Back in the year 2000, Nintendo was still hosting their yearly Space World events, and Space World 2000 was certainly a doozy. Not only did Nintendo finally reveal the Nintendo 64’s successor, the Nintendo GameCube, they also took the wraps off of their highly-anticipated follow up to the Game Boy Color, the Game Boy Advance.
When it was first revealed, the prototype Game Boy Advance had an orange-and-silver color scheme that never made it to the final production units, seemingly becoming all but lost to time — until now, that is.
Thanks to a listing on Yahoo! Auctions in Japan, Twitter user MarioDS64 actually got his hands on one of these Space World prototypes and partnered with the YouTube Channel Hard4Games to showcase it.
As seen in the Hard4Games video, the prototype has an entirely different startup chime, and slightly different “L” and “R” buttons when compared to the retail GBA units, alongside some other internal differences.
As someone who really enjoys seeing alternative models and editions of game consoles (handhelds especially), I got a real kick out of this discovery, and I’m glad that a piece of Nintendo history like this prototype found its way into the hands of a collector willing to show it off for other enthusiasts out in the world.
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Written by Jaxson Tapp
As a lover of gaming and the written word, Jaxson currently fills his time not only with playing games, but also writing about them. Ready for anything, Jaxson’s passion for puzzle games, JRPGs, tough platformers, and whimsical indies helps him bring a well-rounded opinion to Nintendo Wire’s reporting.
