A new Nintendo leak has revealed the original Nintendo Switch design, which is nothing like the final product released in 2017 and has been the best-selling console in the world ever since. 2020 has been a bad year for Nintendo from a security standpoint, with leaks flying like crazy from the Nintendo archives. The last of these leaks reveal an early and original design for what would eventually become the Switch and eventually the Switch Lite. Interestingly, not only does the original design look nothing like the finished product, but it’s actually closer to the Switch Lite than the traditional Switch.
As you can see below, the console’s original design has a screen that is larger than the analog sticks in a way that is very reminiscent of a cell phone screen. In fact, most of the time the console is just a screen, with three small buttons on the bottom that prevent the face from being entirely a means of display.
If the design looks familiar, it’s because it looks almost exactly like a “leaked” image of the console that made the rounds before it was revealed, and which was eventually written off as a hoax.
Nintendo will not be happy. More stuff just leaked out. Switch between private keys and many documents. One document reveals the Switch’s design in 2014, and it looks eerily like that one hoax that floated around and gained traction years ago. pic.twitter.com/fFddJvXbpq
– Forest of Illusion (@forestillusion) December 22, 2020
According to some documents associated with the leak, the Nintendo Switch is said to originally support 3D functionality and be backward compatible with the Nintendo 3DS. Nintendo also apparently looked at using a 480p screen. Fortunately, it decided not to and made the screen 720p.
Take all of this – the images and the bits of information – with a grain of salt, of course, since it’s all information about the leaked variety. At the time of publication, Nintendo has not commented on this leak in any capacity and is unlikely to change. If so, we will be sure to update the story with whatever is provided. In the meantime, for more information on all things Nintendo Switch, click here or check out the relevant links below: