Great gifts for geeks, hand-picked by Download Squad
Posts with tag prototype

Wii prototype auction is disappointing

Posted Dec 31st 2007 5:00PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: Fan stuff


eBay seller funky_fruits put one of the rarest items we've ever seen on eBay: a one-of-a-kind Wii prototype system, complete with pre-production controller. Produced well in advance of the final system's design, this item features unique properties like "Sensor Bar port for detection of anyone coming within 5m of Nintendo Wii™ prototype - automatically vaporises intruders," "Accessory port on bottom of Wii Remote which can also control your TV and VCR," and "Wireless Free."

How could we possibly be disappointed by an item that is so powerful that "Everything is just shoved into memory because there is so much of it - blinking fast"? Because the auction has been ended early by the seller. Nintendo must have gotten to him and threatened to vaporize him like they did the 10 scientists who originally created the system while living in a deserted Japanese airfield.

Now, in an alternate universe, you're playing with power

Posted Dec 28th 2007 3:00PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: Fan stuff


This is about the coolest prototype thing we've ever seen: not only is it an unreleased prototype controller, it's a controller for a system that never existed. This controller was a prototype for the development kit of the Nintendo/Sony SNES CD system.

You can see in this early prototype the beginning of what would become the PlayStation controller: the triangle-shaped start button and the eight gameplay buttons (two of the face buttons would become shoulder buttons in the final controller). This thing would be the prize of any game collection. We don't know how this eBay seller got his hands on this thing; we'd expect it to be locked up in Nintendo headquarters somewhere. It must have been an ordeal to obtain.

It is priced accordingly.

[Via GameSniped]

Get a half-baked version of Panic Restaurant

Posted Nov 16th 2007 7:00PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: Fan stuff

We love it when extraordinarily random game prototypes show up on eBay. We have yet to actually pull the trigger and start collecting the things, because we have become attached to our electricity and would like to keep enough money around to ensure its continued service.

It's hard to imagine a more random appearance than that of this Panic Restaurant prototype. Panic Restaurant is an NES platformer from Taito that stars a chef and takes place in a giant, trap-and-monster-filled restaurant. It falls squarely into the 'wacky midrange NES platformer' category along with stuff like Whomp 'Em. For some reason, the very middle-of-the-road-ness of this game is what makes a prototype of it so irresistible for us. Sure, everyone wants a prototype of a hugely popular game, or an extremely obscure game, but collecting rare editions of perfectly ordinary games sounds like exactly the kind of hobby we could blow our cash on. Plus, food-themed games are hilarious.

[Via GameSniped]

The most interesting Wiimote grip shell ever

Posted Nov 12th 2007 8:00PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: Peripherals, Controller


The person selling this Wiimote controller grip on eBay claims it's an unreleased development model. We've certainly never seen this exact model before. GameSniped agrees, and they're fairly savvy about neat rare game stuff. With no brand marking, we're having a hard time searching for it to see if anything matching this shape made it to the market. It's a bit nicer-looking than some other grips we've seen, owing mostly to its similarity to the quite comfortable Dual Shock.

Who made this? Why didn't it get released? Why does it have fake, nonfunctioning Dual Shock shoulder buttons? The controller grip is shrouded in mystery.

[Via GameSniped]

The Wiimote, circa 2001

Posted Aug 29th 2007 5:15PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: Controller


This is a controller prototype created by Gyration for Nintendo back in 2001, called the GyroPod. It could be held like a PlayStation-style controller, or snapped apart into a Wiimote/Nunchuk configuration.

Nintendo licensed Gyration's motion-sensing technology, and commissioned them to create controller concepts like the one pictured. So basically you're looking at a direct ancestor to the Wiimote of today. We like the connecting concept, and wish Nintendo had held on to it. Although it wouldn't work too well with the current controller shapes, and the iconic remote-controlness of the Wiimote is a big part of what gets nongamers into it.

That, in turn, allows us to write those triumphant NPD posts month after month. So, in summary, never mind.

[Via Kotaku]

Original Nintendo/Sony PlayStation prototype found

Posted Jun 7th 2007 1:00PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: News


The Sony PlayStation was, in the distant past, devised as a collaboration with Nintendo: a CD system that also played Super Famicom cartridges. The two parted ways in a less than amicable fashion before the system was produced, and then the PlayStation went on to become the system that Nintendo fanboys would simultaneously hate and own.

Somehow, a near-complete prototype of a standalone PlayStation system has appeared, as reported by Game Rave. They don't give any information, stating "Real updates coming very, very soon" but it's enough to look at the thing. There are also pictures of a much earlier prototype of the SNES CD add-on.

It's a little scary to think of how games may have developed if this product had been successful. Instead of the 3D boom, would we all be playing FMV games now? Or 2D platformers with really good music?

[Via Insert Credit]

The other lost Sonic game

Posted May 17th 2007 12:00PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: News, Virtual Console



We talk a lot about stuff we would like to see on the Virtual Console, but here's the stuff that would really make the service noteworthy: unreleased games. Recently, a NeoGAFfer named FortNinety posted some footage of a previously unknown Sonic game on YouTube, and it is weird. Weirder than the other known unreleased Sonic game, Sonic X-treme on the Saturn.

The game, developed by the US-based Sega Technical Institute, uses the art style and characters from the Jaleel White-tastic Saturday morning cartoon. It features a Final Fight-style perspective, Metal Gear-style sneaking, and a very uncharacteristic ring-throwing attack. Does it look good? Not really. But unreleased and unfinished games are super interesting, and we'd love a chance to play even an unfinished version of this.

Continue reading The other lost Sonic game

Wiimote prototypes

Posted Dec 19th 2006 5:09PM by Jason Wishnov
Filed under: Controller

Not so awesome.
A recent scan from the Japanese magazine Nikkei Business shows a few of the very early prototype controllers for the Wii. The far left version is certainly closest to the final product, though perhaps more TV remote-like. The lower-right shows a Gamecube-like controller that doubles as a throwing disc for your dog, and the upper-right shows some sort of twist-mechanism device. But the center? What in the world could that have been used for? Certainly, Nintendo's mantra of simplicity is effective, but a one-button wonder could hardly have managed Twilight Princess, we think.

After the hundreds of fan-made controllers that were going around the web pre-TGS '05, it's interesting to see what Nintendo themselves were dreaming up. Anyone think of something similar?

Watch movies on your Wii!

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