In some other universes, there is an alternate timeline in which the PlayStation is a Nintendo product. In the early 1990s, Sony Computer Entertainment engineer – and later chair and CEO of the unit – Ken Kutaragi created the Super Nintendo sound chip, which triggered another collaboration between the two companies: a CD-based console supplement. Despite disagreements on both sides, Kutaragi designed the console and a few hundred prototypes of the Super NES CD-ROM system, commonly known as SNES-CD or Nintendo Play Station, were made.
For a long time, nobody was sure whether any of these still existed. It is likely that most of them have been destroyed. But there is one that Terry Diebold owned and bought the unit in a blind auction when the company he worked for, Advanta Corporation, went bankrupt. The SNES CD was in a box that once belonged to the former CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, Olaf Olafsson, who later worked at Advanta. After years of switching the console to gaming conventions, Diebold is now ready to part with the Nintendo Play Station.
“It is the first time that this prototype has ever been offered in a public auction,” Valarie McLeckie, consignment director of Heritage Auctions, told Polygon. “Nintendo and Sony are probably two of the biggest competitors in video games today. For some, it’s just a little astonishment when Nintendo and Sony share the same console – and that they have the name of the PlayStation itself. “
None of the games created specifically for the console prototype have ever been found, but the device can play games. In 2017, Modder Ben Heckendorn disassembled the console and repaired the CD-ROM drive. McLeckie confirmed to Polygon that everything is still working.
The auction is scheduled for March 5-7, 2020, but interested buyers can bid online from February. “We have no sample of what this could be,” said McLeckie. “The market will have to determine its value.”
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She noted that the estimates range from six to “downright shocking.” Last week Diebold Kotaku said he had declined a $ 1.2 million offer from someone in Norway.
Heritage Auctions started auctioning video game collectibles in February 2019. McLeckie said there have been more and more video games in the past year. In early November, an extremely rare version of Mega Man was sold for a staggering $ 75,000 – a record as the most valuable sealed game sold at auction. At that time, hundreds of other games were also sold: Bubble Bobble Part 2, Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda for $ 19,200 each and Mario Bros. for $ 15,465.60.
An increase in collectibles sold at auction may be due in part to a trusted third-party rating service called Wata Games. Rating services are an old hat for the auction industry. Everything has an evaluation to determine its condition and thus its value. Wata Games was founded in 2018 as an expert service that rates and certifies video games and related collectibles.
The Nintendo Play Station will surely be sold when it is auctioned in March. I mean, look at that thing. A classic super Nintendo controller has something fantastic that PlayStation says is used instead of Nintendo.
“If you look at the back, Nintendo is actually embossed in the plastic and Sony has the plug on it,” said McLeckie. “As far as rarities are concerned, it is such a unique piece.”
