Multiplayer adapter
A multiplayer adapter (sometimes also referred to as a four-player adapter due to its design ) is an accessory element for game consoles that allows more controllers to be connected than are provided on the basic device. A multiplayer adapter often has one or two ports for the console and typically three to five ports for controllers.
Multiplayer adapters appeared for the consoles NES , SNES , Sega Mega Drive , Sega Saturn , PlayStation and their successors, as well as for home computers such as the Commodore 64 , Amiga and Atari ST .
Codemasters took a different approach with the J-Cart for the Mega Drive, controller connections 3 and 4 are located directly on the game module. So you can play with four players without a multiplayer adapter. With the late market launch and the move away from the module to the CD-ROM in the next generation of consoles as a storage medium, however, the J-Cart was only a short-lived exotic in the video game market.
With the introduction of consoles such as the Nintendo 64 or the Sega Dreamcast , which already offer four connections, as well as the increasing spread of online services especially for these consoles, the importance of multiplayer adapters declined. With the introduction of wireless controllers as standard (see Xbox 360 , PlayStation 3 , Wii ), the importance of multiplayer adapters decreases even more.
