It actually looks like the knitting machine is a standard machine (if cheaper and "plastic-er"), and isn't actually hooked up to the NES in an electronic way.
However, the position of controller makes me think that when you pass the knitting machine head over that section, the software will keep track of what row you're on (i++).
Because you could use the cartridge or the knitting machine alone, I would describe this more as a video tutorial on how to use a knitting machine.
Which is a little disappointing because I wanted to see R.O.B. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.O.B.) with two needles and the latest neighborhood gossip. ;)
Thing is, standard knitting machines are expensive and cannot be controlled from standard cheap consoles :-)
A friend of mine has one of these, it's a massive, metallic and heavy version of the one in the article. It makes a big difference. If this was available and it wasn't too expensive I think it would be really cool.
The title made me think of knitting needles with sensors that some home tied into a game but this textile printer is really cool. Imagine handing your classmate a custom-printed scarf during recess.
I don't think this "printed" in any recognizable sense of the term. From the picture, it was a non-electronic device which had one-directional communication with the console by mechanically pressing buttons on a standard controller. So presumably, you had to operate the thing by hand, and it would use the NES to give you feedback about what to do at each step.
Yeah I was wondering how it controlled the printer too, this makes more sense.
They could have had a hit if they added some more engagement for the user, make it like a game, you can get scores based on how good you followed the knitting instructions...
This peripheral is a good example of innovation that was way ahead of the market. There probably was a market opportunity when the Beadazzler was the nation's favorite "As-seen-on-TV" gadget. Even if it were to be released today for the Wii/360/PS3, the R&D costs would likely far exceed the revenues that it would take in.
The Aprilia SR50 Ditech with direct injection had an ECU that was limitied to make it's power output street legal. Our finest moment was when we got our hands on a debug cable for that ECU. You connected it to an outlet on the moped. The other end had a GameBoy cartridge that went into your GameBoy.
Removing the limit on the ECU would of course have been illegal. Let's just say that we could have done that if we wanted to...
