Nintendo prototypes
Unexpected museum addition: unique Nintendo hardware prototypes go on display
Just days before the official opening of the Nintendo Museum in Kyoto, visitors got an unexpected surprise: rare and previously unseen hardware prototypes were added to the exhibition, covering the period from the Super Famicom era through the Wii U.
Nintendo fans had initially been concerned that the Nintendo Direct presentation and press materials made the museum look light on hardware history. It now appears Nintendo took that criticism on board. The second floor includes an exhibit called “Storage” containing dozens of unique prototypes, some of which had never been shown publicly before.
A user on X (formerly Twitter) known as FarmboyinJapan was among the first visitors and shared a list of what he saw, because photography inside the exhibit was prohibited (!):
- A Super Famicom prototype with red buttons — previously seen online, but now displayed physically for the first time.
- Several Ultra 64 controller concepts, from the N64's development era, including one with a metal stick and another with a single central grip; the final clay mock-up is also on display.
- A GameCube prototype in translucent green-blue plastic, with no internal hardware.
- A GameCube controller with elongated grips, the left side made from transparent plastic that has yellowed with age.
- Several Wii Remote prototypes, including one shaped like a spinner with a D-pad and buttons, and another resembling a giant D-pad with buttons around the body.
- An early Wii Classic Controller design that allowed a Wii Remote to be mounted in the center.
- A Wii U GamePad prototype with multiple cables several meters long.
- A transparent Virtual Boy and foam controller mock-ups with buttons and cables.
- Several Game Boy prototypes, including a black model with red buttons and the words “Dot Matrix Game”; another version is closer to the final design but has the unusual phrase “Game Boy Are Protected Widely by Patents” below the screen.
- A one-handed GBA prototype with a vertical layout, roughly the size of a Game Boy Micro.
- A Nintendo DS prototype with two screens opening horizontally, visually reminiscent of an early Nintendo Switch concept.
