Front shot

Many of you will no doubt be familiar with the N64 DD, Nintendo's ill-fated first attempt at using disc-based media in consoles. Many big-name titles, such as Super Mario 64 2 and the original build of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, were destined for launch on the add-on, but were eventually canned or moved to simple cartridge projects after it was proven that the peripheral wouldn't last on the market. It only saw an official release in Japan, and though there were initially plans to release it in other territories, these never came to fruition.

Interestingly enough, some pictures recently surfaced online of a supposed development unit of the peripheral from North America. A user named PostedOval from the Assembler Games forum bought the drive from a seller in Seattle, which they note is only a few minutes' drive away from NOA. Evidently, there are only around fifty of the units left in existence, and while it isn't usable, it still stands as an interesting piece of Nintendo history. And, who knows, maybe some half-finished games are out there somewhere that go with this unit.

Boot-up screen
The disc found inside
Serial Number

What do you think? How would the current Nintendo landscape look had the N64 DD been a success? Have you ever gotten a chance to try a Japanese unit? Drop us a comment in the section below.

[source assemblergames.com]