OP
OP
- Pronouns
- He/They
alright, since it's been a few hours. i was able to compile a bunch of extra details.
What happened to the cart?
as it turns out, the original owner (DreamTR) sold it off. and the new owner imprisoned it in a WATA shell.
thankfully, checking the MD5 hash of the leaked rom confirms that it's 1;1 with the cartridge version.
the unused content
you already saw part of the Hangman image in the OP, but it turns out the full version is shockingly grim for an SNES game designed for casual players.
the "coming soon" text seems to suggest that it would get added to the Gateway system later on. even though it never properly displays in-game.
in less creepypasta-esque content, there's also an alternate version of the UI which uses the more standard name of "Tic-Tac-Toe".
as well as an unused music track, maybe it was intended for one of the other games?
the origins of Nintendo Software Technology
the earliest evidence i could find of them was in a May 1998 press release at E3 mentioning their formation.
of particular historical relevance was the university's policies (circa 1996) on how projects made by their students could be used.
the other Digipen Nintendo games
with the note about their close partnership, it's not surprising to learn that other students at Digipen would get the chance to work with SNES dev tools.
projects such as "Disposable Heroes" and "OCOWA" would be created for the hardware, never to be seen outside the classroom.
the possibility of those students still having a build lying around is reasonable, and as such it seems like a worthwhile project to look into.
however, the DigiNin group also got their hands on the then-new N64. and created a tech demo you've almost certainly never heard of.
during my research into various employees at NST, i stumbled upon this unique note about DigiNin from an employee.
What happened to the cart?
as it turns out, the original owner (DreamTR) sold it off. and the new owner imprisoned it in a WATA shell.
thankfully, checking the MD5 hash of the leaked rom confirms that it's 1;1 with the cartridge version.
the unused content
you already saw part of the Hangman image in the OP, but it turns out the full version is shockingly grim for an SNES game designed for casual players.
in less creepypasta-esque content, there's also an alternate version of the UI which uses the more standard name of "Tic-Tac-Toe".
as well as an unused music track, maybe it was intended for one of the other games?
the origins of Nintendo Software Technology
the earliest evidence i could find of them was in a May 1998 press release at E3 mentioning their formation.
what's not mentioned, however. is it's ties to the DigiPen Institute of Technology. Nintendo had a close relation to the university starting in the 90s, with a new school opening in Redmond, Washington (the future location of NST) a few months prior to E3.
Nintendo having a small internal group at the university was not new for the time, with evidence suggesting they previously operated under the names "DigiPen Computer Graphics" and "DigiNin".
of particular historical relevance was the university's policies (circa 1996) on how projects made by their students could be used.
we don't have an exact date on when Noughts & Crosses was made, but it was likely a huge turning point for Digipen as a whole. with the advancing rate of the internet, Student projects could go from being perpetually locked (mostly, the official site for the school allowed students to share info about what they made. but no builds were allowed.) inside the halls to being shared online. allowing general audiences to see the germination of creative gameplay mechanics and unique voices before they hit a major commercial title.
the other Digipen Nintendo games
with the note about their close partnership, it's not surprising to learn that other students at Digipen would get the chance to work with SNES dev tools.
projects such as "Disposable Heroes" and "OCOWA" would be created for the hardware, never to be seen outside the classroom.
the possibility of those students still having a build lying around is reasonable, and as such it seems like a worthwhile project to look into.
however, the DigiNin group also got their hands on the then-new N64. and created a tech demo you've almost certainly never heard of.
during my research into various employees at NST, i stumbled upon this unique note about DigiNin from an employee.
this is all the info we have currently, but whatever it is sounds vastly important in Nintendo's history.
