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AirRaid
Joined: 13 Mar 2006
Posts: 32
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 Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 6:20 am Post subject: prototype Super Famicom and Famicom systems, circa 1989 |
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on the right is one of the first, if not THE first, Super Famicom prototypes. on the left is an unreleased(?) version of the 8-bit Famicom. this most likely unreleased redesign of the 8-bit Famicom is called the 'Famicom Adaptor' according to Chris Covell on his website disgruntleddesigner.com. Although clearly it is a stand-alone Famicom console, and a very good looking one IMO. much better than the later re-designed A/V Famicom of the early 1990s, which was just horrible looking.
again, just IMO.
Chris Covell writes:
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And below is a really amazing find! This comes from an announcement of the Super Famicom hardware, in February 1989. The article discusses some of the features of the new system (stereo sound, scaling, ROM size, etc...) But the system pictures are intriguing, to say the least! The system on the left side of the page is a redesigned Famicom, called a "Famicom adaptor". Who knows if it connected with the SFC as an adaptor, or if it was just a fancy name for a redesigned Famicom to complement the SFC design. This new FC design wasn't produced.
BUT! That picture on the right side of the page shows an early design of the SFC, as above. This time, the labels of the switches are clearly visible: Power Switch; FAMICOM Switch, and Reset Switch! Is this the fabled Super Famicom prototype that was backwards-compatible with Famicom games? It looks possible... |
another pic of the 8-bit Famicom redesign (upper right)
a b&w photo of the early 16-bit Super Famicom prototype
another b&w photo of the redesigned 8-bit Famicom
found here: http://disgruntleddesigner.com/chrisc/secrets3.html
another color photo of the early 16-bit Super Famicom design
a much better picture
and another really nice picture because of the angle, showing the headphone jack and volume control not found in the SFC that came out!
now this is another Super Famicom prototype that came later. it is much closer to the Super Famicom that Nintendo released
not knowing any better, in 1989...
......I thought that's ^ what the Japanese NES / Famicom looked like
but that was 1989, 6 years after the Famicom came out in Japan. I'd like to see some of the original prototype Japanese Famicoms, circa 1982-1983, and I don't mean the American AVS proto of 1984 which got redesigned into the NES.
I dunno know about you guys, but I would've wanted the first Super Fami prototype to have been the design of the final system, the one with the three long switches on top and the headphone jack+vol control, I think that one friggen rocked, IMHO. |
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Jakanden
Joined: 03 Mar 2006
Posts: 3
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| Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 12:16 pm Post subject: |
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| That is an excellent find. I agree that having the prototype as the final product would have been cool, but I think they did a good job with the final product regardless =) |
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AirRaid
Joined: 13 Mar 2006
Posts: 32
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| Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 6:10 pm Post subject: |
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| Jakanden wrote: | | That is an excellent find. I agree that having the prototype as the final product would have been cool, but I think they did a good job with the final product regardless =) |
I agree that Nintendo did a good job on the Japanese Super Famicom and the UK-European Super NES (which looks like a SFC) but I thought the American SNES was terrible. just my opinion though  |
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KlarthAilerion
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Joined: 26 Aug 2003
Posts: 673
Location: New Orleans, LA
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| Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 11:30 pm Post subject: |
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| The fading/yellowing plastic certainly doesn't add to the cosmetic appeal of the US SNES. |
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AirRaid
Joined: 13 Mar 2006
Posts: 32
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| Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2006 12:13 am Post subject: |
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| KlarthAilerion wrote: | | The fading/yellowing plastic certainly doesn't add to the cosmetic appeal of the US SNES. |
quoted for truth |
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Pullmyfinger
Joined: 29 Apr 2004
Posts: 94
Location: Union City
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| Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2006 7:34 pm Post subject: |
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| Does that happen with the small SNES too? |
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KlarthAilerion
Staff
Joined: 26 Aug 2003
Posts: 673
Location: New Orleans, LA
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| Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2006 11:01 pm Post subject: |
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| I never noticed the yellowing on any of the newer SNES consoles when I worked at the used video game store (on and off circa 99-01). Whether that's because the plastic was improved from one model to the other or just because it hadn't had enough time to age, I don't know. |
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PopaSmear
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Joined: 28 Aug 2003
Posts: 178
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| Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 5:09 am Post subject: |
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| You also won't see that on super early systems. It was apparently something that happened when they were having trouble making enough systems and took on some new factories that used different plastic. |
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AirRaid
Joined: 13 Mar 2006
Posts: 32
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| Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 10:33 pm Post subject: |
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two completely different artist concepts of the American Super NES
though very different, they both look FAR superior to the design of the final American Super NES.
now, where are the American SNES artist concepts or prototypes that were in Nintendo Power?
I wanna see those |
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Smeg
Staff
Joined: 26 Aug 2003
Posts: 1600
Location: beneath enemy scrotum
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| Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 10:38 pm Post subject: |
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| AirRaid wrote: | two completely different artist concepts of the American Super NES
though very different, they both look FAR superior to the design of the final American Super NES.
now, where are the American SNES artist concepts or prototypes that were in Nintendo Power?
I wanna see those |
The first one looks like someone turned a toaster NES on its back and it can't get up. The second one looks like an actual SNES with a different logo. Hardly what I'd call "far superior" but then I don't particularly give a crap what the console looks like anyway. I didn't buy one for decoration, I bought one to play goddamn Donkey Kong Country. |
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ICEknight
Joined: 15 Dec 2003
Posts: 569
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| Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2006 8:28 pm Post subject: |
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The first one looks like a bad fan-made concept pic, but the second one looks quite authentic.
Note how the "Super" letters look similar to those used later for the Super GameBoy, only yellow instead of red. |
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Ichiban Crush
Vaporware Detective Extraordinaire
Joined: 04 Nov 2003
Posts: 578
Location: 33.884906 | -84.053758
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| Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2006 9:51 pm Post subject: |
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They're both real concepts. I remember seeing the first one somewhere (might have been NP) back in the day. I remember the second one because I had said to myself "God what cheesy lettering"
What they ended up going with was a good choice though. |
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Tongueman
Joined: 27 Feb 2004
Posts: 631
Location: Japan
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Wonderbutt
Joined: 30 Nov 2003
Posts: 323
Location: Doritos Inc.
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| Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 3:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Smeg wrote: |
The first one looks like someone turned a toaster NES on its back and it can't get up. The second one looks like an actual SNES with a different logo. Hardly what I'd call "far superior" but then I don't particularly give a crap what the console looks like anyway. I didn't buy one for decoration, I bought one to play goddamn Donkey Kong Country. |
And Captain Novolin, of course. |
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Ichiban Crush
Vaporware Detective Extraordinaire
Joined: 04 Nov 2003
Posts: 578
Location: 33.884906 | -84.053758
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handofg0d
Joined: 13 Jun 2006
Posts: 455
Location: PA
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| Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 3:40 pm Post subject: |
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Oh wow, the overworld map looks totally different for SMW.
And on the other topic - every other design looked better than the original US SNES. |
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Smeg
Staff
Joined: 26 Aug 2003
Posts: 1600
Location: beneath enemy scrotum
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| Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 3:49 pm Post subject: |
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| I don't understand all the SNES hatin'. Who even looks at what a console looks like? Well, aside from the X-Box but that's just because it's so damn big. |
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TheRedEye
The Internet's Frank Cifaldi
Joined: 26 Aug 2003
Posts: 4192
Location: Oakland, CA
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| Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 4:53 pm Post subject: |
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| Chris, can we pool together and send you money for a scanner? How much do you need? |
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ArnoldRimmer83
Staff
Joined: 28 Aug 2003
Posts: 540
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| Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 6:53 pm Post subject: |
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Nice going Chris. My already huge desire to see the Mario World proto and Dragonfly, has just shot up straight into the stratosphere. From the looks of Dragonfly and the description, it seems like it would've been like the helicopter levels in Pilotwings.
It was terrific when Activision Anthology for PS2 and GBA included some unreleased material. I wish this practice would happen with a lot of the bigger game companies. |
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LocalH
Joined: 15 May 2004
Posts: 160
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| Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 7:21 pm Post subject: |
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Shit, I would seriously give my left nut to get hold of that SMW build as a ROM.
I'm dead serious here. Really. |
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