Sony celebrated the 20th anniversary of the PlayStation on Dec. 3 with the roll out of 12,300 limited edition agming console units. Each PS4 20th Anniversary Edition bears a serial number that is uniquely its own. Now, Sony is placing the console bearing the serial number 00001 under auction.
Bidding for the first among the 12,300 anniversary edition consoles had already started and is set to end on Jan. 25. Currently, the bid amount had reached $142,000, a far cry from the console's original selling price of $499.
Sony plans to place all the proceeds of the auction to "Save the Children Japan," a charity organization that provides disaster relief for children and families who became victims of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear power plant explosions. Whatever bid amount that the console has raised in the auction, Sony will be more than willing to match it as its own way to extend more help to the organization.
The 12,300 PlayStation 4 consoles have all been sold in the U.S., Canada, Japan, and Europe with the number of units sold in each of the areas still being undetermined. There's also no mention of the place where the auctioned 00001 console would come from and who could be the original owner.
As previously reported, the limited anniversary edition PlayStation 4 bears a gray hue and comes with controller and camera that have a matching gray color. Moreover, the console's cables and other accessories bear the same color option. Each console shows the PlayStation 4 logo that has the familiar four-color design.
Potential bidders of the console should understand very well what they are getting out of their bid. Apart from contributing to the success of the charity organization and becoming just one among the 12,300 owners of the console, the bidder ought to be reminded that the limited edition PlayStation 4 is not compatible with the games that have been loaded from the original version. Instead, the console can play retro titles which the successful bidder can get through digital downloads.
There is one more thing to consider before a potential bidder decides to participate in the auction. Anyone can join as long as the person resides in Japan or at least he knows someone who has a Japanese address. This means that the console will not be shipped overseas.
It remains to be seen just how the auction would really turn out with only a few hours left. If such auction proves to be a huge success, it could lead to more auction events in the future. That would sum up to 12,299 auctions more to go.
Choose now: PS4 20th Anniversary Edition, your own house, or a very cool sports car? 00001 for $142,000.
