The NeGcon was the creation of
Namco designer Satoru Kuriyama. Best known as the production manager for
Ridge Racer (1993), Kuriyama envisioned the idea for the NeGcon while observing a fellow Namco employee,
Valkyrie no Densetsu creator "Ms. Okawa", playing a
Super Famicom racing game while simultaneously tilting the controller in the direction the car was turning in the game. Kuriyama then began thinking of a controller that could twist and turn to perform movement in precise game movements. Namco's console game division caught wind of the idea and suggested that if the controller was drastically different from other game controllers already on the market, it could help create new, interesting game concepts. The team looked to racing games for inspiration, thinking of creating a controller akin to a steering wheel that allowed for quick, precise turns. The name NeGcon is based on the Japanese word "nejiru", meaning "to twist". Yutaka Isokawa, a Namco engineer, was assigned to the NeGcon production team shortly after completing work on two
Yu Yu Hakusho games for the Super Famicom. Originally a developer at
Asmik that designed
Catrap for the
Game Boy, he was integrated into Namco's console game division to begin work on the new controller. Isokawa believes that part of the idea behind the NeGcon was based on Namco's desire to create hardware for the home console market, rather than be strictly a third-party publisher for companies such as
Nintendo and
Sony Computer Entertainment — this idea was further fueled by the fact that Namco's rival,
Sega, was at the time one of the largest hardware manufacturers in the home video game market. Isokawa believes that the company intended to begin producing controllers and potentially consoles before the
PlayStation was released. While designing the NeGcon, the production team turned to racing games for inspiration; they specifically looked at steering wheels and how they moved to potentially create a controller that allowed for quick, responsive turns around corners in tracks. The controller itself was mainly designed by Kazumi Mizuno, the graphical planning manager in Namco's consumer game division. It was suggested by Isokawa and others that the controller could be twisted to recreate the feeling of a steering wheel, rather than having it be held at a specific angle. Multiple prototypes were proposed, including one with a longer controller prong at one hand and another with all four buttons being analogue. Many of the designers were nervous about the swivel that allowed the controller to be twisted as they thought it would be too fragile. During production of the NeGcon, Isokawa began work on a video game that could show off the controller's capabilities. It was a golf game that had the player twist the NeGcon to simulate the action of swinging a golf club to hit the ball. Isokawa scrapped the game as Namco would have to compete with Sony's ''
Everybody's Golf'', which he felt was not possible due to the latter's widespread success. He also believed that golf players who tried out the game would dislike it for its controls and concept overall. Although the game itself was cancelled, the team used it to test the NeGcon prototype units as a way to help correct potential issues and finalize the design. ==Supported games==