A private video game collector recently reached out to Rerez host Shane Luis for his help in documenting a new, in-box Nintendo 64DD development kit, which means we now have an idea of what it must have been like for developers in the ā90s to get their hands on this rare piece of hardware.
The 64DD was an add-on for the Nintendo 64 that was meant to expand the aging, cartridge-based consoleās storage with writeable disks to help it compete with disc-based competitors like the PlayStation. That said, it remained exclusive to Japan and never really took off with developers or consumers, and as such is pretty rare today. Only nine DD games were released throughout 1999 and 2000 before Nintendo gave up on the project.
Weāve included some choice photos of the kit in the gallery above (with Shaneās permission, of course), but be sure to visit the original Twitter thread or his Archive.org upload for a whole lot more.
As the world turns and time marches on, there are things weāll eventually lose all ability to experience. How many unopened Nintendo 64 DD development kits are still in existence? Not many, Iām guessing. Fortunately, there are folks like Shane out there documenting gamingās past for all of us to enjoy second-hand.
