GameCube screen prototype footage resurfaces 21 years after its reveal
It even secretly had 3D capabilities.
Lost footage of Nintendo's GameCube LCD Screen prototype has resurfaced online 21 years after its reveal.
The screen was shown at E3 2002 but then never released.
Now, YouTuber Adam Doree has uploaded footage from its reveal, including an interview with the late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata (spotted by Go Nintendo).
The prototype screen would have slotted into the GameCube console, turning it into a slightly more portable machine. It did have a handle on the back after all.
Footage from E3 shows it was five inches with a 4:3 ratio and resolution of 320 x 240, which Iwata described as a "high quality screen" while it showed some Super Mario Sunshine footage.
"We haven't really decided at this point exactly how or in what form we're going to be releasing this or when it might happen," said Iwata, via translator.
Iwata also revealed he'd been in talks with Sega's Yuji Naka about the peripheral and the possibility to "make Phantasy Star Online and make it a portable game".
One idea Iwata had was to bring multiple consoles each with the screen peripheral together to make a mini network.
What's more, it turns out this screen actually had glasses-free 3D capabilities but Nintendo kept it quiet at the peripheral's reveal.
In an Iwata Asks interview about the 3DS handheld some years later, Nintendo's Hideki Konno said: "We tried fitting the Nintendo GameCube with a small, roughly four-inch, LCD that allowed you to enjoy Luigi's Mansion in glasses-free 3D."
Iwata replied: "We showed that LCD as a reference exhibit at the 2002 E3, but kept the 3D aspect secret. I liked that, though."
He then added they "couldn't get past the problem of how to sell it", to which Konno responded: "There was even talk that it could turn out to be more expensive than the console itself!"