A multitap is a video game console

Video game console

A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...

 peripheral that increases the number of controller

Game controller

A game controller is a device used with games or entertainment systems used to control a playable character or object, or otherwise provide input in a computer game. A controller is typically connected to a game console or computer by means of a wire, cord or nowadays, by means of wireless connection...

 ports available to the player, allowing additional controllers to be used in play. A multitap often takes the form of a box with three or more controller ports which is then connected to a spare port on the console itself.

Mainly sports games supported multitaps due to the multiplayer aspect of some sport games, though some RPGs and first person shooters have taken advantage of multitap support.

8-bit era

The first multitap device to be produced was by NEC-Hudson Soft

Hudson Soft

, formally known as , is a majority-owned subsidiary of Konami Corporation is a Japanese electronic entertainment publisher headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo Midtown, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, with an additional office in the Hudson Building in Sapporo. It was founded on May 18, 1973...

 for the PC-Engine / TurboGrafx-16

TurboGrafx-16

TurboGrafx-16, fully titled as TurboGrafx-16 Entertainment SuperSystem and known in Japan as the , is a video game console developed by Hudson Soft and NEC, released in Japan on October 30, 1987, and in North America on August 29, 1989....

. The PC-Engine is one of the few consoles to have been originally fitted with only one controller port. To make "multiplayer" gaming possible, one had to purchase the Turbo Tap, expanding the PC-Engine to 5 players.

The Nintendo Entertainment System

Nintendo Entertainment System

The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...

 (NES) saw two official multitaps, the NES Four Score

NES Four Score

The NES Four Score is an accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System created by Nintendo. It allows four-player gameplay on games that supported it. The Four Score was released in 1990....

 and the wireless NES Satellite

NES Satellite

The NES Satellite is a Nintendo Entertainment System accessory created by Nintendo, and released in 1989.The Satellite allows up to four players to play the NES anywhere in the room without the necessity of wires running from the NES to the players' controllers. To use, a small infrared receiver...

.

16-bit era

Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...

 - Sega's most important 3rd party developer for the Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis - released the 4 Way Play to make four-player sports games possible. Shortly after that, Sega released its own four-player adapter which was incompatible with EA's adapter. The way out of that difficult situation was a slightly redesigned adapter by Sega, which supported both the Sega and the EA formats.

Codemasters

Codemasters

The Codemasters Software Company Limited, or Codemasters is a British video game developer founded by Richard and David Darling in 1986...

 developed a quasi-multitap for the Mega Drive called the J-Cart

J-Cart

The J-Cart was a special cartridge developed by Codemasters for the Sega Mega Drive console. It held not only the game data but also came with two additional gamepad ports. This effectively allowed four players to play simultaneously without any adapters or workarounds...

, first released in 1994

1994 in video gaming

-Events:*Nintendo calls this year "1994: The Year of the Cartridge".*Nintendo Australia Pty. Ltd, the Australian subsidiary of Nintendo Co., Ltd is established and opened by Hiroshi Yamauchi and effectively ends Mattel Australia's distribution of Nintendo's products throughout Australia.*"Project...

. The game would have two extra joypad ports built into the cartridge itself, thus negating the need to buy extra hardware (beyond two more joypads) to play four-player games.

Nintendo

Nintendo

is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....

, in conjunction with Hudson Soft

Hudson Soft

, formally known as , is a majority-owned subsidiary of Konami Corporation is a Japanese electronic entertainment publisher headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo Midtown, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, with an additional office in the Hudson Building in Sapporo. It was founded on May 18, 1973...

, released in 1993

1993 in video gaming

-Events:*March — In Sweden, the Swedish video game magazine Super PLAY starts. The original name is Super Power.*Midway Games embroiled in controversy for its game Mortal Kombat from 1992 when the game is launched for video game consoles in 1993....

, the Super Multitap for the Super Nintendo

Super Nintendo Entertainment System

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...

. It could be purchased bundled with the well regarded game Super Bomberman

Super Bomberman

Super Bomberman is the first video game in the Bomberman series to appear on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is also the first four-player game to be released on the Super NES.-Gameplay:...

which helped establish the popularity of the peripheral. Several other compatible SNES Multitap

SNES Multitap

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System had several multitaps, the first one being Hudson Soft's Super Multitap which was released in 1993 and featured four controller ports. With one of these devices plugged into the Super Nintendo's controller port #2, the Super Multitap added multiplayer support...

s followed. With the success of the Nintendo device, the term "multitap" became synonymous with similar devices.

A few games released for the Amiga

Amiga

The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...

 home computer system after 1995

1995 in video gaming

-Events:*May 11 – Introduction of trade magazine GameWeek *May 11-16 — The 1st annual Electronic Entertainment Expo is held in Los Angeles, California...

 included support for custom-built multitaps. Instructions for how to build a multitap were included in the manual to classic Amiga racing sequel Super Skidmarks

Super Skidmarks

Super Skidmarks is a racing video game developed by Acid Software and released in 1995. The game is the sequel to Skidmarks and as such was also termed Skidmarks 2 and Super Skidmarks 2 by commentators. The game features “minimally realistic” action viewed from an isometric perspective as well as...

. The Amiga multitap would plug into the computer's parallel port and provide two additional ports for use. Earlier, the Amiga version of Bomberman, Dynablaster

Bomberman (TG-16)

is a 1990 video game developed by Hudson Soft for the TurboGrafx-16. Belonging to the Bomberman franchise, it is a greatly expanded re-imagining of the first game in the series....

 had already included support for a similar device.

32-bit era and beyond

During the 32-bit era

History of video game consoles (fifth generation)

The fifth-generation era refers to the computer and video games, video game consoles, and video game handhelds available at stores...

 multitaps were released by Atari

Atari

Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...

 for the Jaguar

Atari Jaguar

The Atari Jaguar is a video game console that was released by Atari Corporation in 1993. It was the last to be marketed under the Atari brand until the release of the Atari Flashback in 2004. It was designed to surpass the Mega Drive/Genesis, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and the Panasonic...

, Sega

Sega

, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...

 for the Saturn

Sega Saturn

The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...

 and Sony

Sony

, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....

 for its PlayStation

PlayStation

The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...

 and PlayStation 2

PlayStation 2

The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...

 consoles.

The PlayStation multitaps also allow the same number of memory cards as controllers. In games such as Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore, this allows all players to insert memory cards and track their personal statistics. The PlayStation 2 allows the use of 8 controllers and 8 memory cards simultaneously by plugging in a Multitap in both controller ports.

In recent years the multitap has become an increasingly redundant peripheral, with most console designers preferring to simply expand the number of controller ports on the console itself. While the first console to actually feature 4 built-in controller ports was the Bally Astrocade

Bally Astrocade

The Astrocade is an early video game console and simple computer system designed by a team at Midway, the videogame division of Bally. It was marketed only for a limited time before Bally decided to exit the market. The rights were later picked up by a third-party company, who re-released it and...

, that feature would not be widely used again for well over a decade until the arrival of the Nintendo 64

Nintendo 64

The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...

. Subsequent consoles, with the exception of Sony's PlayStation 2, all included four ports as standard. With the advent of standard wireless controllers in the next generation of consoles, the days of the traditional multitap seem to have come to an end.

Method of operation

Many systems were not designed with multitaps in mind, and so require some clever design to work. Because of this, games usually have to be specially written to include multitap support.

The most common way of implementing 8 and 16 bit multitaps is to multiplex

Multiplexing

The multiplexed signal is transmitted over a communication channel, which may be a physical transmission medium. The multiplexing divides the capacity of the low-level communication channel into several higher-level logical channels, one for each message signal or data stream to be transferred...

 the signals from each attached controller in some way. Some systems have unused lines available on the controller port, designed for future expansion, which can be used. Another popular technique is to serialise the data from each controller. Since the NES/SNES uses a serial bus for standard controllers, creating a multitap is simply a case of increasing the amount of serial data available to the console. In that way, an almost unlimited number of extra controllers can be connected.

Later systems used more complex buses, such as the N64 serial bus, the Dreamcast Maple Bus or USB. These buses tend to be more modular and can already support more than one device per port, making the multitap little more than a hub.