Yesterday we reported on the stunning news that a SNES PlayStation has been located in the wild. The existence of this almost-mythical machine was never in doubt - Sony released promotional images back in the early '90s - but it was believed that all of the prototypes were either destroyed or locked away in Sony's HQ, never to see the light of day. The fact that one has been unearthed is big news.
The man behind the discovery is Dan Diebold, whose father Terry found the console after the company he worked for - Advanta - went bankrupt in 2009. The connection here is that Olaf Olafsson - once CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment and one of the key figures in the Sony / Nintendo deal - was president of Advanta at the time. Diebold's senior apparently found the console while clearing out offices of "junk".
Diebold has been speaking to Polygon about the find, and admits that his father's harsh financial situation may result in him selling the machine for a tidy sum:
I found it a couple of years ago. My dad had it in his attic.
When they went bankrupt the company ordered my dad to throw a bunch of s*** out. As he was cleaning out the rooms he found this box. He kept a bunch of stuff from there. My dad has tons of old systems and s***. He keeps everything.
I'm sure my dad would think about selling it because he's pretty broke.
Diebold also reveals that he hasn't been able to power the machine up because he doesn't have the correct power supply, but he intends to find one. Understandably he's taking his time with this, as using the wrong power supply could blow the machine's internals - if indeed it has any working internal parts, as it could simply be a case mock-up. Given the age of the system and its status as a prototype, there's no guarantee that it will work after this length of time anyway.
Since the console hit the web there have been numerous claims that it is fake - most of which seem to have been a result of famed Belgian console modder Vadu Amka jokingly tweeting that she was responsible for creating the system. She has since stated that the humourous tweet was a not-so-serious response to a news article on a French site asking if she was behind the system:
https://twitter.com/VaduAmka/status/616974748438953984
We personally feel this is an authentic find, but what about you? Do you believe it's a fake? Check out the video below - which contains some bad language - and share your thoughts.
[source polygon.com]
Comments 47
@AlexOlney I was thinking the same. Any gaming museums?
@DekersHekers There's one in Cambridge, and it is called 'the Centre for Computing History'
Their website- http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/pages/13587/A-Museum-for-Cambridge/
@AlexOlney I want to 'Yeah' your comment... any more word on something like that being implemented?!
"Looks like a Super Nintendo controller but not really sure, haven't played one in forever"
Dude, it's one of the most iconic controllers of all time!
Why did he wait so long after finding it, is what I'd like to know? Perhaps he never realised it's rarity, I guess. Anyway, cool find, I hope it goes to a good home or a museum.
I agree with what others are saying here. This is far too important to just sit on a collector's shelf.
He really needs to be a bit more gentle with it.It was making me nervous watching him pull that cartridge out and turning it over to show us the underside.
Seems legit.
The case has the yellow wear of time most SNES suffer.
@Gridatttack The yellowing can easily be faked so that alone isn't really proof enough.
But personally I believe that this is the real deal here, It has the Nintendo connectors, Nintendo branded controller & Game Pak & even the ext port.
A lot of little details that fakes that tend to ether change, or miss.
It's also the very same details that the most people ignore when criticizing wether it's a fake or not.
"most of which seem to have been a result of famed Belgian console modder Vadu Amka jokingly tweeting that she was responsible for creating the system"
She's nowhere near as famous as Aguilar Sanchez, the renowned Mexican console modder. I would even put her skills below those of Suliman Abdul Mohammed, the fantastic console modder from Sudan.
@HollywoodHogan well played, sir.
I think this dude could make a lot of money here
Geez, gotta warn us of 'bad language'? That's common here in the States and he's not even using much of it plus most the community's older than me! Sensitive much. We don't plead you to take back 'bloody hell'.
Anywho, I'd totally want to this system up and running.
For a system thats over 25 years old, that thing looks pretty darn clean. Whats with the yellowing on only one small part of it, while the rest of the system looks mint? Im calling bs on this one.
When money's tight, I'd say this is the right decision. I can't blame the guy for wanting to sell it.
Guy's quite the potty mouth
Other than that, how much do you think it'll go for?
He's totally gonna sell it to a collector and it'll disappear forever, never to be seen again.
"It might be sold my dad's pretty broke". If you own a home and a car you are not broke. And you speak like a person who's been spoiled all your life.
@AlexOlney
Agreed!
@JaniN83 That's too bad. You're missing out on a lot of quality games and other electronic items, such as blu-ray technology - since you know, that is Sony's format.
@Grimlock_King Maybe he's trying to hold on to the car as a last resource if things get worse, and obviously he's trying to not sell his house, maybe he means that his dad barely getting by...?
I think its the real thing, and as already said, that thing belongs in a museum, not in the hands of a private collector.
@JaniN83 yes we get it, your a Nintendo die hard and everything Sony and Microsoft touch it's evil and icky honestly your missing out on alot of great games with sticking only with Nintendo.
To me, the system looks authentic, but it's hard to go off just looking at something. I'd be interested I'd the system actually does boot up and that; but otherwise I think it should be in a gaming museum our something along those lines
Why do people keep saying this belongs in a museum?? Who would care about it outside of video game fans?
"Honey, let's go see the dinosaurs, the Egyptian mummies, meteor fragments and the prototype Play Station at the Smithsonian this weekend"
Never mind the fact that everyone saying this, even if it was in a museum, would in all likelihood never get a chance to see it there anyway.
This system has now been featured on every single video game website that I frequent, so it's safe to say that millions of people are new aware of it. If it was fake, making so many people aware of it would be a huge mistake. If he sold it and it was discovered to be fake, he would be tracked down very easily. Additionally, he would already be trying to sell it, not looking for a power source. And why wouldn't he just fake a power source? It would be easy to fake a power source and fake a title screen. I have no doubt that this is real.
I'd like to believe this is authentic. What I can't understand is, why so many Sony branding and so little Nintendo? I thought it was supposed to be SNES add-on.
@kiigu The SNES add on would have been Nintendo branded. This is the stand alone system, and was very much Sony's baby.
Check out the JVC Wondermega - it's a similar system but one that actually made it to market. A Sega Genesis and Sega CD combined, but no Sega logo on the casing.
The reason I believed at first it was a fake is that I distinctly remember from those days that PlayStation wasn't written as one word, but rather as Play Station. But after seeing this I have to admit it looks real.
I think it's fake. That tray looks far too thin for the era. Most consoles (even the original psx) used a toilet lid. The machines that did use a tray were very chunky like the sega cd. I don't buy it.
Looks cool but I figure I'll probably never get to see or own it nor do I want to as I'm not rich and owning this thing probably won't work anyways.
@GrailUK It was actually designed to use CDs in plastic caddies. They weren't common back then, but some PC CD drives used them. Imagine a giant MiniDisc and you're somewhere close. This is not an opening CD tray, but a slot.
Since it appears that we have documented evidence that at one time, the prototype looked like this, I think it's genuine.
There is always the possibility that it's a fake, but given the circumstances it was found under (that we know of), it seems unlikely.
https://imgflip.com/i/ns99p
with people buying used tampons and pizzas that have burn marks in the form of Jesus Christ's face, it obviously doesn't surprise anyone if this gets sold too.
@Damo Oooh! Cheers for the information My next doubt comes from the fact that he doesn't sound like a penitent man....
So what is he doing with it now?
Let's see if they have the guts to actually put it on the market and face the direct questions of authenticity.
@Damo @BLPs Thanks! I see, so there's two thing, an SNES add-on and a standalone SNES combined system under Sony brand. I guess Nintendo did a right thing after all, even though I can't say I agree with the way they did it.
@Dark-Chespin Well now we just need a kickstarter fund to get it there.
it's as fake as the "All-you-can-eat-Pizza diet"
@DekersHekers Yup, let's hope that someone does so.
@DekersHekers
Yes.
http://www.computerspielemuseum.de/1210_Home.htm
Give me another reason to go to Berlin. Again.
@HollywoodHogan
See my post above. Another poster has mentioned one in Cambridge too.
A museum isn't ideal but there's far more chance of people seeing it in one than if it finishes up in someone's house
@JaniN83
Thats really quite....sad. And strange. But mainly sad.
@DekersHekers Smithsonian?
I do not think that "PlayStation" controller is recent, as I found a couple myself years ago. As for the console, I would be very interested to see what is inside...
@EmiMacthePC Nah. I think a specific 'gaming' museum would be better. Leave the flies and the earth stuff to the Smithsonian.
@hobthebob I actually thought that exact thing, people don't seem to know how Bromide works and how it reacts. The Controller port looks to be a separate piece of plastic, so it can yellow without affecting the rest of the console, but it appears that even the controller port still has grey on it and that doesn't conform to my understanding of Bromide. Unless they used it in a different dosage or used another chemical or something. People seem to think this would be "hard to fake", but I've seen enough consoles modded to know that there are people out there with the talent to do it.
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