Prototype photos show an early look at the Wii U GamePad

So many cords!

The new installment of Iwata Asks is centered around Nintendo Land, but the real highlight has got to be pictures of some early prototypes Nintendo built when working on what would eventually become the Wii U’s GamePad.

The first prototype, described as “the start of two-screen gameplay,” was a Wii Zapper experiment which inspired the company to add a gyro sensor in the 3DS — Shigeru Miyamoto’s apparently insisted. Crude as the device was, it helped convey “the structure of Wii U — having a screen in your hands — and it became more compelling,” explained Nintendo EAD’s Takayuki Shimamura.

From there, the “handicraft team” at EAD put together a prototype more representative of the final GamePad. According to Shimamura, this one was “a monitor and controllers stuck together by double-sided tape.” Funnily enough, the column stresses the fact that EAD is not a hardware department. Don’t judge!

Nintendo Land [Iwata Asks via Tiny Cartridge]