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Holiday Treat #4: We Found the Prototype That Changed Nintendo

Added 2023-12-03 15:52:45 +0000 UTC

The following is part of our 25-day Holiday Countdown Calendar! Every day from December 1st through the 25th, we're posting a cool game history treat, and $5 and up Patrons get access one day early! This is technically our December 1st post, but since today is Giving Tuesday, we're giving you this one a little earlier than usual.

This is all part of our annual Winter Fundraiser donation drive, where we ask those who are able to generously give what they can so that we can continue thriving. If you're able to make an additional one-time charitable contribution, this really is the best time to do so, as your donations will be DOUBLED thanks to a generous group of sponsors! Head on over to gamehistory.org/donate to learn more and give today.

I'm thrilled to unveil an incredible prototype ROM that we recently recovered!

"Eclipse" was a demo created by a then-17-year-old Dylan Cuthbert, who took inspiration from 3D home computer games of the time and applied their aesthetic to the Game Boy. The demo was shopped around and, ultimately, signed by Nintendo, where it became the company's first 3D game, X.

It is no exaggeration to say that this game directly led to Nintendo's move to 3D polygonal games, as Cuthbert and his coworkers from Argonaut Software were brought in to work on a follow-up: StarFox. At that point, Nintendo was fully invested in 3D, which led to the hardware design of the Nintendo 64 and, well, you know the rest.

This demo, then, is ground zero for Nintendo's move to 3D, and we're thrilled not only to preserve the ROM, but to preserve its story, thanks to the documentary above that we co-produced with Nintendo World Report.

If you're reading this on December 3, please remember that this is Patreon-exclusive today, so don't share the unlisted video or the ROM (attached below) until tomorrow!