Nintendo leak reveals early Wii Remote ideas

Leaked images have revealed early ideas for Nintendo's iconic Wii Remote.

The concepts come from the same Nintendo "gigaleak" of information as many other recent revelations, as fans continue to sift through its treasure trove of data.

Included below are looks at alternative button types, arrangements and names - though all keep the Wiimote's TV-like remote shape.

The first set of designs feature a lime green Wii Remote, and date from July 2005, a year-and-a-half before the Wii was released. (Nintendo originally released concept art of a green-coloured Wii console, though ultimately settled for white.)

Discarded ideas for the Wii Remote shown here include additional L and R buttons positioned on either side of the B button, and a TV remote-like directional control ring around the A button.

What appear to be later designs show the remote's final button layout and colour, though with further experiments for the controller's + and - buttons. "Back", "Pause", and arrows were considered for these buttons instead.

The infamous Nintendo gigaleak has turned up development details on all manner of released and unreleased Nintendo projects, including prototypes for Super Mario Kart, cut content for Ocarina of Time, and cut characters from Star Fox 2, as well as helping Nintendo fans finally find Luigi in Super Mario 64.

Earlier this month Eurogamer reported on modders who are now recreating The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time's 1997 Space World demo based on files from the gigaleak.

We've seen hardware details surface from the gigaleak, too. Early plans for the GameCube's successor once included a straightforward HD upgrade for the console, as well as ideas for a portable version.