Extremely rare SNES PlayStation prototype surfaces

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One of Sony’s storied SNES PlayStation prototypes has surfaced, and it’s not sitting on a museum shelf or languishing in one of the company’s cellars.

Instead, the console was spotted in what should have been it’s natural habitat: someone’s home.

Images posted overnight on Reddit, and cross-posted on Assembler Games, show what was at one time a collaboration between Nintendo and Sony: an SNES with a CD-ROM drive called PlayStation.

According to the poster, when the company his father worked for went bankrupt, there was a “box of junk” he was supposed to throw out. One of his co-workers was a man named Olaf who used to work for Nintendo, and the box in question just so happened to contain the SNES PlayStation.

Olaf could possibly be Olaf Olafsson who went on to become president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, Inc. Olafsson was involved with SNES PlayStation deal, as well as the first PlayStation console. He is now EVP of Time Warner and a best-selling, award-winning author.

The system was created to play both cartridge and CD games, but it never went into production because at the CES show in 1991, Sony was publicly humiliated by Nintendo.

Nintendo Life explains:

“At the 1991 CES Sony officially announced the system, only to discover that at the same event Nintendo confirmed that it was working with rival Philips instead. Company president Hiroshi Yamauchi had gone behind Sony’s back at the last minute to broker a deal with the Dutch company. It was one of the most infamous double-crosses in video game history.”


Images of the console have been floating around the Internet for years, but it was thought any SNES PlayStation prototypes still in existence were hidden away someplace. Luckily, this fella has one to call his own, thanks to his father who “never throws anything away.”

 



Posted:
Related Forum: Gaming Discussion

Source: http://www.vg247.com/2015/07/03/snes-playstation-rare-console/

Comments

"Extremely rare SNES PlayStation prototype surfaces" :: Login/Create an Account :: 38 comments

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BrigandPosted:

Bio Cool that he had the opportunity to be able to hold onto such a rare piece.


Maybe you should go check every box you have and see what you find. Could be lucky and find something worthy of note.

BrigandPosted:

That box kept it pretty well preserved. Bound to get an ample sum from the right buyer.

BioPosted:

Cool that he had the opportunity to be able to hold onto such a rare piece.

_MarkPosted:

That's pretty cool that he has one. I would have kept it and sold it years later.

DBKPosted:

This looks pretty sick it would be so cool to have this!

-BBK-Posted:

This is amazing.

Would be unbelievable if he could get it to power on.

Looks like it only runs off a DC power cable and a Composite cable.

But would you dare risk it if you had the only 1 in the world lol tough choice

SuperHeroesPosted:

OMG wasnr expecting that ahah after all these years decades even lmfoa

PryzelPosted:

Incredible find he has on his hands, this guy could make a small fortune out of this.

JxssePosted:

I wish I could find one of them in the basement..

EK6Posted:

DeluxeHazard Let the bidding war begin. This guy might become a millionaire overnight now because of hardcore collectors.


That's what I was saying. Shit could be worth millions if it works...