The leak of a 2016 build of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has shed light on the Nintendo NX, the platform that would eventually become the Nintendo Switch.
A clip of a never-before-seen Nintendo NX logo began to circulate on Twitter after it was shared by translator and preservationist Paul Kelly. The animation was found among a cache of other information in the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe build, which was dated October 18, 2016. The Switch was announced that same month.
The Nintendo Switches Codename was the NX and this was an early Logo / Boot Up animation used during development of the Console ( It was found in the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Prototype ) This was never seen outside Nintendo pic.twitter.com/B1bS5zCKOu
— Paul Kelly (@PaulFelixKelly) November 20, 2022
It’s not exactly stunning as intro animations go, keeping things fairly simple with a logo animation similar to an ajax spinner. What makes it special is that the logo has never been seen by anyone outside of Nintendo before.
In the lead-up to its announcement, the Nintendo NX was considered the video game industry’s worst-kept secret. Nintendo bowed to pressure and acknowledged the console’s existence in 2015, hoping it would help people forget the disastrously poor sales of the Wii U. Leaks and patents would appear in fits and spurts, a picture of the console that would become the Switch slowly growing in resolution.
Nintendo has historically remained tight-lipped on the story of how the NX was developed. The console was the last to be produced under its late-President Satoru Iwata, a man whose tenure was defined by some of the most successful hardware Nintendo has ever produced. Nintendo has seemed hesitant to move onto a new machine since his passing, Iwata’s preference for hardware that was unique and imaginative perhaps proving difficult to capture without him. So integral was Iwata in the development of the Switch that every unit shipped with a hidden copy of the NES Golf game that he helped create as a tribute. The game could not be accessed through conventional means and seemed to only unlock on the anniversary of Iwata’s death. Nintendo appeared to remove the hidden tribute after its discovery.
a prototype of mario kart 8 deluxe released and it has several early assets and temporary 200cc staff ghosts and much much more pic.twitter.com/mi4ZccLuMa
— Dr. 18😼 @Dr18@wetdry.world (@ToyConGarageVR) November 21, 2022
The same Mario Kart 8 leak was found to contain a number of other bits of information about the game from when it was still in active development. Dataminers found menu screens with placeholder Toad sketches, and temporary staff ghosts from the game’s 200cc difficulty. There was even a list of potential driver characters that read like a Smash Bros lineup, including Kirby, Fox McCloud, Captain Falcon, and characters from Pikmin. Don’t get your hopes up — these characters were likely just placeholders, and won’t ever make it into the game through the current Booster Course Pass.
Seems like a prototype of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has leaked online with a build date of 2016/10/18 09:37:23 with debug features enabled.
Do note that the characters shown WILL NOT be part of the Booster Course Pass, and are likely just placeholders.
(Screencaps from Discord.) pic.twitter.com/gMvS10m4gX
— Trash_BDC (📌SEE PINS FOR OTHER LINKS!) (@trashbandatcoot) November 20, 2022
Leave a Reply