I know this is an old thread, but I didn't wanna start an all new topic to get burned at the stake as there's already plenty on Revolution threads and everyone is tired of hearing about this at this point so I put it here. I remember when I first saw the lil' drawing of the "Nintendo 21" that it slightly reminded me of something. BAM...I found on my HD some old pics of what was thought to be the "Dolphin" at one point. So...in order to further discuss I put all the pics together so you can see what I'm talking about.
This suppossed "Dolphin" conceptual "leak" wasn't too well known I don't think, but I think it may have been a real Nintendo concept (purple, radical controller, etc.) for what ended up being the GCN, but was changed (alot) in the final production. I think there was a rumor going around that this concept WAS real, but that 3RD parties hated the controller design so Nintendo went more conventional...and when the X-BOX was rumored to be in production, I think Nintendo may have went even more conservative with the console overall for fear of taking too many risks with TWO big competitors instead of just one.
But...could this concept have been a forshaddowing of what Nintendo was really planning? Could this concept in fact be related to the syatem *after* GCN (the Revolution) and could we see how maybe the Nintendo 21 concept compares to it? I think so, so I made this post.
Looking at the consoles themselves both are disk(ette) based and not bare disc based. The Dolphin may have used that car CD-like lip intake, but I think the frontal sketch looks more like it was just a slot to slide in a diskette. The Nintendo 21 is fliptop (like GCN) probably to allow for bare disc placement for GCN BC and/or the rumored DVD playback. The Dolphin concept (you can't tell 'cos the pic is blurry) has a DVD logo on it suggesting it also played DVD's. The Dolphin concept is also sorta N64-like in design, yet had a similar GCN Indigo color to it. We can see some similarities there.
The controller though...I see more. While the Dolphin concept features buttons on the inner grips (where your pinky, ring & middle fingers would rest) and also has a built-in screen the Nintendo 21 controller does not...however...that doesn't mean they're too radically different from one another. In the translated explaination of the Nintendo 21 drawing they say that there is an odd bulge between the two grips and that there is a red centralized button. The Dolphin concept also has the same cosmetic features. The Nintendo 21 controller is said to be touch/feel sensitive all over (over the buttons and the grips) while the Dolphin controller has those buttons on the inner grip...maybe (if these two concepts are somehow related) those inner grip buttons are now replaced by a more practical/player-friendly touch/feel sensory function which the Nintendo 21 controller is said to have.
The very small magazine scan was suppossedly from a Famitsu mag that was going to "break" this info I guess. From the scan pointing out different areas of interest on the controller and just by looking I can sorta guess that this Dolphin controller was going to have a built-in mic (at the very top), possibly a peripheral slot (in the back) and that in place of the right thumb stick was a more rounded feature (trackball?) and the left thumbstick area actually doesn't look like a stick at all, but more of a flat (but textured) surface. The middle handle or grip was kinda bulky and only had access to the red button (whatever that is) and the screen...could Nintendo have been fooling around with the idea's of sensory feel surfaces and touchscreen all the way back then?
