Nintendo just announced its new motion sensor alarm clock, and while we’re still engrossed in the $100 device, the company also shared a look at some interesting early prototypes that show how the project has changed during its development .

While the Alarmo is round and strikingly red, an “early” prototype shown by Nintendo in an “Ask the Developer” interview had a more boxy shape and came in gray. While that prototype had an interesting feature in its dot-matrix LED display (similar to the now-discontinued Echo Dot with Clock), Nintendo ultimately went in a different direction because “we felt that this display system wouldn’t be able to do it.” “The instructions are sufficient,” says Yosuke Tamori of Nintendo, who oversaw the development of the Alarmo. “It was particularly difficult to explain the new features of the product, such as the motion sensor,” he says.

Another prototype, more similar to the Alarmo you can buy now, stood on a pedestal. “The system that serves as the brain of the alarm clock is located in the base, and the LCD screen and speaker are built into the upper part, with a dial on the top and a second one on the side,” says Tetsuya Akama. the director of the Alarmo project.

However, “the second prototype was difficult to use for left-handers because the dial was on the right side,” says Tamori. “We also wanted it to remain stable even without the base part, so we ended up putting all the controls on top.”

These two prototypes aren’t immediately recognizable as alarm clocks, but Akama explained why the team chose the more traditional alarm clock shape for the final product:

The most difficult factor in the design decision was whether or not it should look like an alarm clock. Although it is a highly novel product that offers a completely new experience, we felt it was important to clearly communicate that it is an alarm clock. After much consideration, we decided on a design that people would immediately recognize as an alarm clock. Additionally, Tamori-san requested that if Alarmo was to be drawn as an image or symbol, he should have a shape that would be immediately recognizable and eye-catching to anyone who sees it, so we chose that shape.

The full interview, divided into four separate parts, contains a ton of other interesting details about the Alarmo, including why the team chose the color red rather than gesture controls (somewhere a Google employee chimes in… Tear) and did not add any game elements to the watch.