R.O.B.

File:200px-Robotic Operating Buddy.jpg
Robotic Operating Buddy
Games	Gyromite and Stack-Up
Debut	(1985)

R.O.B. is a small robot that attaches to the Nintendo Entertainment System. R.O.B. stands for Robotic Operating Buddy. It was released in Japan in 1984 and arrived in America a year later.

R.O.B. was only sold as part of the NES Deluxe set and another set containing R.O.B. and Gyromite. R.O.B. was not very popular at the time because the the games he worked with were too complex for young children. Also, people were frustrated with how slow R.O.B.'s movement was. Players pressing buttons themselves was much easier.

However, R.O.B. was very successful as a Trojan horse. Nintendo managed to convince stores to stock the NES because it came with R.O.B., the "robot toy."

Operation

R.O.B. receives commands from the television through flashes. To communicate within the NES, R.O.B. either uses a controller or depends on the player.

Compatible Games

• Gyromite
• Stack-Up

Cameos

• In StarTropics, the robot Nav-Com looks like R.O.B.
• The Gameboy Camera has a picture of R.O.B. that can be unlocked if you score 500 points in Ball.
• In Kirby's Dream Land 3, players have to reassemble R.O.B. for Professor Hector.
• ROB 64 from Star Fox 64 is named after R.O.B. Also, the boss Spyborg resembles R.O.B.
• Both F-Zero GX and F-Zero AX feature R.O.B. on their tracks.
• R.O.B. appears in some of 9-Volt games in the Wario Ware series.
• In Pikmin 2, R.O.B.'s head is one of the treasures as well as five Stack-Up blocks.
• In Wario Ware: Smooth Moves, R.O.B. appears as a boss wielding a NES Zapper in an altered version of Star Fox.
• R.O.B. is an unlockable racer in Mario Kart DS.
• Multiple R.O.B. units work for the Subspace Army in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. They are used to detonate the subspace bombs and carry parts of worlds into Subspace. R.O.B. is also unlockable as a playable character through the Subspace Emissary.

Trivia

• R.O.B's color scheme varies from Japan to North America. In North America, he matches the NES's color scheme of Dark and light Grey. The Japanese version matches the Famicom's color scheme, White and Maroon red.