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[IbizaPocholo]

Wait, The GameCube Nearly Had An Official LCD Monitor?

Nintendo were making one, and even showed it off at E3, but it was never released

kotaku.com

Via Go Nintendo, Adam Doree has uploaded an uncut video of a presentation Nintendo made at E3 2002, featuring Shigeru Miyamoto, Satoru Iwata and Bill Trinen. In this video, after the crew had spent ages talking about Wind Waker and Metroid Prime, Iwata reveals that they have one last surprise to discuss: a first-party LCD screen, designed to attach to the top of the console and make it even more portable than it already was (the GameCube, famously, included a carrying handle on the back). I've set the video to autoplay at the beginning of the discussion about the screen:

It measured just five inches across, with a 4:3 ratio, and a resolution of just 320x240. Which sounds bad by 2023 standards but this was 2002, so for the time they weren't terrible, as you can see in the footage above, where Mario Sunshine looks just fine! It's also interesting hearing Iwata say it was peripherals like this that specifically convinced Nintendo to install digital output—itself a forgotten but amazing aspect of the hardware—for the GameCube.

Iwata even reveals that he had met with Sega's Yuji Naka—in happier times—about Phantasy Star Online, and the pair discussed whether they could take that title and "make it a portable game" to make the most of this screen. None of which ever came to pass, of course, but it's still neat imagining a GameCube era where you could have grabbed your console by its handle, taken it to a friends house and played Mario Kart Double Dash on your own little official Nintendo screen.

Satoru Iwata quietly revealed years later that the monitor had secret, glasses-free 3D capabilities that Nintendo "kept secret", along with the trivia that the Phantasy Star Online figures visible in some of the display units ended up getting stolen off the showroom floor!

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

I saw the news yesterday... And I like the idea, I think they copied it from the ps1. And I loved the fact that the ps1 had lcd.

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

I saw the news yesterday... And I like the idea, I think they copied it from the ps1. And I loved the fact that the ps1 had lcd.

PSone.

 

[EverydayBeast]

To me going back in time to GameCube I would make it a second option to ps2 purely because of DVD.

 

[Punished Miku]

Would've fit with that lunchbox handle.

 

[cireza]

Cancelling it was the right choice.

 

[ZoukGalaxy]

Satoru Iwata quietly revealed years later that the monitor had secret, glasses-free 3D capabilities that Nintendo "kept secret"

Damn, back in time that feature would have totally insane, I wish that was released !
I love so much the 3D screen from my 3DS until this day.

 

[nush]

There were a lot of 3rd party screens available for the Gamecube anyway. If you wanted one you could get one.

 

[Turrican]

To add to the story - Factor 5 had a prototype of the 3D monitor and had a full 3D version of the real-time trailer for Rogue Squadron 3 / Rebel Strike ready to show.when Nintendo canceled the project at the last second.

 

[Turrican]

To add to the story - Factor 5 had a prototype of the 3D monitor and had a full 3D version of the real-time trailer for Rogue Squadron 3 / Rebel Strike ready to show.when Nintendo canceled the project at the last second.

And to be clear, it was not just a LCD monitor. It was a glass-less 3D screen, the same technology later used for the 3DS.

 

[flying_sq]

I had an LCD screen for my Gamecube. My parents used to take us on long car trips a few times a year and my sister and I would play Gamecube in the car.