When Giant Buttons Meet PlayStation, You Get the Kid-Friendly Kids Station Controller That Japan Kept Mostly to Itself

Sony’s PlayStation carved out an enormous place in Japanese living rooms during the late 1990s and early 2000s. While the rest of the world focused on racing games, fighters, and RPGs, Japan also received an entire line of educational titles built around a television channel called Kids Station. Bandai stepped in with a matching piece of hardware that most people outside the country never encountered.

The controller has the model number BANC-0002 and was released in 2001. It was created as a simple game for the youngest players. An uncomplicated tool. Instead of the typical bells and whistles of a regular controller, such as sticks, shoulder buttons, and various face inputs, this one has only a few large buttons. There are four in total: a triangle, square, cross, and circle, all placed in the usual areas we’re used to, but large enough for young fingers to press regardless of size, and quite forgiving if your presses aren’t always on target.

When you pick up one of these, the first thing you notice is the cord, which is unusual in that it can be disconnected from the controller. This is not what you’d expect to see on a controller promoted as an accessory or kit. The cable also includes other information, such as the date it was made (March 2001, if I’m not mistaken) and the fact that it was made in China. The controller has some rubber feet on the underside to keep it from rolling around the shop, however those feet can become sticky and fall apart over time. The design remains circular and child-friendly, with no sharp edges to worry about.

The electronics inside the enclosure are simple: everything is handled by a single square circuit board. Each of the four major buttons has three sets of contacts underneath, so even if you press it slightly off-center, it will register. The board is a rehash of a standard PlayStation controller, with the four buttons mapped to the appropriate facial inputs and a single connector providing start, select, and directional inputs. There isn’t much fancy technology in here, but it gets the job done, which is all it was designed to do.

Apparently, this controller includes 10 games designed to work with the Kids Station TV show. Anpanman, Winnie the Pooh, Thomas the Tank Engine, and “I Can Do It By Myself,” a cooking game in which you use only four large buttons to follow a recipe, acquire supplies, and complete simple culinary activities. The games are all repetitive and simple to follow, with clear instructions and illustrations; there is no need for quick reflexes or complicated menus here. In fact, one of the key goals in inventing this controller was to make it as simple as possible for young children to start gaming.