There have been plenty of homebrew attempts to make a portable GameCube console. The most stylish of these came earlier this year when @GingerOfMods produced a beautiful Game Boy Color-style handheld that was capable of playing both Wii and GameCube games. Or, if you prefer the Game Boy Advance SP’s form-factor to the Game Boy Color, then there’s this project from last year.
Alongside details of a portable GameCube, Eurogamer also points to leaked documents that suggest Nintendo explored producing a more traditional console follow-up to the GameCube. This high-definition console would have been released in late 2005 and competed directly with the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, with a lower price point and a bigger focus on games over general multimedia.
Of course, Nintendo never followed through with these plans, and instead released the Nintendo Wii in 2006. The Wii offered a unique motion-based control scheme, and hardware that was limited to standard-definition graphics. It was insanely successful, and eventually sold over 100 million units, more than both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
Although it was a very different console to what’s shown in this leaked presentation, the Wii did use hardware designed by ATI (now part of AMD), whose branding appears in the pitch deck.
It’s impossible to know from these leaks how far either of these plans progressed, but it’s fascinating to see how far back Nintendo’s interest in the Switch’s hybrid form-factor goes. It’s another fascinating peek into the history of one of gaming’s most secretive companies.