Nintendo Switch: discovered a mysterious prototype of 2016

    Nintendo Switch: discovered a mysterious prototype of 2016

    When designing new consoles, companies rarely build the models they had in mind at the beginning of development work. In fact, console designs often have to be changed several times before achieving the desired look and function. A natural process that seems to have also affected Nintendo Switch. The creator known on Twitter like Forest of Illusion has in fact come into possession of a 2016 Switch prototype. The devkit precedes the release of the hybrid console by one year Nintendo and shows how the design of the platform changed before it was actually commercialized.



    With the help of @Akfamilyhome we have secured a development Nintendo Switch system (EDEV) from a seller in Hong Kong. The unit is from around April 2016, making it the earliest Switch to be found so far, predating the retail release by almost a whole year. pic.twitter.com/rPdy7Hr4Cf

    - Forest of Illusion (@forestillusion) February 15, 2021

    The prototype in question, based on the information contained in the memory, dates back to April 2016: if confirmed, this indication would make this devkit the oldest Nintendo Switch model that has ever been made public. At this stage of development, the Switch looked more like a tablet, similar to the appearance of an iPad or Microsoft RT. The model in the images does not yet have the two Joy-Con, characteristic controllers of a Switch, which are fundamental to its modern design. Forest of Illusion also notes that the volume buttons are different from today's Nintendo Switch, with the prototype model sporting directional arrows instead of plus and minus signs. This version of the Switch has also been mysteriously called "DPRD“, But nobody knows what those letters mean, which could refer to the codename of Nintendo's initial project.



    Since this is the devkit of a console still on the market (and which will remain there for a long time, judging by what has been recently specified by Furukawa on the future of Nintendo Switch), the Twitter user states that he will not publish the files contained within the prototype and promises that the console will be appropriately preserved to preserve it for future reference. What do you think of this tablet-like design? Would you have preferred it to the one then officially released?



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