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Original Nintendo/Sony PlayStation prototype found

by JC Fletcher on Jun 7th 2007 1:00PM

The Sony PlayStation was, in the distant past, devised as a collaboration with Nintendo: a CD system that also played Super Famicom cartridges. The two parted ways in a less than amicable fashion before the system was produced, and then the PlayStation went on to become the system that Nintendo fanboys would simultaneously hate and own.

Somehow, a near-complete prototype of a standalone PlayStation system has appeared, as reported by Game Rave. They don't give any information, stating "Real updates coming very, very soon" but it's enough to look at the thing. There are also pictures of a much earlier prototype of the SNES CD add-on.

It's a little scary to think of how games may have developed if this product had been successful. Instead of the 3D boom, would we all be playing FMV games now? Or 2D platformers with really good music?

[Via Insert Credit]

Source

Tags: nintendo, nintendo wii, NintendoWii, playstation, prototype, psx, snes, sony, super famicom, SuperFamicom, wii

Reader Comments (17)

Oh, what could have been...what could have been.

Too bad both Nintendo AND Sony were being too greedy to get the thing made.

Perhaps I'm blind, but where's the CD slot?

push the big black button that says 'eject' and the 'drawer' opens above it

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In the end, i'm glad Nintendo never went that route, just because i wouldn't want to see them dogged by the same reputation as Sega with the failed Sega CD/32X

I mean, there was no way this could've wound up any better than that

Actually, it was Nintendo who stiffed Sony. They suddenly without warning announced they were going with Philips for the addon. Sony still owned the rights to their addon so it was remade into the PS1. All Philips ever did was make the CD-I and a bunch of now notoriously crappy Zelda and Mario games.

Now I know where Nintendo took the GameCube shape idea from.

If this was created before Nintendo and Sony parted ways, then this might be why Nintendo ended the relationship = fear that Sony was creating a stand-alone console that didn't require a Nintendo partnership.

Anyone else think that the snes CD add on looks like the gradfather of the wii?

@8 wow it does look like a wii, crazy

looks more like the Xbox

Did the CD 'drawer' pop up like an old school VCR?

hueg liek xbox

You know what, if this was the original prototype put forward by sony, I can see why Nintendo might have dropped it. Notice the complete lack of Nintendo badging? Notice the entirely non-descript lack of nintendo console design? Notice the big Sony nametag in prominent place on the front of the thing?

If I was involved in management of this project from the Nintendo side, of course I'd see that as dodgy. To be perfectly honest, I'm not even sure that Sony were ever really keen to continue along a collaboration path. Even if this product saw light of day, I think it highly likely Sony would still have gone off and produced their own console in direct competition after getting a leg up and a shitload of information of Nintendo.

There is so much haze surrounding the Playstation history it's difficult to determine what is true and what isnt. From what I've read, Nintendo signed a deal with Sony for the Playstation, however, it gave Sony more control than Nintendo wanted them to have. Some have said that the deal would have made Nintendo little more than a subsidy of Sony if they stuck with the terms originally agreed upon. Sony (understandably) pissed off, sued Nintendo for breech of contract. Nintendo is known for having some of the best lawyers out there (how the heck did DK =/= King Kong?) and for the ensuing case, this was no different. They convinced the jury that the PSX was a strong enough system to be sold as a stand alone platform. And the rest is history

@ 3: I see no drawer. I must be blind. Then again, the pic isn't terribly high res.

Its a damn shame.....i would love to see them back together

Any one guess what the specs of this beast was?
If it was sega CD class it would take 3 or 4 years for the 3D boom to hit the consoles....

I guess for once we were better off.

Breaking News

Original Nintendo/Sony PlayStation prototype found

Reader Comments (17)

Posted: Jun 7th 2007 1:49PM samfish said

Posted: Jun 7th 2007 1:52PM arex said

Posted: Jun 7th 2007 2:48PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jun 7th 2007 3:39PM Mr Khan said

Posted: Jun 7th 2007 5:26PM Cyber Akuma said

Posted: Jun 7th 2007 5:28PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jun 7th 2007 5:43PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jun 7th 2007 5:47PM 3cks said

Posted: Jun 7th 2007 6:20PM ILPC said

Posted: Jun 7th 2007 6:25PM Mr Khan said

Posted: Jun 7th 2007 6:32PM DonDon said

Posted: Jun 7th 2007 6:34PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jun 7th 2007 9:11PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jun 7th 2007 8:15PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jun 7th 2007 8:55PM arex said

Posted: Jun 8th 2007 2:34PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jun 9th 2007 1:08AM ZippyDSMlee said

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