PlayStation Co-Creator Reveals He Owns Rare Nintendo PlayStation Prototype

Summary

Nintendo and Sony’s failed collaboration led to the birth of Sony’s original PlayStation.
Ken Kutaragi’s pristine Nintendo PlayStation prototype version has unique design features.
The only known console prototype remains costly and offers a look at what could have been.

In case you didn’t know, Nintendo and Sony originally agreed to collaborate on a console back in the ’90s that integrated CD (Compact Discs). One thing led to another, and things didn’t go according to plan, which resulted in the birth of Sony’s original PlayStation.

While never commercially released, prototype units of the device have been manufactured and sold at auctions. As it turns out, the “Father of PlayStation” Ken Kutaragi has one stashed away in his closet, and it’s a version no one has seen yet.

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Ken Kutaragi’s Nintendo PlayStation Console Looks Good As New

Japan-based photographer Julian Domanski met Ken Kataragi earlier this month (via Time Extension). They got to hold Kutaragi’s Nintendo PlayStation device, which Domanski claims Kutaragi had stashed away in his closet. This certainly explains its pristine condition based on the images shared, since it looks brand-new.

It’s sad that around 200 pieces of the console were manufactured, though none ever made it to retail. The last one was reportedly sold at auction for $300,000, though the one that made the rounds before looks vastly different from what Kutaragi has based on the side-by-side comparison (via VGC):

As you can see, Kutaragi’s version of the console has a blue-colored PlayStation logo. Its Reset and Eject buttons also have the labels etched directly instead of above the buttons like in the version we’ve seen before. Overall, it seems to be a bigger console, though I think it looks way better.

Nintendo PlayStation Up For Auction, Unsurprisingly Costs Thousands

The only remaining Nintendo PlayStation prototype is available, but will cost whoever wins it at least six figures by the time the auction closes.

For those unfamiliar with what happened to Sony and Nintendo’s deal, Sony developed the device secretly with Nintendo as a CD add-on for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Super Famicom in Japan), and was supposed to be the highlight at the 1991 Consumer Electronics Show,

The tale goes that at the last minute, then-Nintendo CEO Hiroshi Yamauchi (deceased) changed his mind and instead opted to ally with Philips to create the CDi console, which bombed hard. Sony then pivoted and released the original PlayStation in Japan in 1994. The rest, as they say, is history.

Kutaragi’s version of the console gives us a look at what could have been. Who knows what other secret devices and canceled tech the former PlayStation boss tucked away in his closet? Hopefully, we’ll the answer to that some dya.