While not exactly being the most commercially successful Nintendo console, the iconic N64 remains a firm favourite in the minds of gaming fans to this very day. Despite this, we doubt there are too many people out there who have seen this little oddity before.
Retro gaming fan and preservationist Shane Battye has shared a handful of images of a 'Secret Screen' peripheral that had been designed for use with Nintendo's machine. Of course, we now know that it never made it into full production, but as Battye says the prototype was at least partially functional and some suggested applications for the device have been drawn up, too
In the first image above, you can see the prototype being discussed in Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine. It reveals that the design was dreamt up by Dane Galden, who says that inspiration for the idea came about while noticing his brother cheating when the pair were playing football, sneaking a look at which play he'd pick to gain the upper hand.
Essentially, then, the 'Secret Screen' would allow you to have your own individual setup to avoid such issues, not unlike several multiplayer games we've seen more recently on Wii U. The aim was to get the product "packed in as an added value item" with a sports game, but this never materialised.
In further notes, Battye explains that the prototype appeared in an eBay listing in 2018 but was taken down, providing images of the listing description. Amazingly, the designer notes that thanks to his idea featuring on the same page as a discussion on the Dreamcast in EGM, Sega's Dreamcast engineers "saw the N64 Secret Screen on the same page below their write up, and turned the concept into the VMU in the Dreamcast controllers".
https://twitter.com/shanebattye/status/1216834629606375424?s=20
An amazing find for N64 fans, we're sure you'll agree. We've seen an awful lot written about the console over the years, but we've never stumbled across this before.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 14
Further proof that you learn something new every day. Very cool little device ahead of its time
Of course my immediate thoughts are "Wow, not far off from the Dreamcast's VMU", and it turns out this directly inspired that? Cool.
I'm waiting on the Hyperkin Ultra Retron HD. A 720p Nintendo 64 clone. Here's hoping it comes out in 2020.
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/06/hyperkins_next_party_trick_is_a_nintendo_64_clone
Well, we got the DS, 3DS, and the Wii U, so the concept lived on in some shape or form.
As if the "Trident" wasn't bulky and weird enough
@Gravitron At least the N64's memory card wasn't shaped like a PC's hard-disk drive...
This would have been super useful for 2 player battles in Pokémon Stadium 1 & 2
This has been bugging me. Stole his idea? That would be a huge nope right there. All logic has been thrown out of the window in favor of some bitter dude's romanticized version of video game history. The VMU was released in 1998 (the Atsumete Godzilla: Kaijuu Dai Shuugou VMU in July of '98. Before the DC even launched). When was that article from? I'm thinking '97 at the earliest. The Dreamcast had already been in development for some time at that point. It launched in '98 for crap's sake. The notion that SEGA somehow saw this small article in an American magazine probably under a year from the launch of their new system and completely altered the course of their development AND production is absurd as the very least, insane if you also consider the DC was already in production around late spring/early summer of 98 (maybe earlier). Meaning the final design had to have been approved LONG before the production lines were tooled and ready to go.
Now consider once again that the VMU was released DURING the production of the DC, before launch and you can see what a self-important ass this guy really is. What a load of crap. Trying to insinuate himself into video game history by taking credit for something with only a passing similarity; a screen. The VMU is a standalone handheld with a d-pad and buttons, a memory card that can swap files independently by coupling two of them and an integrated part of the overall controller design, not a single use peripheral designed as an afterthought. I like his idea. It's nice. Pretty much everyone who's cheated or been cheated on because of a lack of a second screen had the idea in their heads, but he executed. It's nice. But it's not a VMU.
Edit: Magazine article from September of 97. So yeah. According to this guy, a year out from the launch of their last hope for relevancy, SEGA saw this small article buried in an AMERICAN magazine (let's take a moment to remember what SEGA of America's and SEGA of Japan's relationship was like at the time. People fired, people feeling betrayed, people quitting en masse. SEGA of Japan loathing SoA's decisions, ideas, etc), stopped design and/or production of their controller and memory card solution (which would necessitate sourcing new materials and securing new production partners... right before launch... after designing from scratch - in a few months - this new handheld/memory card/screen hybrid that would then necessitate a redesign of the controller to accommodate said second screen) to steal this loose concept, transform it completely and all while risking missing a launch date that could make or break them so they could get his idea - which was not a handheld or memory card or integrated with a controller - to market. Yeeeeah, ok dude. Give me a break.
Also reminds me of the PocketStation for the PS1.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PocketStation
I remember reading the manual for FF8 and seeing some weird stuff about a Chocobo World minigame that I'd never get to experience...
... er I mean N64 fo life, I've only ever touched a PS1 to snap it in half of course
@Tsusasi Exactly. When I first read this headline, I thought, "Yeah okay. If that really happened, news of this would've come out a long time ago in an attempt to burn SEGA's image and/or he would've sued.
@N64-ROX Yeah, you're banned for mentioning the PS1.
Nintendo copies Sega....AGAIN!
Would have been great for Pokémon stadium 1 & 2
I wonder if it had been worked on more if a newer gauntlet would've been made so you could wander off from the other players? That would've relly helpful for the way my mom and I played (playing levels and alternating looting/fighting roles)
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