Wait, The Nintendo GameCube Almost Had An Official LCD Display?

The Nintendo GameCube was a bizarre little console, one which had all types of wacky add-ons and peripherals launched for it through the years, from LAN adapters to Sport Boy Hyperlinks to bongo drums. One factor I by no means knew about till at present, nevertheless, had been the corporate’s plans for an official LCD display.

Through Go Nintendo, Adam Doree has uploaded an uncut video of a presentation Nintendo made at E3 2002, that includes Shigeru Miyamoto, Satoru Iwata and Invoice Trinen. On this video, after the crew had spent ages speaking about Wind Waker and Metroid Prime, Iwata reveals that they’ve one final shock to debate: a first-party LCD display, designed to connect to the highest of the console and make it even extra transportable than it already was (the GameCube, famously, included a carrying deal with on the again). I’ve set the video to autoplay at first of the dialogue concerning the display:

I by no means knew this! Certain different firms have stepped into this vacuum through the years, releasing varied screens of various high quality, however it will have been very cool to get an official Nintendo monitor.

It measured simply 5 inches throughout, with a 4:3 ratio, and a decision of simply 320×240. Which sounds unhealthy by 2023 requirements however this was 2002, so for the time they weren’t horrible, as you may see within the footage above, the place Mario Sunshine seems to be simply advantageous! It’s additionally attention-grabbing listening to Iwata say it was peripherals like this that particularly satisfied Nintendo to put in digital output—itself a forgotten however wonderful side of the {hardware}—for the GameCube.

Iwata even reveals that he had met with Sega’s Yuji Naka—in happier instances—about Phantasy Star On-line, and the pair mentioned whether or not they might take that title and “make it a conveyable recreation” to benefit from this display. None of which ever got here to go, in fact, however it’s nonetheless neat imagining a GameCube period the place you can have grabbed your console by its deal with, taken it to a pals home and performed Mario Kart Double Sprint by yourself little official Nintendo display.

Simply because I’m solely studying about this at present doesn’t imply there isn’t different stuff on the market concerning the display; right here’s a 2002 write-up on IGN about how good it regarded, for instance, whereas its itemizing on Console Variations speculates that the excessive value of LCD screens on the time made it too costly to launch. The video beneath, in the meantime, has a very good linger on footage of the display alongside some audio system, a part of probably the most 2002 gaming setup conceivable.

UPDATE: Thanks to Spindash on Twitter, there’s extra! Satoru Iwata quietly revealed years later that the monitor had secret, glasses-free 3D capabilities that Nintendo “saved secret”, together with the trivia that the Phantasy Star On-line figures seen in among the show items ended up getting stolen off the showroom flooring!