Prototype GameCube from infamous 2000 Nintendo Space World presentation discovered

A collector has purchased one of the original Nintendo Gamecube concept consoles from Nintendo’s 2000 Space World presentation.

Space World, which ran until 2001, was essentially a precursor to the digital-only Direct showcases, where Nintendo would reveal its new games and hardware. The 2000 show was infamous for revealing both the GameCube and the Game Boy Advance.

Consolevariations’ Donny Fillerup was recently alerted to a strange prototype GameCube, Kotaku reported, which turned out to be one of the original machines shown at Space World 2000.

The 2000 reveal was a year before the console actually launched, so the prototype is really just a shell with a handful of electronics inside to power some LEDs.

Fillerup has taken a load of photos of the purchase, showing off a few small differences from the final design.

Some of these are just different air vents or coloured labels, but the top of the prototype is transparent to allow users to see the disc inside, something that wasn’t carried over into the final design.

More interesting is the iconic controller, which sports a third bean-shaped button (like the final X and Y buttons) as well as no d-pad – it’s been replaced by a Start button on the left prong instead.

Space World 2000 was a pretty special presentation, so collectors have been after one of these prototypes for some time.

Nintendo also showed off some infamous game concepts and demos to prove the power of its new console, which I remember watching on repeat in awe at the time. That included a brief look at Samus before Metroid Prime; a glimpse of what a new Banjo Kazooie game may have looked like before Rare was bought by Microsoft; and Mario 128, a tech demo for what would later become Pikmin.

It also included a realistic-looking Link and Ganondorf battle, setting up expectations that were smashed with the controversial cartoon graphics of Wind Waker in 2002.