Sometime back in July, a Nintendo PlayStation prototype made rounds on the Internet, catching the interest of gamers everywhere. The mixed console had an SNES cartridge slot as well as a CD drive, and many online users were skeptical of its authenticity.
Now, recent events have indicated that it really exists, and it works.
The gaming system is the love child of Sony and Nintendo, and it was conceived back in 1988 when the pair was in talks of a partnership. Sony wanted to add its CD-ROM technology to the SNES console; however, things didn't pan out between the two when it came to money — Sony wanted all the revenue from the CD licenses for itself. Of course, Nintendo didn't agree with Sony's demand, but apparently not before it had already manufactured a number of Nintendo PlayStation consoles.
According to reports, only 200 prototypes were made, so chances of finding a genuine one are pretty slim. But father and son Terry and Dan Diebold got their hands on one, and the Engadget team met up with the duo for a hands-on experience.
"We met up with the Diebolds in Hong Kong, where they were in town for a retro gaming expo, to hear how it ended up in their possession," Richard Lai of Engadget writes.
Terry got hold of the console through an online auction hosted by Advanta Corporation — where he used to work — when it filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 8, 2009. It seems like an odd place to get the Nintendo PlayStation, but Terry explained why the company had it. Apparently, Olaf Olafsson, former CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, was one of the board members.
The father and son team was able to find a power supply in Hong Kong to fire up the Nintendo PlayStation, which Dan notes as "quite sexy."
Even though the CD drive didn't work, it was still pretty sweet to see the very rare Nintendo PlayStation prototype up and running.
