Gamer Shares Pics of Ultra-Rare SNES "Play Station" Add-On

[StewShearerOld]

Gamer Shares Pics of Ultra-Rare SNES "Play Station" Add-On

Someone has purportedly found themselves in a possession of a rare prototype add-on for the SNES.

Arguably one of the biggest mistakes Nintendo ever made was its early-90s betrayal of Sony. You see, while they're rivals in the gaming-sphere today, back in 1988 the two partnered up to produce a disc-based add-on for the SNES. Sony would go on to unveil said add-on at the 1991 Consumer Electronics Show. Unfortunately for them, Nintendo decided to pull some shenanigans and, a day later, announced that it was cancelling their deal and would instead be entering into a new partnership with Sony's rivals at Phillips. Understandably peeved, Sony decided to take its little add-on and use it as the foundation for the original PlayStation which, of course, would go on to wipe the floor with Nintendo's N64 a few years later.

So why are we telling you all of this? Because we felt a bit of context might help you understand the full awesome-factor of a discovery one Reddit user has <a href=http://imgur.com/a/Ll9kS>shared with the internet. More specifically, they've shared photos of what's supposedly an intact prototype of <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/sony>Sony's SNES add-on. The prototype in question was apparently discovered in a junk pile by said gamer's father. "My dad worked for a company, apparently one of the guys he used to work with, I think his name was Olaf, used to work at <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/140878-Nintendo-Completed-Star-Fox-2-After-Cancelling-It>Nintendo and when my dad's company went bankrupt, my dad found it in a box of 'junk' he was supposed to throw out."

While the add-on itself would represent a significant find, the appearance of the name "Olaf" in the explanation could add even more substance to the discovery. If the story's true, the Olaf in question could conceivably be Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson, a.k.a. the co-founder and original CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment. In other words, this may have once belonged to one of the people principally responsible for its creation. Even if it didn't though, there's really no understating how valuable this is. Barely 200 of the prototypes were ever produced, meaning that this is literally one of the rarest pieces of gaming hardware ever made.
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Source: GamesRadar



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[Asclepion]

Arguably one of the biggest mistakes Nintendo ever made was its early-90s betrayal of Sony. You see, while they're rivals in the gaming-sphere today, back in 1988 the two partnered up to produce a disc-based add-on for the SNES. Sony would go on to unveil said add-on at the 1991 Consumer Electronics Show. Unfortunately for them, Nintendo decided to pull some shenanigans and, a day later, announced that it was cancelling their deal and would instead be entering into a new partnership with Sony's rivals at Phillips. Understandably peeved, Sony decided to take its little add-on and use it as the foundation for the original PlayStation which, of course, would go on to wipe the floor with Nintendo's N64 a few years later.

This is also the reason why 3 shitty Zelda games exist on a non-Nintendo console, along with those infamous animated cutscenes.

 

[Wiggum Esquilax]

Still available for MSRP of U.S. $200?

 

[StewShearerOld]

Arguably one of the biggest mistakes Nintendo ever made was its early-90s betrayal of Sony. You see, while they're rivals in the gaming-sphere today, back in 1988 the two partnered up to produce a disc-based add-on for the SNES. Sony would go on to unveil said add-on at the 1991 Consumer Electronics Show. Unfortunately for them, Nintendo decided to pull some shenanigans and, a day later, announced that it was cancelling their deal and would instead be entering into a new partnership with Sony's rivals at Phillips. Understandably peeved, Sony decided to take its little add-on and use it as the foundation for the original PlayStation which, of course, would go on to wipe the floor with Nintendo's N64 a few years later.

This is also the reason why 3 shitty Zelda games exist on a non-Nintendo console, along with those infamous animated cutscenes.

Oh yeah! I'd forgotten about those!

Anyone who ever wants to complain about a Zelda game sucking should seriously watch some Let's Plays to see how bad things can really get.

 

[Fairly Chaotic]

This is the coolest thing I have seen all week. I love old gaming tech. Thank you so much for sharing this.

 

[Made in China]

Arguably one of the biggest mistakes Nintendo ever made was its early-90s betrayal of Sony. You see, while they're rivals in the gaming-sphere today, back in 1988 the two partnered up to produce a disc-based add-on for the SNES. Sony would go on to unveil said add-on at the 1991 Consumer Electronics Show. Unfortunately for them, Nintendo decided to pull some shenanigans and, a day later, announced that it was cancelling their deal and would instead be entering into a new partnership with Sony's rivals at Phillips. Understandably peeved, Sony decided to take its little add-on and use it as the foundation for the original PlayStation which, of course, would go on to wipe the floor with Nintendo's N64 a few years later.

This is also the reason why 3 shitty Zelda games exist on a non-Nintendo console, along with those infamous animated cutscenes.

Oh yeah! I'd forgotten about those!

Anyone who ever wants to complain about a Zelda game sucking should seriously watch some Let's Plays to see how bad things can really get.

DO NOT MENTION THEM. Let's all pretend they never existed, just as we have until now.

Regarding the Superdisc, it's extremely cool. Although it's kind of weird, the Playstation's disc tray opened upwards because the sliding mechanism wasn't perfected, but the Superdisc still has a sliding tray.
Someone needs to send that dude some power and VGA cables. Maybe it still has a test/demo disc inside! Maybe we can incorporate the Superdisc into SNES emulators!

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

Ah what could have been. Perhaps in another universe it was, and in that universe I like to imagine that Sony and Nintendo essentially conquer the world through awesome consoles and Mario and Crash Bandicoot cross over merchandising.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

Ah what could have been. Perhaps in another universe it was, and in that universe I like to imagine that Sony and Nintendo essentially conquer the world through awesome consoles and Mario and Crash Bandicoot cross over merchandising.

This is probably the biggest "what if" in the gaming industry after "what if Atari hadn't crashed the market". How would the gaming landscape look today if there had been no Playstation, if Nintendo had done what the Genesis largely hadn't- properly harness the power of the CD-ROM for gaming? The SNES's slower processor would've probably ruled out full-motion video, but its much better color capabilities could have given us enormous, vibrant exploration-based platformers. And if that partnership had carried on to the N64....

 

[VinLAURiA]

To be perfectly fair, Stew, the deal breaking down wasn't entirely Nintendo's fault, nor was it a clear-cut betrayal. There were some pretty nasty terms in Sony's favor in that whole deal that Nintendo was wise to back out of, such as Sony taking complete profits from all software sales on the system. It's possible that staying on would've been an even bigger mistake, considering how much the deal would've made them Sony's *****.

 

[Something Amyss]

This is also the reason why 3 shitty Zelda games exist on a non-Nintendo console, along with those infamous animated cutscenes.

Well, not so much the partnership, but their desire to cut ties with Philips.

 

[Wiggum Esquilax]

To be perfectly fair, Stew, the deal breaking down wasn't entirely Nintendo's fault, nor was it a clear-cut betrayal. There were some pretty nasty terms in Sony's favor in that whole deal that Nintendo was wise to back out of, such as Sony taking complete profits from all software sales on the system. It's possible that staying on would've been an even bigger mistake, considering how much the deal would've made them Sony's *****.

It's wasn't Nintendo's withdrawal from the deal that was the problem. It's how they did it.

Publicly shaming Sony at an entertainment expo. Aligning with a foreign corporation against a domestic financial powerhouse. Breaking a contract.

Don't get me wrong, Nintendo was absolutely right to get Sony out of Nintendo's products as much as possible. But there are ways of going about it! Subtlety, Yamauchi.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

This is fascinating! Sweet find.

 

[kajinking]

Normally I wouldn't care that much about this type of stuff but after playing Hyperdimension Neptunia for the past week this suddenly got way more interesting.

A console that was a fusion of Nidento and Sony? I can only imagine how lucky this guy must have been to find it. If this thing is as rare as people say he's in for some serious cash offers for it.

 

[fix-the-spade]

If this thing is as rare as people say he's in for some serious cash offers for it.

Or some serious lawyers from Sony. Former CEO or not that's still a missing company prototype, the lengths Honda will go to recover stolen tech even if it's twenty years out of date are the matter of legend, I wonder if Sony thinks in a similar way.

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

I'd like to know the name of the company this Reddit user's dad worked for, and how it fit in the Nintendo-Sony partnership.

To be perfectly fair, Stew, the deal breaking down wasn't entirely Nintendo's fault, nor was it a clear-cut betrayal. There were some pretty nasty terms in Sony's favor in that whole deal that Nintendo was wise to back out of, such as Sony taking complete profits from all software sales on the system. It's possible that staying on would've been an even bigger mistake, considering how much the deal would've made them Sony's *****.

Yes, Sony went into the deal with the ultimate goal to get there foot in the door of the game industry. They likely would have broken off from Nintendo to do their own console within a few years, even if the SNES deal didn't fall apart.

I found a well researched video on the subject a few months ago.

It's wasn't Nintendo's withdrawal from the deal that was the problem. It's how they did it.

Publicly shaming Sony at an entertainment expo. Aligning with a foreign corporation against a domestic financial powerhouse. Breaking a contract.

Don't get me wrong, Nintendo was absolutely right to get Sony out of Nintendo's products as much as possible. But there are ways of going about it! Subtlety, Yamauchi.

They didn't even try negotiating a new contract first. If they could have come to a better agreement, Nintendo probably would have learned more about CD hardware and might not have driven off 3rd party publishers with expensive cartridges during the 5th generation. Instead they put themselves on defense for 3 home console generations. (And the Wii would be a fourth if motion controls didn't catch on as a fad 8 years ago.)

Also, we wouldn't have memes like "Mah Boi!" floating around if Nintendo didn't give Phillips game rights for the CD-i.

 

[Neverhoodian]

Man, seeing the PlayStation name on an SNES controller is so trippy. I feel like I've stepped into an alternate reality or something.

 

[Steve the Pocket]

A world where Sony and Nintendo became partners instead of rivals is disturbing to think about. Yeah, Sony ended up completely trouncing Nintendo for two generations in a row, and in a way Nintendo has never fully recovered, but with the Saturn being such a failure that I didn't even learn that they had a fifth-gen console until many years later, having to compete with a system that combines the best of the 64 and the PlayStation would have utterly killed Sega and left us with a monopoly until Microsoft came along. If Microsoft was bold enough to enter a market that was now a monopoly.

...Wait, would that be so bad actually? I've been saying for years that we'd be better off if there were only one game platform, the same way there's only one format for DVDs and CDs. With only one system, there'd be no "buy our system or don't get our exclusives" ultimatum to deal with, and with that system getting the best ideas from at least two companies, there'd be no technical downside to the lack of competition.

 

[CrystalShadow]

A world where Sony and Nintendo became partners instead of rivals is disturbing to think about. Yeah, Sony ended up completely trouncing Nintendo for two generations in a row, and in a way Nintendo has never fully recovered, but with the Saturn being such a failure that I didn't even learn that they had a fifth-gen console until many years later, having to compete with a system that combines the best of the 64 and the PlayStation would have utterly killed Sega and left us with a monopoly until Microsoft came along. If Microsoft was bold enough to enter a market that was now a monopoly.

...Wait, would that be so bad actually? I've been saying for years that we'd be better off if there were only one game platform, the same way there's only one format for DVDs and CDs. With only one system, there'd be no "buy our system or don't get our exclusives" ultimatum to deal with, and with that system getting the best ideas from at least two companies, there'd be no technical downside to the lack of competition.

That would have definitely been a weird situation. If it had kept going (hard to say, given why nintendo pulled that stunt with Sony. Sony wasn't exactly well-behaved either. If the relationship hadn't broken down when it did, it may well have simply broken down a few years later)

What's clear though is that Sega was a complete disaster after the Mega Drive/Genesis. So with Sony+Nintendo being a single thing, we would've had a strange period. It's hard to say whether Microsoft would have still tried to challenge such an alliance, but it's clear enough that even if they had, it would still mean unquestioned dominance of the market by Nintendo/Sony up until at least the year 2000...

What would that have looked like? It's hard to say. That prototype has Sony logos on it, but what probably isn't really appreciated is that prior to this point Sony and Nintendo were already allies.

Sure, a new Snes CD system would've made that more explicit, but the SNES itself relied on Sony as well.
(If you were to open one up you'd notice several major components, most noticeably the sound chip, were made by Sony. )

The reason why Nintendo even asked Sony about making an Snes CD add-on, is firstly because Sony helped developed the CD, but also because Nintendo was already dealing with Sony anyway, and had at the very least been buying parts from them to use in SNES systems...
(could even be the case that it was Sony's manufacturing plants making SNES systems. Not sure. - Certainly while modern Nintendo stuff says made in china, older products say made in japan...)

I don't know when Nintendo and Sony started working together (obviously some time before the SNES was released), but it's clear that this situation destroyed their relationship.

You can see for instance that all kind of components Sony might've supplied Nintendo in the SNES era are in these days being supplied by matsushita/Panasonic.
So where the SNES had Sony Audio chips, the Wii and gamecube have Panasonic disc drives and audio hardware...

Watching the alliances and components and stuff that go into things sometimes can be interesting. XD
(The Mega Drive meanwhile had Yamaha components in it. Also, The Dreamcast ran Windows CE. Suggesting it's possible that Sega had some influence on Microsoft entering the console market.)

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

How many titles were produced for this add-on, and did the guy find them with it? They would make for some very interesting Let's Play videos.

The Dreamcast ran Windows CE. Suggesting it's possible that Sega had some influence on Microsoft entering the console market.)

They did, to an extent. Back in the early 90's there was a PC/Mega Drive(Genesis) hybrid that was released. It had a sliding panel on the front that allowed access to either uses.

 

[CrystalShadow]

How many titles were produced for this add-on, and did the guy find them with it? They would make for some very interesting Let's Play videos.

The Dreamcast ran Windows CE. Suggesting it's possible that Sega had some influence on Microsoft entering the console market.)

They did, to an extent. Back in the early 90's there was a PC/Mega Drive(Genesis) hybrid that was released. It had a sliding panel on the front that allowed access to either uses.

... Mmm. That's not a very clear point though. PC's are made by many companies, and while most of them have microsoft OSes on them, it doesn't mean Microsoft had anything to do with the hardware.

It could be though... Who knows.

It's kind of funny, because Sega, like Microsoft is an American company. (well, to an extent. They have a very prominent Japanese branch that has had a lot of influence on their success.)