View Full Version : 1988 Super Famicom prototype console + 1989 EGM SFC article
parallaxscroll
07-01-2009, 11:20 PM
The following is the first Super Famicom prototype system, revealed to the Japanese in late 1988, a full two years before a revised version was released in Japan in November 1990 and about three years before the U.S. SNES release in August-September 1991.
http://i35.tinypic.com/e80pk0.jpg
http://i40.tinypic.com/206ok89.jpg
http://i44.tinypic.com/3323wwz.jpg
In the same style as the 16-bit Super Famicom prototype, a redesigned 8-bit Famicom prototype, also from late 1988:
http://i40.tinypic.com/33ux2km.jpg
...I like this much better than the released, redesigned AV Famicom and NES released a few years later.
As for that Super Famicom prototype, I really like it, a lot. Perhaps it's not as good as the final, released Japanese Super Famicom but without question it *is* FAR better-looking than the American SNES, IMO.
Complete EGM issue #2 article on Super Famicom from summer 1989:
http://i41.tinypic.com/rvyjcg.jpg
http://i41.tinypic.com/fom4vo.jpg
http://i42.tinypic.com/678n5z.jpg
http://i40.tinypic.com/zklwtg.jpg
TonyTheTiger
07-01-2009, 11:34 PM
I think the American SNES is easily the more aesthetically pleasing console. The Super Famicom looks like a sad robot clown.
parallaxscroll
07-01-2009, 11:43 PM
I think the American SNES is easily the more aesthetically pleasing console. The Super Famicom looks like a sad robot clown.
The design of the American SNES seems to be disliked by most gamers, while the final Super Famicom seems to be much-loved by the same majority.
ProgrammingAce
07-02-2009, 12:01 AM
I like the super famicom better, but i always thought it looked like a loaf of bread.
I think the American SNES is easily the more aesthetically pleasing console. The Super Famicom looks like a sad robot clown.
gonna have to agree here
Mathius
07-02-2009, 01:05 AM
Thanks for the EGM article. Reading that brought back a lot of memories of me in school reading the magazine when I should have been studying.
Push Upstairs
07-02-2009, 02:37 AM
Perhaps it's not as good as the final, released Japanese Super Famicom but without question it *is* FAR better-looking than the American SNES, IMO.
The N64 is better looking than the American SNES, and I loath the existence of the N64.
aclbandit
07-02-2009, 02:41 AM
I think the American SNES is easily the more aesthetically pleasing console. The Super Famicom looks like a sad robot clown.
That made me actually laugh out loud. Mostly because I never saw it that way, and it's hilariously true.
Kid Fenris
07-02-2009, 05:07 AM
I love that redesigned Famicom for some reason. It's so Fisher-Price compact.
I also love the ad on this page (http://i40.tinypic.com/zklwtg.jpg). I wonder how long Taxan's VIDEODICTION newsletter lasted.
todesengel
07-02-2009, 05:24 AM
Is it just me or do the controller ports on the SFC proto look like the ports that where used for the gamecube?
parallaxscroll
07-02-2009, 06:30 AM
Thanks for the EGM article. Reading that brought back a lot of memories of me in school reading the magazine when I should have been studying.
Welcome.
I was surprised to find out more than a year later that the Dragonfly demo became Pilowings.
I love that redesigned Famicom for some reason. It's so Fisher-Price compact.
I would've imported that redesigned Famicom if it had been released.
I also would have imported the Super Famicom if the released version looked like that.
There's something about them I like that can't put my finger on.
FamicomFreak
07-02-2009, 10:44 AM
Very interesting stuff. I think as long as they play the games, I don't care how they look.
gokugohandave
07-02-2009, 10:50 AM
WOW. I love em both, they look awsome.
tomaitheous
07-02-2009, 06:54 PM
Have you ever played a Nintendo game that slowed down or encounter problems in playing music when a lot of characters were on the screen at once? Well, with the Super Famicom, this problem is a thing of the past!
Hah! Man, was he wrong. Hehehe.
MarioMania
07-02-2009, 07:25 PM
Can you play SFC games on the Prototype System??
What did NOJ did with the systems
ccovell
07-02-2009, 07:44 PM
Can you play SFC games on the Prototype System??
Highly unlikely, since the SFC prototype system at the time had only 8KB (!!) of main RAM, compared to the whopping 128KB in the final system.
(More here: http://www.disgruntleddesigner.com/chrisc/secrets11.html )
What did NOJ did with the systems
Remember the final scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark?
emceelokey
07-02-2009, 07:59 PM
Both of those designs are better than both American versions of each system. I don't understand why they had such different designs compared to their Japanese counterparts, except for the original Famicom though.
***There's a hell of a lot of text in that article. Only the first page had a picture then every other page was all text... wow. Plus the SFC had FOUR buttons!!!***
Mathius
07-02-2009, 10:37 PM
Hah! Man, was he wrong. Hehehe.
I noticed that too. Gave me a good laugh!
parallaxscroll
07-03-2009, 12:32 AM
While remembering a tape recorder I had as a child:
http://i44.tinypic.com/2m6v3mw.jpg
I love the "Fisher-Price-look" of the SFC & redesigned FC prototypes.
parallaxscroll
07-06-2009, 01:28 AM
More pics of the Super Famicom,
the 'Dragonfly' flight simulator demo that became Pilotwings,
and other interesting stuff!
Special thanks & credit to Chris Covell for uploading these,
many of which have been seen here on DP before,
but will be new to some people.
http://i42.tinypic.com/2mzkvtg.jpg
http://i43.tinypic.com/157koex.jpg
http://i43.tinypic.com/2qnxkyx.jpg
two different Dragonfly title screens
http://i40.tinypic.com/2mzd0uo.jpg
http://i44.tinypic.com/f2qza9.jpg
Dragonfly, the prolific tech demo for the SFC!
http://i42.tinypic.com/vkxmv.jpg
Dragonfly and.....Altered Beast!
probably just comparing SFC to the Megadrive...
http://i44.tinypic.com/33ksz7t.jpg
parallaxscroll
07-06-2009, 01:30 AM
The amazing Dragonfly
http://i39.tinypic.com/sux7w3.jpg
Dragonfly and obviously talking about SFC graphic capabilities....
hey there's AfterBurner !
http://i39.tinypic.com/9j2mug.jpg
http://i41.tinypic.com/2dqlea0.jpg
"Expected types of games you'll be able to play!!"
"The Famitsu staff speculate at the types of games the SFC will be able to run, such as those with lots of scaling/rotation, high-quality images, video effects, mathematical caluclations (such as simulations)..."
There's Namco's Metal Hawk arcade game, another game with heavy use of scaling & rotation.
Obviously it is being suggested that Super Famicom will be able to run games like Namco's Metal Hawk, Sega's After Burner, and the like.
early Super Mario World and more Dragonfly...with an actual dragonfly!
http://i43.tinypic.com/2kec7o.jpg
Super Famicom prototype from 1989, closer to the final design.
http://i44.tinypic.com/11tvgnp.jpg