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Additional photos below:👇

Additional photos below:👇

Shown here is the Satellaview (サテラビュー) satellite modem add-on for the Super Famicom.😎🤘 It was released on April 23, 1995 and was only available in Japan. Nintendo partnered with satellite radio company St.GIGA so players could download games, digital magazines, and other content from satellite broadcasts. This gave players the option of downloading, instead of purchasing cartridges. It plugged into the Super Famicom’s bottom expansion port (like a 64DD). The unit added 1 MB of ROM and 512 KB of RAM. You also needed: • A BS (broadcast satellite) tuner and dish (buy or rent from St.GIGA) • The included BS-X cartridge (Sore wa Namae o Nusumareta Machi no Monogatari — “The Town Whose Name Was Stolen”), which served as both BIOS and an EarthBound-style town menu. • An 8 Mbit Memory Pack that slotted into the top of the BS-X cart to store downloaded games. A bundled AV selector let you switch between the Super Famicom and regular satellite TV on one input. Broadcasts ran in scheduled blocks (originally 4–7 p.m., later expanded), branded as “Super Famicom Hour.” During those windows you walked around the BS-X town, entered buildings, and downloaded whatever was being transmitted that day and only accessible while the live broadcast was on. Yet another very cool Japan only add-on unit from the 1990’s.😎🤘#Nintendo #SuperFamicom #SNES #Satellaview #retrogaming

According to a former developer at Konami, this devkit originally cost roughly around ~$18,500 USD. (2.5 million yen) 🤯 however many devs indicated that this fee also included Nintendo’s license fee which was usually quite substantial. $$$$$ The unit connected to a host PC (either a PC-9801 or to a proprietary Sony Unix workstation). It also came with the appropriate cables and a GP-IB interface card for the PC-98.

Additional photos below:👇 Images Credit: (Rhod's Collection Blog)

This is the Super Famicom SF BOX-II.😎🤘 An ultra rare official development kit & debugger for the Super Famicom. Released by the company Ricoh. (Circa ~1991) The unit used a proprietary Debugger software and interfaced to a host PC via RS-232 or GP-IB. The debugger software ran on MS-DOS. The unit was quite expensive when initially released. In turn, only a relatively small number of these devices were produced. (~500-1000 units) Developers could use the SF BOX-II to: - Load and test games using the real-time source level debugger to find bugs. - Test games using standard Super Famicom controllers and video connections. - Test games using EPROM-based development cartridges. Alternatively, certain revisions of the machine had a ZIF socket mounted on the front panel; for populating programmed EPROMs directly to the system, while the topside also had a cartridge slot. 
 Internally, the SF BOX-II contained multiple PCBs, housing SRAM memory and a proprietary Ricoh board. Ricoh was the company responsible for the Super Famicom's main CPU, the 5A22, so this was an official-grade development kit provided to Nintendo developers.😎🤘#Nintendo #SNES #SuperFamicom #gamedev #retrogaming #gamedevelopment

This is the Mobile GameBoy Adapter.😎🤘 A Japan-only accessory that connected a GameBoy Color to a compatible cell phone and used the phone as a modem. It allowed Peer-to-peer trading within the Japanese Pokémon Crystal game. It connected to Nintendo’s short-lived Mobile System GB service (launched January 2001, shut down December 2002). Japanese Pokémon Crystal was the main supported title and unlocked: • Peer-to-peer trades and battles by dialing another player’s number • A GTS-style Trade Corner • The Battle Tower (online-only in Japan) • News, quizzes, and limited downloadable content (including the Odd Egg / GS Ball event) #Gameboy #pokemonㅤㅤㅤ #retrogaming

I kinda doubt it would work now…but who knows.🤔 That phone is the NTT DOCOMO
503i out of Japan. 👇 mobilephonemuseum.com/phone-…

Additional internal shots of the connector housing & PCBA: 👇

In 2001, Sony released an i-mode connection cable (SCPH-10180) in Japan. The cable would plug into a PS1 controller port to link the console with compatible mobile phones, providing basic network and data transfer services. It initially supported connections with NTT Docomo's mobile service. Sony had big plans to expand coverage using other carriers. A cool gadget from the early 2000’s.😎🤘#Sony #PS1 #retrogaming

Beauty development machines!😎👌

Konami Computer Entertainment Japan (Circa ~2001) during the Development of: Metal Gear Solid 2 😎🤘 Images credit: @geoffkeighley

Beep! MegaDrive Magazine (Circa ~1990’s)😎🤘 #Sega #MegaDrive #Genesis #Retrogaming

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Who ever owned a Panasonic 3DO? 😎🤘 #Panasonic #3DO #retrogaming

This is the Interceptor Mega Disk. A floppy disk peripheral for the Sega MegaDrive /Genesis from the mid 1990s.😎🤘 This unit falls into the category of a backup / copier device. They would allow users to copy MegaDrive cartridges onto 3.5″ floppy disks for future loading without the need of the physical cartridge. Similar backup copier systems were released for the Super Nintendo and N64. #Sega #MegaDrive #Genesis #retrogaming

Wild! 😎👌 Reminds me of the Amiga Video Toaster 2000 from back in the day.

During the early 1990’s, Japan had some of the coolest Video Gaming magazines around. If you were an avid reader, then coming across an article where the writers would share their own ideas, concept designs, drawings of new upcoming hardware…this was nothing new. Which was, or is now your favourite gaming magazine from back in the day? Here is yet another Magazine article caption, featuring a writers concept design for a Sega 32-bit CD-ROM based integrated console. Some cool design ideas were had by many.😎🤘#Sega #MegaDrive #Genesis #retrogaming

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Shown here is the Nintendo Game Boy peripheral known as The Barcode Boy (バーコードボーイ)😎🤘 A Japan-only Game Boy accessory released in December 1992 by the company Namcot. As the name entails, it was a barcode scanner that sat on top of the original Game Boy (DMG-01) and used the serial link port. It also required two AA batteries and only worked reliably on the original DMG-01. The player would swipe a game card (or any printed JAN-13 / EAN-13 barcode, through a slot on the device. The scanner read the 13-digit number and sent it to the Game Boy over the serial link port as ASCII data. The game then used those digits as a seed or specific trigger. After a short handshake over the link port, the Gameboy sat silent waiting for a swipe to occur. The scanner would then send the 13-digit barcode number as ASCII data. (30 byte packet.) Players were encouraged to hunt for barcodes on everyday products for random scanning. These would produce unpredictable sometimes powerful, sometimes useless results. Yet another retro tech novelty from the 1990’s.😎👌 #Nintendo #Gameboy #Barcode #retrogaming

Here is an early concept design of the Sega MegaDrive-II.😎🤘(~Circa 1991) Predictions were the unit would be a side-loaded add-on adapter. Also shown is a concept design of a Mega-Floppy drive. Most early predictions of peripherals for the MegaDrive: such as the Mega Modem and the floppy disk drive would almost always attached directly to the main units expansion port. This add-on was intended to enhance the MegaDrive consoles processing power significantly; by housing a dedicated VDP (Video Display Processor) for handling screen and animation control, a newly developed DSP (Digital Signal Processor) for sound processing, and additional memory required by these devices for proper functionality. This so called “MegaDrive-II” Add-on (excluding the Mega Drive console itself) …had an anticipated price tag of ~$95 USD in 1990. (14,800 yen) With the top loaded floppy drive predicted at a whopping ~$170 USD. (25,000 yen.) In the end Sega provided the masses with the 32X add-on in late December 1994, and the floppy disk module never saw the light of day.#Sega #Genesis #MegaDrive #Sega32X #retrogaming

Shown here is an early concept design of the Sega CD for the Sega Genesis / MegaDrive. (~Circa 1990)😎🤘 The design featured the front loading CD-Rom drive, as well as a Bootloader cartridge. This was intended to store the CD-Rom BIOS/OS as well as the Startup interface software.#Sega #Genesis #MegaDrive #retrogaming

EA…👇

Shown here is the SEGA MegaDrive development / debugger cartridge by Accolade Inc. Accolade was a game developer that decided to reverse engineer the Sega MegaDrive / Genesis to make games for the system, without paying Sega any licensing or royalty fees. Their plan was to release their games directly to market and construct their own in-house cartridges from scratch. This is why Accolade game carts look different than standard MegaDrive carts. No doubt this led to a wildly publicized legal battle between Accolade and Sega. In the end, both companies agreed to settle; with Accolade becoming an official Sega licensee. Images credit: AssemblerGames.org #Accolade #Sega #MegaDrive #gamedev #Retrogaming

The Sega Digitizer System III was shown here being used by Sega Artists for graphics design and editing.😎🤘#Sega #Arcade #Genesis #gamedev #retrogaming

Sega Japan Research & Development labs ~1988 during the making of the Arcade classic “Golden Axe”. The game was released in Arcades and on the Sega Genesis in 1989.😎🤘 Also showing a young Makato Uchida the Lead Game Designer & Programmer of Golden Axe (Circa 2002). #Sega #Genesis #gamedev #retrogaming

This is the NU64 Flash Gang Writer by Intelligent Systems.😎🤘 Used by developers to program N64 development flash cartridges. It would communicate with a development PC over a high speed SCSI-2 interface, and ran its programming software under MS-DOS. It could program up to x8 flash cartridges simultaneously!!😮👌 These N64 dev cartridges were primarily used within QA testing departments. However they were commonly sent out to gaming magazine companies, when new games needed to be reviewed. They were also frequently seen setup within Kiosk demo stations at gaming expos like E3. #Nintendo #N64 #gamedev #retrogamming

Back in 2007 a member of the AtariAge.com Forums known as: "Wilbur McCalmont", modified multiple Atari Jaguar “ALPINE” development flashcarts that he owned. One of the modifications was adding a 7-Segment display. It was set by changing a set of jumper pins, and used to indicate which Parallel port number the Alpine was connected to on a PC. It was a complete stand alone circuit and made no direct connection to the card circuitry. In all honesty, it would have been simpler to just put a sticker or a piece of tape on the card, and simply write which port # the card was assigned to.😖🤦🏻‍♂️ I guess he was interconnecting multiple Alpines and PC workstations at once? This guy had x7 Alpine boards!! 🤯 WTF! After selling them off on eBay, he was not heard of since.🤷🏻‍♂️#Atari #Jaguar #gamedev #retrogaming

It will even record the audio/video feed, that you have plugged in on the side A/V ports for video playback.😎👌#Sony #Walkman #MiniDV

For years now with all the testing and electronics repair work I do in the Lab… my Sony GV-D900 Mini-DV video Walkman, works as an amazing composite video preview monitor.😎🤘 A perfect bench-top monitor for testing game consoles and all sorts of other video gear. #Sony #Walkman #N64 #gamedev #electronics #retrogaming

Shown here is a prototype board used in the development of the “FlashMasta”.😎🤘 A Flash cartridge for the NeoGeo Pocket Color. Designed and built by @FreeplayTech #NeoGeoPocket #NGPC #gamedev #retrogaming Flashcarts for the NGPC and the WonderSwan with USB support were released. flashmasta.com/shop/

Shown here is a custom in-house "DCC Adapter board" used for N64 and 64DD development.😎🤘 Developers used this device to connect two N64 development cartridges together at the same time. Commonly used with the IPL “DISK” cartridge, for booting 64DD games and testing SRAM memory. Onboard CIC security chips allowed quick selection between NTSC and PAL using jumper pins and a toggle switch. The Official released model was "NUS DCC-00". #Nintendo #N64 #64DD #gamedev #retrogaming You can get further details and Photos of this unit on my Website at the Link below. 😎👇 behindthecode.ca/dcc-adapter…

Shown below is the Factor5 "MusyX" Sound Tools Dev software for Nintendo 64 and Gameboy Advance.😎🤘 The Gameboy Advance version can be found on Archive.org However, I’ve never actually found a copy for the N64 anywhere out in the wild… still to this day.☹️ Has anyone ever seen a copy somewhere?🤔 That would be the ultimate to actually track down. Interesting Fact: MusyX for the Gameboy Color used a special parallel Link cable, for testing Midi tracks and sound effects on the Gameboy itself. The software would transfer data from the PC using the parallel port, over to the Gameboy via the Link port. #Nintendo #N64 #gameboy #gamedev #retrogaming

Additional photos below:👇

This is the IS-TWL-DEBUGGER for the Nintendo DSi. Designed and released by Intelligent Systems.😎🤘 Nintendo's professional development tool that supported source-level debugging, hardware breakpoints, high-speed program loading, and a number of hardware-level testing functions. TWL was used by Nintendo as the codename for the Nintendo DSi, whose development/project name was “Twilight.” The hardware's official product/model prefix was also TWL. For example: TWL-001 for the original DSi. #Nintendo #DSi #gamedev #retrogaming

This is the IS-SNAKE-BOX development kit for the Nintendo #3DS by Intelligent Systems.😎🤘 This was an updated debugger to the PARTNER-CTR kits, which ran 3DS “Standard applications” where the SNAKE-BOX ran “Extended applications” for increased performance. #gamedev #retrogaming

Shown here is the PARTNER-CTR “UIC-MIDI” development cartridge for the Nintendo 3DS. Designed and released by Kyoto Microcomputer (KMC).😎🤘 This was a development tool used by developers and also musicians, when producing music and sound effects for 3DS games. (Specifically midi music tracks.) A standard DIN-5 MIDI port was used for connecting external midi devices like keyboards or midi sequencers etc. This allowed developers to sample music and sound effects on the 3DS handheld in real-time. A USB port was also provided, for performing firmware updates and other development software related control. The heart of the UIC-MIDI was an Altera Cyclone-III FPGA. Yet another very rare and unusual piece of Nintendo development hardware.😎🤘#Nintendo #3DS #gamedev #retrogaming #midi

Yes Indeedy! Hear hear!👍

Additional photos below:👇

This is the “IS-NITRO-UIC(MIDI)” development cartridge by Intelligent Systems.😎🤘 An ultra rare development tool used to create and test MIDI music tracks and sound effects on the Nintendo DS handheld in real-time. Targeted at both software Engineers and Musicians developing Nintendo DS games. As shown in the image below, developers could interface the unit to a development PC over USB for performing Firmware updates and also other software related controls of the hardware. There was a standard DIN-5 socket connector for connecting external MIDI devices, such as MIDI Keyboards or Midi Sequencers etc. The cartridge did require a proprietary software that was loaded onto the DS using a development flash cartridge. An Ultra rare development tool for the Nintendo DS.😎🤘#NintendoDS #gamedev #midi #retrogaming #gamedevelopment

FYI: You can watch a deep-dive video demo of this Sega development cartridge up and running at the link below: 👀🔗👇 piped.video/sZF-Q0_HCXU?si=YO5L…

A modification to the Genesis/ MegaDrive console is required by this system to function properly. The CPU “/BERR” pin needs to be re-routed from Vcc to control port “J1” on the cartridge PCBA. (A simple MOD using a tie-line wire.) This allows the debugger software to implement breakpoint functionality. The supporting documentation suggests using the Sierra C cross-Compiler for generating game ROM files from source. I actually ended up running the compiler and linker .exe files manually, using a DOS batchfile, which worked without issue. I modified the ASCII data from a demo C source file to add my own custom messages. Lol😄 So much Sega gamedev fun!😎🤘#sega #Genesis #MegaDrive #gamedev #retrogaming #gamedevelopment