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  1. Games

Take a look at the original Sony/Nintendo PlayStation prototype that never happened

News
By Leon Hurley published 3 July 2017

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

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CATEGORIES
PS4 Platforms PlayStation
Leon Hurley
Leon Hurley
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Managing editor for guides

I'm GamesRadar's Managing Editor for guides. I also write reviews, previews and features, largely about horror, action adventure, FPS and open world games. I previously worked on Kotaku, and the Official PlayStation Magazine and website.

UPDATE: There's a video of the prototype Sony/Nintendo PlayStation.

Pay attention, 10 second history lesson: way back in 1988, Sony and Nintendo worked together on a CD-ROM peripheral for the SNES. In 1991 it was revealed at the Consumer Electronics Show by Sony but the day after, Nintendo announced that, actually, it was partnering with Phillips for its CD tech. Sony, furious, more or less spite-developed its half of the tech into the PlayStation 1 we know today, to get back at Nintendo.

Because it was never actually released the Sony/Nintendo PlayStation is quite rare. So this one is quite a big deal. It apparently turned up in some junk belonging to imgur user DanDiebold's dad. Here's the real kicker though, this is the story he posts behind the images:

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"My dad worked for a company, apparently one of the guys he used to work with, I think his name was Olaf, used to work at Nintendo and when my dad's company went bankrupt, my dad found it in a box of 'junk' he was supposed to throw out". 

Now this bit seems almost too good to be true because 'Olaf' could possibly reference Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson, the original co-founder, president and chief executive officer of Sony Interactive Entertainment. Not only could this be one of the first ever PlayStations, it could be one that belonged to its creator. 

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