Yes you read that headline right; the infamous Nintendo PlayStation prototype console is being put up for sale, and any old chump can buy it. Even you. Or me. I'm a chump too. The fabled console is reportedly being put on sale by current owner Terry Diebold, and assuming some museum or private collector doesn't swoop in, we could see some pretty tasty bids being thrown around.
Taking to Twitter to make the announcement, Mr. Diebold's friend Cedric Biscay confirmed he wanted to sell the device, and was very curious to see how much the piece of gaming history will sell for, suspecting it might be a world record for a console.
The Nintendo PlayStation (or to give it it's official name, the Super NES CD-ROM) is unique in a number of ways. Foremost, it marks a collaborative effort by Sony and Nintendo to make an optical disc drive reliant console back in 1988, way before Nintendo's first formal foray into the technology in 2000 with the Gamecube.
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Another interesting anomaly is that the console carries Sony PlayStation branding, while the controller ports themselves are for the Super Nintendo.
The contract with Sony eventually fell through, and Nintendo continued their usage of game cartridges as opposed to CD-ROMs. Sony of course, had other ideas when they released their own console in 1994. A little indie thing called the PlayStation. You might be familiar with it. The two companies went on to battle it out through the 90s and early naughties for dominance in the home console market, before Microsoft entered the fray in 2001 creating the landscape we're more familiar with today.
While it's not known if other prototype machines exist, this is the most famous example of it being a real, tangible excursion between the rival tech behemoths.
Whatever ends up happening with the Nintendo PlayStation, Terry Diebold is sure to be a very happy man when the cheque clears after the sale, and has asked serious bidders to get in touch. If the right bid doesn't come through, will it be sold on an auction house or ebay? Maybe he'll just stick it on Gumtree and offer swaps for a mountain bike or some snazzy gardening tools. Who's to say. But it's certain to gather huge interest when he does eventually take the plunge.
Of course, it would be a shame to see it disappear back into obscurity if a big money buyer waded in wanting it for their private collection, and personally I hope this goes to a museum. There's even some talk of gamers crowdfunding the cash in order to make sure exactly that happens.
Chumps together, unite! Pretty sure I've a couple of quid down the back of the sofa...
