Nintendo 64 Prototype Screen Add-On Resurfaces After More Than 20 Years

Are you a huge fan of the classic Nintendo 64 (N64) console? Here’s a little lost piece of history that you may have never known about!

Shane Battye, a retro preservationist, recently dug up a number of images of a bizarre add-on that was once in the works for the system. As you’ll see below, the add-on in question would have added a ‘secret screen’ to each N64 controller – likely as a means to prevent players from looking at each others’ positions in multiplayer matches! It even appeared in an issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) magazine back then!

As Shane notes, the weird prototype is highly reminiscent of SEGA’s own Dreamcast controller – which launched with its own slot to insert an add-on “screen” called the Visual Memory Unit (VMU). That’s not to say that SEGA copied Nintendo, but clear inspiration definitely won’t be lost on fans of both systems!

What do you think of this curious prototype for the N64? What would N64 games have looked if this thing was official? Feel free to share your thoughts below!