In the annals of gaming history there are a few unreleased piece of hardware that collectors would do unspeakable things to obtain. Now, one man claims to have stumbled upon a prized relic of early 90s gaming; a home console that was not only never released, but was also thought to have no living examples in the wild: the Nintendo PlayStation.
First, a bit of history: In the early 90s, following the release of the SNES, Nintendo announced a partnership with Sony which would have created a console bearing the names of both companies. The system was supposed to help usher in the age of disc-based gaming, but the partnership between the two companies fell through and while Nintendo forged ahead with the N64, Sony launched the console we know as the original PlayStation.
Sony/Nintendo
Now, roughly two and a half decades after it was thought to have been lost forever, a Reddit user claims to have discovered a Nintendo PlayStation prototype in a box of old junk once owned by a Nintendo employee.
The photos speak for themselves.
Everything from the shape of the system to the telltale yellowing of the different types of plastic used, now decades old, seems to lend credibility to the claim, and even the rear of the system—with split A/V ports rather than a single connector—fits Sony’s designed philosophy for the time period.
Unfortunately, the console has no power cord and thus far there’s been nothing to prove that it is still functional in any way. That’s a big, big bummer, and now that the Reddit thread where the discussion is happening has been temporarily blocked due to a protest on the site, we’re in the dark as to how it might all play out.
Of course, there is also the possibility that this is all nothing but a hoax. However, with ample evidence to the contrary, and the fact that we know the console itself was built at some point, even if it was only an early prototype, it looks believable. If this is indeed just a fake, it is without a doubt one of the most elaborate and well executed video game hoaxes in recent memory.
Image via DanDiebold/Reddit