http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/5013/prototypefamicomsuperfamicom6g.jpg

on the right is one of the first, if not THE first, Super Famicom
prototypes. on the left is an unreleased(?) version of the 8-bit
Famicom. this most likely unreleased redesign of the 8-bit Famicom is
called the 'Famicom Adaptor' according to Chris Covell on his website
disgruntleddesigner.com.   Although clearly it is a stand-alone Famicom
console, and a very good looking one IMO. much better than the later
re-designed A/V Famicom of the early 1990s, which was just horrible
looking, IMO.

Chris Covell writes:
[quote]
And below is a really amazing find! This comes from an announcement of
the SuperFamicom hardware, in February 1989. The article discusses some
of the features of the new system (stereo sound, scaling, ROM size,
etc...) But the system pictures are intriguing, to say the least! The
system on the left side of the page is a redesigned Famicom, called a
"Famicom adaptor". Who knows if it connected with the SFC as an
adaptor, or if it was just a fancy name for a redesigned Famicom to
complement the SFC design. This new FC design wasn't produced.

BUT! That picture on the right side of the page shows an early design
of the SFC, as above. This time, the labels of the switches are clearly
visible: Power Switch; FAMICOM Switch, and Reset Switch! Is this the
fabled Super Famicom protot

ype that was backwards-compatible with Famicom games? It looks
possible...[/quote]


another pic of the 8-bit Famicom redesign (upper right)
http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/8862/sfcproto010uf.jpg


a b&w photo of the early 16-bit Super Famicom prototype
http://www.disgruntleddesigner.com/chrisc/misc/sfcproto02.jpg

another b&w photo of the redesigned 8-bit Famicom
http://www.disgruntleddesigner.com/chrisc/misc/sfcproto03.jpg

found here: http://disgruntleddesigner.com/chrisc/secrets3.html



another color photo of the early 16-bit Super Famicom design
http://www.disgruntleddesigner.com/chrisc/misc/EarlySFC.JPG


a much better picture
http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/8008/superfamicomprotoclear2nm.jpg


and another really nice picture because of the angle, showing the
headphone jack and volume control not found in the SFC that came out!
http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/5572/superfamicomproto36fb.jpg


now this is another Super Famicom prototype that came later. it is much
closer to the Super Famicom that Nintendo released
http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/7109/earlysfc20pa.jpg
http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/496/earlysfc18fa.jpg


don't know about you guys, but I would've wanted the first SFC
prototype to have been the design of the final system, I think it rocks.