In the early 1990s, a groundbreaking partnership was on the verge of reshaping the gaming landscape. Nintendo, the reigning king of consoles, joined forces with Sony, a rising star in consumer electronics, to develop a new PlayStation console that would play both Nintendo cartridges and Sony CDs. The CD-ROM technology, offering a massive storage capacity compared to traditional cartridges, was poised to revolutionize gaming. However, this ambitious project was ultimately abandoned, and history took a different turn.
Nintendo decided to withdraw from the collaboration, instead opting to partner with Philips for the ultimately unsuccessful Philips CD-i system. Sony, undeterred, went on to develop the PlayStation as a standalone console, which eventually became a dominant force in the gaming industry.
While the Nintendo PlayStation never saw the light of day, its prototypes became highly sought-after collectibles. In 2020, a prototype Nintendo PlayStation console fetched an astounding $360,000 at auction. Recently, Heritage Auctions sold a Nintendo PlayStation controller prototype for a remarkable $35,000.
This controller, resembling a Super Nintendo controller with Sony and PlayStation branding, is a tangible relic of a pivotal moment in gaming history. It showcases the early iterations of the PlayStation logo, which would later evolve into the iconic ‘PS’ symbol.
Reports indicate that only 200 Nintendo PlayStation prototypes were ever created, and most are believed to have been destroyed when the partnership dissolved. The original PlayStation console and its successor, the PlayStation 2, quickly eclipsed Nintendo’s offerings, solidifying Sony’s dominance in the console gaming market.
Though Nintendo has experienced a resurgence with the success of the Nintendo Switch, the PlayStation brand continues to reign supreme in traditional controller-driven gaming. Nintendo’s post-16-bit history has been marked by a fascinating journey, from the company’s adherence to cartridges with the Nintendo 64, to its eventual embrace of optical media with the GameCube, and the groundbreaking motion control of the Wii. The Nintendo Switch, merging home console and handheld gaming, represents Nintendo’s latest innovation in a landscape shaped by the iconic PlayStation legacy.
