Prototype DS firmware included blood type selection settings
Forest of Illusion recently got its hands on a prototype of the DS firmware, which believe it or not, actually included blood type selection settings.
This firmware was at version 0.40615, which was well before the handheld system made it to market. Including the ability to set your blood type on the DS was something Nintendo was considering at one point, but ultimately scrapped it from the final product.
One of the first questions you’d probably have is why Nintendo would want to have that in there at all. In the west, this is something that probably wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense to most people. In Japan, however, sharing your blood type is actually more common. Still, there’s no real practical use when it comes to gaming, so perhaps it was unsurprising that the setting was ditched in the end.
There are some other interesting little tidbits about the firmware prototype as well. For example, at start up, a sound file of children shouting “Nintendo!” plays. Also, the Game Boy Advance logo shows up on the top screen instead of the DS logo. And digging into the actual menu, it’s pretty different and list-based instead of the spread out options like retail.
Thanks to Jake for the tip.
