The auction has started for perhaps the rarest video game console of all time: a prototype “Nintendo Play Station.”
The unreleased console is now up for sale on Heritage Auctions, giving interested customers a chance to own a piece of video gaming history. But you’ll need some serious cash. The latest bid for the console currently stands at $44,000.
However, we wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up fetching over a million dollars. The console is perhaps the only surviving prototype unit left in existence, and marks an interesting “what if” moment in gaming history when Sony and Nintendo could have been partners instead of the rivals they are today.
The Nintendo Play Station was originally announced in 1991 at CES before Sony was even known for video games. At the time, the company was working with Nintendo to create a new console, compatible with existing Super Nintendo games and more advanced CD-ROM-based titles.
The result was the Nintendo Play Station. The unit up for auction is actually playable with old-school cartridges for the SNES and the Super Famicom, Heritage Auctions told PCMag in an email. “In fact, our in-house specialist has actually played Mortal Kombat on it using a typical, commercially produced Super Famicom cartridge of the game herself!,” the auction company added.
The CD-ROM drive on the console works as well, enabling you to play music tracks from a CD. But aside from SNES titles, you won’t find any dedicated CD-based games for the console. “There is no proprietary software that's known to have been made during the prototype's development,” the auction company said.
Nintendo Play Station
At least 200 prototype units were created. However, a day after Sony announced the console at CES in 1991, Nintendo immediately distanced itself from project by announcing a partnership with Sony’s rival Phillips. For Nintendo, the problem was that Sony had been granted too much control over the software licensing for the CD-ROM-based games.
As a result, the partnership fizzled out and all other remaining prototypes are believed to have been destroyed. But Sony refused to retreat from the gaming market. In December 1994, the company released its own console, the PlayStation, which would help turn Sony into the gaming giant it is today.
The auction for the Nintendo Play Station will be held until March 8.
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