9-Pin Connector Video Game Controllers Are Just Amazing!

Did you know that Atari 2600 controllers used 9-Pin connectors? Did you also know that the very same connectors were used for the Atari 7800 so that it could be backwards compatible with the Atari 2600, even in terms of controllers? That makes perfect sense.

But the ColecoVision also used 9-Pin connectors... As did the Sega Master System and Genesis... And the cool thing is that they all seem to be 100% compatible with each other! It's just amazing that Atari, Coleco, and Sega used the same connectors for their controllers (probably for budget reasons, I'd guess), and though they were not exactly meant to be used like such it's still just interesting.

But, oddly enough, I don't see people use the older controllers on the later systems. For example, I've seen a Genesis controller used on a 2600, ColecoVision, and Master System but I've never seen the opposite. That's a shame too, since the funniest thing happens when you play a Genesis game with a Master System controller:

The "1" button acts as the "B" button and the "2" button acts as the "C" button... But the "2" button also acts as the "Start" button, and at the exact same time as the "C" button.

So if you're playing a game like Sonic the Hedgehog, if you want to pause you press the "2" button, which results in you pausing the game with Sonic doing the first frame of his jumping animation, which I just find funny; also, it's odd how the "1" button is also labeled as the "Start" button of the MS controller, yet the "2" button seems to be the real "Start" button in the end. Now for a one-button game like Sonic a Master System controlelr works just fine, but it's obvious that playing a game that uses 2 or more buttons is just ridiculous. But it just makes me wonder what would happen if you tried to use a 2600, 7800, and ColecoVision controller on a Genesis...

Why? Just curious, that's all. Still, 9-Pin connector video game controllers are just amazing.