ChronoMoogle, a fan of retro Nintendo consoles, has released first photos of a special Nintendo 64 prototype that never saw the light.

The prototype, an add-on to the Nintendo 64 hardware, would have been capable of connecting to the Internet and some sort of Satellaview service. Besides Internet connectivity, the Nintendo 64 prototype had a hard disk capable of storing downloaded games, “cable TV tuner with picture-in-picture support”, and IR remote control (doesn’t this sound like the Wii Remote?).

All of these features were way ahead of the Nintendo 64’s time. A few generations later, Nintendo pulled it off with the release of the highly successful Wii home console.

Check out photos and patent illustrations of the Nintendo 64 prototype below.