</ref> and ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'',<ref>{{cite web |url=https://kotaku.com/teen-dominates-smash-tournament-using-6-different-fight-1838857017 |title=Teen Dominates ''Smash'' Tournament Using 6 Different Fighters |date=October 7, 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.smashbros.com/en_US/fighter/42.html |title=Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the Nintendo Switch system |publisher=Nintendo |access-date=June 16, 2018 }}</ref> each of which refers to R.O.B. as male. In ''Brawl''{{'}}s adventure mode, The Subspace Emissary, R.O.B. plays a major role in the plot.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.smashbros.com/wii/en_us/gamemode/modea/modea03.html |title=The Subspace Army |work=Smash Bros. DOJO!! |publisher=Nintendo |date=August 21, 2007 |access-date=January 30, 2013 }}</ref> As part of ''Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS'' and ''Wii U'', R.O.B. has two Amiibo figurines, uniquely produced in both the gray and white NES color scheme and the red and white Famicom color scheme.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nintendo.com/amiibo/detail/rob-amiibo-super-smash-bros-series |title=amiibo by Nintendo - R.O.B. |website=www.nintendo.com |access-date=September 2, 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/12/15/ryu-roy-famicom-rob-amiibo-us-release-date-announced |title=Ryu, Roy, Famicom ROB Amiibo US Release Date Announced |first=Andrew |last=Goldfarb |date=December 15, 2015 |website=Ign.com |access-date=September 2, 2017 }}</ref>

R.O.B. is the avatar for TASBot, a tool-assisted speedrun software bot for video games.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cecil |first=Allan |date=November 14, 2018 |title=Meet TASBot, a Linux-Powered Robot Playing Video Games for Charity |url=https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/meet-tasbot-linux-powered-robot-playing-video-games-charity |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111230008/https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/meet-tasbot-linux-powered-robot-playing-video-games-charity |archive-date=November 11, 2020 |access-date=March 30, 2021 |website=Linux Journal }}</ref>

R.O.B. appears in ''The Super Mario Galaxy Movie'' and is voiced by Ed Skudder.<ref>{{cite tweet |user=FocusFireNo10 |number=2031514824690053501 |title=We have the official voice for ROB! @edskudder #thesupermariogalaxymovie |date=March 10, 2026 }}</ref> In the film, R.O.B. is a slow moving service assistant (to mimic the real toy) in the Gateway Galaxy, directing both Peach and later Mario to the flight deck. He also was featured in the film's promotional website.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Gateway Galaxy Website now Live |url=https://gonintendo.com/contents/58618-the-super-mario-galaxy-movie-gateway-galaxy-website-now-live-new-clip-shared |access-date=March 11, 2026 |work=GoNintendo |date=March 9, 2026 |language=en }}</ref> He sports his Famicom color scheme.

==See also== {{Portal bar|Video games|1980s|Japan}} * HERO, a programmable robot series for home computers from 1982 to 1995 * Topo, a programmable robot series for home computers from 1983 to 1984

==Notes== {{notelist}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [https://www.nintendo.com/jp/famicom/software/hvc-gy/index.html ''Gyromite''] on the Famicom 40th Anniversary page {{in lang|ja}} * [https://www.nintendo.com/jp/famicom/software/hvc-bl/index.html ''Stack-Up''] on the Famicom 40th Anniversary page {{in lang|ja}}

{{Nintendo Entertainment System|state=expanded}} {{Nintendo hardware|NES}} {{Game controllers}} {{Super Smash Bros.}}

Category:1985 robots Category:Video game characters introduced in 1985 Category:Japanese inventions Category:Japanese mascots Category:Nintendo characters Category:Nintendo Entertainment System accessories Category:Nintendo toys Category:1980s toys Category:Fantasy film characters Category:Fictional robots Category:Robots of Japan Category:Super Smash Bros. fighters Category:Toy robots Category:Fictional sole survivors Category:Video game mascots Category:Video game sidekicks