20-Year-Old Nintendo Patent Appears to Show an N64 with a DVD Drive

12.03.2024 - 18:58 / gamerant.com / Square Enix / J Brodie Shirey / Nintendo

An old Nintendo patent from 20 years ago has just surfaced, showing what appears to be an N64 console with a DVD drive. The Nintendo 64 was a revolutionary system for its time, featuring groundbreaking 3D graphics that provided an additional sense of immersion to classic Nintendo games like Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. However, the N64 still used cartridges for its software instead of making the jump to optical disks, a decision that led to Square Enix partnering with Sony to release Final Fantasy 7 as a PlayStation exclusive due to that console’s superior CD technology.

There were a few attempts to incorporate disks into Nintendo’s fifth-generation console, but none of them panned out in any meaningful way. Before the N64 was developed, Nintendo collaborated with Sony on the “Nintendo PlayStation,” a console that would likely have replaced both the N64 and PS1 had Nintendo not announced its partnership with Sony’s direct competitor Phillps a mere day after the console was announced. Later on, Nintendo produced its own disk-based add-on for the N64 named the 64DD in 1999, but it never left its native Japan and only produced ten disks before being discontinued less than a year later.

Late last week, an old patent filed by Nintendo Co., Ltd back in 2001 was finally published, showing what appears to be concept art for an updated version of the classic N64 console. Instead of the cartridges used in the N64 that eventually reached store shelves in the late 90s, this version features a DVD drive and cassette slot. Unlike the Nintendo 64DD, this artwork seems to depict a standalone system rather than an add-on, and the 64DD’s release predates the patient by nearly two years. Furthermore, the 64DD used 64 MB magnetic floppy disks rather than DVDs.

Given the timing of the patent’s filing and the use of disks, this N64 concept could have been some sort of prototype for the Nintendo GameCube, which launched in September 2001 and marked Nintendo’s true jump from cartridges to disks. However, the GameCube didn’t use DVDs for its games, instead relying on Nintendo and Panasonic’s proprietary GameCube Game Discs. Furthermore, the concept art features an N64 controller rather than the brightly colored one the GameCube is known for.

Why this old Nintendo patient was published now, after sitting away for almost two decades, is a mystery for the ages, but it does provide an interesting look at what the Big N’s post-N64 console might have been like. The concept’s use of DVDs is especially noteworthy, as no Nintendo console has supported the format without being modded, even after the GameCube eschewed the traditional cartridges in favor of optimal disks.

Nintendo is a Japanese video game company