Nintendo DS firmware prototype had a different start-up sound

Millions of Nintendo fans will never forget the sound of firing up the DS. There’s been a lot of iconic noises in Nintendo’s history, but that one little jingle will cause a rush of nostalgia the likes of which are hard to match. That’s why it’s so hard to imagine the DS with any other start-up noise, but there was a point in time where that was the case.

A prototype Nintendo DS with the X4 firmware has been discovered, and it’s extremely different from what the final version of the DS offered. Pretty much everything from the boot-up screen to the menus are unfinished, and they have a long way to go before they’d match up with what fans recognize. Things start off differently with a completely unique start-up sound, which you can hear below.

Now here’s the question we all have. Was this just a placeholder sound that Nintendo slipped in during development, or was this being considered as the final noise? Either way, we know Nintendo decided to move away from it. We think that was the right call overall, but it still would have been fun to hear this more whimsical logo at DS boot-up every time!