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

[Made in China]

... 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.)

Oh, SEGA being taken out of the console race had everything to do with Microsoft. The DreamCast and the NAOMI were co-built by Microsoft and SEGA, and when it failed developers were left with DreamCast devkits, which is essentially a customized Windows box, and Microsoft was left with a bad investment.

So they turned it upside down. They built a slightly updated Windows Box to replace the DreamCast, using some very undocumented DirectX improvements, and shipped the devkits and the console in order to make a quick profit. While the reverse will prove to be true in time, they thought the XBox could easily receive ports of PC games and other PC software, and thus marketed it as an all-in-one entertainment system, supposedly better than the PlayStation's game console/DVD player brand.
It even reached a point where Microsoft marketed some PS/2 adapters for the XBox controller ports, even when no game or software were ever developed for it.

So in our parallel universe where Sony and Nintendo join forces, Microsoft would still enter the console race after SEGA was taken down. I'd say that that partnership was doomed to fail, though, because Sony would try to capitalize on the more mature market, as they've learned from its film division, and Nintendo would be overbearingly family-friendly - and with no real competition, they would eventually break off to create 2 different standards, or game consoles which use almost the same tech, but marketed for different audiences.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

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 *****.

yeah, that's ultimately the thing; if anyone is to blame for that, it's Sony. They tried to fuck over Nintendo and then whined and moaned when they got caught. Placing Nintendo as the villains is INSANE when you consider the circumstances and Nintendo had every right to humiliate Sony. And that's also before we get into how the reason Sony was ever successful in the gaming landscape was because they got lucky. Look at them when they were up against strong competition and suddenly they collapse (like with the PS3, PSP, and Vita).

 

[EHKOS]

200. If one of these is in a gaming museum, then that's fine. But if even the one with the busted-up Gameboy doesn't have it, he really should donate it, or sell it to them.

Although I've thought about it a lot, and I'm glad what happened happened. Look at all the awesome games and hardware that came out of the split. I doubt Nintendo would have pushed the Gamecube's specs as hard as they did, Sony's PS2 might not exist, and with that, it's library.

That's an awesome piece of history though, if it's legit. If you popped it open it kinda looks like someone could have taken an old CD-ROM drive and put it in there. And you could easily put the logo on the controller, although the buttons seem like they're from Japan.

 

[AgentCooper]

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 *****.

yeah, that's ultimately the thing; if anyone is to blame for that, it's Sony. They tried to fuck over Nintendo and then whined and moaned when they got caught. Placing Nintendo as the villains is INSANE when you consider the circumstances and Nintendo had every right to humiliate Sony. And that's also before we get into how the reason Sony was ever successful in the gaming landscape was because they got lucky. Look at them when they were up against strong competition and suddenly they collapse (like with the PS3, PSP, and Vita).

Nintendo and Sony were both assholes in this mess. Why are you trying to spin this into Sony being this monstrous villain here. This is a significant part of history and reminder of what could have been a very different story.

 

[WeepingAngels]

It's not an add-on. It's an independent unit that plays SNES carts and SNES-CD games.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

Nintendo and Sony were both assholes in this mess. Why are you trying to spin this into Sony being this monstrous villain here. This is a significant part of history and reminder of what could have been a very different story.

Uh, because that's what happened. They tried to screw over Nintendo, they got caught, and they were rightfully humiliated when they were caught. And that's what KILLS me; that they were incompetent in their fuckery. If they were gonna be scumbags they should have at least been COMPETENT scumbags. Devil's advocate only works when there's logic to it.

 

[AgentCooper]

Nintendo and Sony were both assholes in this mess. Why are you trying to spin this into Sony being this monstrous villain here. This is a significant part of history and reminder of what could have been a very different story.

Uh, because that's what happened. They tried to screw over Nintendo, they got caught, and they were rightfully humiliated when they were caught. And that's what KILLS me; that they were incompetent in their fuckery. If they were gonna be scumbags they should have at least been COMPETENT scumbags. Devil's advocate only works when there's logic to it.

Both were fighting over software licensing and each company wanted more for their own investment to retain rights. No realistic deal was going to be reach under Sony or Nintendo. It was going to be a cluster fuck no matter who agreed to what terms. Sony fanboys say it was Nintendo being scumbags and Nintendo fanboys saying Sony was the scumbag. They were both scumbags and the deal was destined to fail from the get go.

Also, I am done talking with you. kick rocks.

 

[Urgh76]

That guy needs to clean his damn kitchen, maybe he can sell the thing to get enough money for a maid or something, jesus

 

[Arnoxthe1]

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.

...

No? Super Mario 64. Just to START.

 

[marioandsonic]

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.

To be fair, I think the reason Nintendo decided to partner with Phillips was because of licensing issues. If Nintendo had stuck with Sony, Sony would have had complete control over the CD addon, as well as dominant control over the addon's software. At least, that's what I've heard.

 

[RicoADF]

Uh, because that's what happened. They tried to screw over Nintendo, they got caught, and they were rightfully humiliated when they were caught. And that's what KILLS me; that they were incompetent in their fuckery. If they were gonna be scumbags they should have at least been COMPETENT scumbags. Devil's advocate only works when there's logic to it.

Seriously you really believe that?
Sony entered into an agreement with Nintendo, an AGREEMENT, both companies agreed to the conditions that Sony had put forth and then spent their time, money and effort to design, prototype and advertise at E3. Then Nintendo turned around and betrayed Sony by abandoning the agreement mere days later. I don't care how much of a Nintendo fanboy you are, that is not acceptable and I guarantee if the shoe was on the other foot you'd be screaming blue murder about Sony betraying Nintendo. Remember no-one put a gun to Nintendo's head and forced them to go into the partnership, they chose to agree to the terms then their arrogance came out and they just up and abandoned their partners when someone else offered a better deal AFTER Sony had already put the effort in.

Frankly Sony had every reason to be pissed at what Nintendo did and I am glad they got their dews, Nintendo is still as arrogant and self centered today with region lock and using whatever they can to make everyone else suffer to ensure you pay a premium, there's a reason they permanently lost the lead in the console market and frankly I'm glad they did as their greed was their undoing.

that's also before we get into how the reason Sony was ever successful in the gaming landscape was because they got lucky. Look at them when they were up against strong competition and suddenly they collapse (like with the PS3, PSP, and Vita).

There was no luck involved, Sony was smart and knew what they needed to do to create killer systems that people wanted and devs wanted to make games on. PS1, 2 and 4 all won because they were affordable, did the job well and were as simple and cheap as possible for devs to make games for. There was no proprietary media (mini disc), nor did they gimp the system with outdated technology (cartridges in N64). The systems that didn't do so well were when they acted like Nintendo, they were arrogant after the PS2 and let their success get to them and the PS3, PSP and Vita suffered from it. Even then though they learned from their mistakes and the PS3 eventually became the system that sold the most so it was no collapse or failure, even the PSP sold well (not winning is not collapsing, you can succeed in second place). Only the Vita could truly be called a failure because of the proprietary memory, which again was a Nintendo like move (N64 - Cartridge, Gamecube - Mini disc)

I get it, as a Nintendo fan your sick of being mocked, your system ridiculed etc. But like it or not there's a reason for it, and while you may be happy to accept what they do because the games they offer are worth it to you not everyone else is and the horrible sales of the Wii U is just the latest evidence of that. The only area that Nintendo have done well in is handhelds, which one could argue no-one else ever truly took on other than Sony (whom did well with their PSP) so really they just found their niche.

Also note I am not a Sony fanboy, I have Playstation, Xbox, PC and Nintendo systems. I love to play games regardless of what system their on. As a result I don't have any issue in calling out any of the companies when they fuck up. I am merely explaining why I don't believe your view is fair or correct based on known facts. If you there's evidence that Sony had acted in bad faith please do provide it, I will happily stand corrected if that is the case.

To be fair, I think the reason Nintendo decided to partner with Phillips was because of licensing issues. If Nintendo had stuck with Sony, Sony would have had complete control over the CD addon, as well as dominant control over the addon's software. At least, that's what I've heard.

From what I read that is indeed the case, but if they didn't want to agree to the conditions then they should have negotiated a better deal with Sony or gone the Phillips beforehand rather than wait until the addon was prototyped and even exhibited at E3 to then bail on them. These things don't get designed overnight, Nintendo would have had plenty of time to iron out the license agreement before hand and even go to Phillips and other companies to see what they could offer if they had wanted rather than wait till afterwards.