Bidding starts for only known ‘Nintendo PlayStation’ prototype

The only known prototype of the Super Nintendo PlayStation has gone up for auction, with bidding currently standing at $31,000.

The prototype is said to be one of 200 units made for Sony’s failed partnership with Nintendo in the early 90s, which was its first major move into video games and eventually led to it entering the market on its own.

The PlayStation was originally envisioned as a CD add-on for the Super Nintendo, which would boost Nintendo’s console with significant processing power and speed.

The prototype up for auction – said to be the last remaining in the world, with all others assumed destroyed – was once owned by the first CEO of Sony’s games division, Olaf Olafsson.

When Olafsson left Sony to join the Advanta banking corporation, he took the prototype with him and eventually it ended up in an auction lot following the company’s eventual bankruptcy.

The ‘Nintendo PlayStation’ features a slot for Super Famicom and Super Nintendo games, and also a CD-ROM drive intended to play disc-based media and games.

The prototype is able to play music CDs like the commercially produced PlayStation, but there is no proprietary software  known to have been produced.

For more on Sony’s failed partnership with Nintendo, read VGC’s recent Road to PS5: PSOne’s betrayal and revenge story feature.