Purple Yoshi Tech Demo (lost Game Boy Advance tech demo; existence unconfirmed; 2000): Difference between revisions
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'''In August 2000 an image featuring a notably off-model Yoshi the Dinosaur was posted on IGN's website'''. At least resembling a screenshot from a longer tech demo, presumably for the then-upcoming Game Boy Advance, it shows a 3D rendering of the popular Nintendo mascot as bright purple, with a red crest and wearing dark green sneakers - a striking departure from the canonical apple-green dino with an orange crest and sneakers. He is seen from a third person forward perspective, moving along a forest path | '''In August 2000 an image featuring a notably off-model Yoshi the Dinosaur was posted on IGN's website'''. At least resembling a screenshot from a longer tech demo, presumably for the then-upcoming Game Boy Advance, it shows a 3D rendering of the popular Nintendo mascot as bright purple, with a red crest and wearing dark green sneakers - a striking departure from the canonical apple-green dino with an orange crest and sneakers. He is seen from a third person forward perspective, moving along a forest path. Blue and red spider-like creatures, apparently also new designs, face him; he is stretching his tongue out at one of the creatures, ready to capture or eat it. A target on that creature along with a prominent counter and other graphics add to the impression of gameplay in progress. | ||
==The Search== | ==The Search== | ||
Revision as of 02:16, 13 March 2022
The screenshot of the tech demo.
Status: Existence Unconfirmed
In August 2000 an image featuring a notably off-model Yoshi the Dinosaur was posted on IGN's website. At least resembling a screenshot from a longer tech demo, presumably for the then-upcoming Game Boy Advance, it shows a 3D rendering of the popular Nintendo mascot as bright purple, with a red crest and wearing dark green sneakers - a striking departure from the canonical apple-green dino with an orange crest and sneakers. He is seen from a third person forward perspective, moving along a forest path. Blue and red spider-like creatures, apparently also new designs, face him; he is stretching his tongue out at one of the creatures, ready to capture or eat it. A target on that creature along with a prominent counter and other graphics add to the impression of gameplay in progress.
The Search
In 2014 Lost Media YouTuber LSuperSonicQ discovered the screenshot on a Spaceworld 2000 image website and uploaded it onto his blog.[1] On further investigation in 2018 he found it on an Ars Technica forum page from August 14th, 2000, along with a a Lost Levels forum page of similar vintage providing links to two separate sources for the image. [2]
The first was a now-defunct fansite, Super Mario 128 Central, which in turn had sourced it from the IGN Boards fan forums. Apparently a user named SolarGamer had posted the image - claiming it had been provided by a 'Japanese source' - along with the following statement:
"That is right! There is finally a high quality Game Boy Advance screenshot...And as you can see it is of Yoshi!! These graphics look astounding. Look at how crisp and clear the image is. Some might say that this rivals the N64. While there is no word on what exactly this game is, it looks a little like "Yoshi's Safari" for the SNES. If this is only a first generation game, just imagine what the GBA can do later in it's life. I am getting more and more excited on what the GBA is capable of, and if things keep going this well, I might have a new favorite system in my hands. One can only hope this is a foreshadow of how good the "Nintedo Dolphin" will be. With a little bit of luck Nintendo could get back its place at #1. Hurry up Nintendo! It looks like you have another winner in your hands!"[3]
The second source (probably related to the first) was another archived IGN Boards page where a blurry version of the image had been used to lure users into signing up for the Handheld Boards, in order to see the higher quality version of it. Unfortunately this Handheld Boards page was not archived and it is unknown if it provided any more context for the image.[4]
Status
The ultimate source of the purple Yoshi image has never surfaced, making it impossible to confirm whether it was actually part of a longer demo. As the Super Mario 128 Central blog post points out, the Game Boy Advance was not, in fact, capable of rendering 3D graphics at the level of quality seen in the image.[5]
Despite the official-sounding promotional tone of the image posts, no further info on it was ever provided by Nintendo or anyone affiliated. It seems most likely that the image was simply mocked up to encourage fan speculation around the GBA's release, and never intended to reflect an actually upcoming game.
Gallery
External Links
References
- ↑ LSuperSonicQ's blogpost mentioning the tech demo. Retrieved 17 Feb '22
- ↑ Ars Technica forum discussion on the tech demo. Retrieved 17 Feb '22
- ↑ Super Mario 128 Central blogpost about the tech demo. Retrieved 17 Feb '22
- ↑ Archived IGN Boards webpage where the blurry image was originally posted. Retrieved 17 Feb '22
- ↑ Super Mario 128 Central blogpost about the tech demo. Retrieved 17 Feb '22