A previously unreleased Nintendo 64 title has been recovered and preserved, shedding light on a little-known corner of N64 development history.
The prototype in question is Kaminari no Gotoku: Choukousoku Igo, a Go game developed by Seta Corporation for the Nintendo 64 and associated 64DD era.
The ROM was located, acquired from a private seller, and ultimately dumped to the Internet Archive by preservationists, making the build accessible to researchers and fans of video game history.
Discovery and preservation
The discovery was publicized after 64DD ROM hacker LuigiBlood shared a link to a NESWORLD prototype page documenting the cartridge.
According to reporting on NESWORLD, the physical cartridge surfaced on eBay earlier this year with an initial listing near $30,000 before the seller reduced the asking price to $9,000.
A buyer was eventually secured and the ROM was dumped and uploaded to the Internet Archive, with a group known as Team Carrot credited as responsible for the archival upload.
Build details and developer credits
Preservationists describe the dumped ROM as a near-final Japanese build.
The prototype runs entirely in Japanese and implements a complete Go experience including play against several CPU opponents, a tournament mode, and tutorial sections designed to teach the rules of Go.
Team Carrot noted that while this is not a high-profile lost title like Mother 3 or a cancelled N64 build of Project Dream, the release nonetheless represents a preserved piece of Nintendo 64 history.
Research published on NESWORLD adds development context, reporting that Seta licensed a Go engine from American company Toyogo Inc and developer David Fotland.
Toyogo's technology was wrapped by Seta to create the final product.
The game is believed to have been scheduled for release in 1997 and appeared in Western publications such as EDGE and Game Informer under the translated name Like Thunder Go.
Seta later removed the title from its website the same year, and the project was effectively shelved.
Seta's cancelled N64 projects
Kaminari no Gotoku is one of several cancelled Seta projects for the Nintendo 64 era.
Contemporary records list other cancelled titles including Gendai Dai-Senryaku: Ultimate War, originally planned for the 64DD, and the racing title Rev Limit.
Significance
The ROM dump and archival upload provide a verified, accessible record of an otherwise obscure N64 prototype, ensuring researchers and preservationists can study the build without relying on a single private collector.
For historians of Nintendo hardware and software, the find adds detail to the late 1990s N64 development landscape and Seta's catalogue of projects.
The prototype in question is Kaminari no Gotoku: Choukousoku Igo, a Go game developed by Seta Corporation for the Nintendo 64 and associated 64DD era.
The ROM was located, acquired from a private seller, and ultimately dumped to the Internet Archive by preservationists, making the build accessible to researchers and fans of video game history.
Discovery and preservation
The discovery was publicized after 64DD ROM hacker LuigiBlood shared a link to a NESWORLD prototype page documenting the cartridge.
According to reporting on NESWORLD, the physical cartridge surfaced on eBay earlier this year with an initial listing near $30,000 before the seller reduced the asking price to $9,000.
A buyer was eventually secured and the ROM was dumped and uploaded to the Internet Archive, with a group known as Team Carrot credited as responsible for the archival upload.
Build details and developer credits
Preservationists describe the dumped ROM as a near-final Japanese build.
The prototype runs entirely in Japanese and implements a complete Go experience including play against several CPU opponents, a tournament mode, and tutorial sections designed to teach the rules of Go.
Team Carrot noted that while this is not a high-profile lost title like Mother 3 or a cancelled N64 build of Project Dream, the release nonetheless represents a preserved piece of Nintendo 64 history.
Research published on NESWORLD adds development context, reporting that Seta licensed a Go engine from American company Toyogo Inc and developer David Fotland.
Toyogo's technology was wrapped by Seta to create the final product.
The game is believed to have been scheduled for release in 1997 and appeared in Western publications such as EDGE and Game Informer under the translated name Like Thunder Go.
Seta later removed the title from its website the same year, and the project was effectively shelved.
Seta's cancelled N64 projects
Kaminari no Gotoku is one of several cancelled Seta projects for the Nintendo 64 era.
Contemporary records list other cancelled titles including Gendai Dai-Senryaku: Ultimate War, originally planned for the 64DD, and the racing title Rev Limit.
Significance
The ROM dump and archival upload provide a verified, accessible record of an otherwise obscure N64 prototype, ensuring researchers and preservationists can study the build without relying on a single private collector.
For historians of Nintendo hardware and software, the find adds detail to the late 1990s N64 development landscape and Seta's catalogue of projects.
