Nintendo Play Station: Rare home console prototype is heading to auction

The first-generation PlayStation celebrated its 25th anniversary earlier this month. Despite rumours suggesting that Sony will be officially unveiling the PS5, it seems the company is apparently holding off until early next year. Some gamers might not be aware of it, but the original console was almost released under a different marque. In what was a short-lived partnership between Nintendo and Sony, the original plan was to release a hybrid remake of the former's popular platform. The Nintendo Play Station is one of the rarest prototypes out there and one is reportedly heading to auction.

At first glance, the game system looks like a reworked Super Nintendo Entertainment System with a CD-ROM slot. The top section features small LCD display on the bottom right with several buttons right below presumably to control the CD operation. On the left are the cartridge eject button and a reset button. Above these two is the cartridge slot, which is compatible with Super Famicom game cartridges. Up front is the power button in line with a CD tray on the right with its own eject button.

The controller ports look exactly like the ones on the Super NES and Super Famicom, while the controller itself is a rebranded replica of the original. Then there's the 3.5 mm audio jack with a rotary volume control right beside it. The back features most of the standard output ports for audio and video at the time with a special interface, which is speculated to be for developers only. The Nintendo Play Station never made it into production. Hence this is probably the only existing prototype of the console in the hands of a consumer.

The owner of this highly sought-after game system is Terry Diebold, who bought it at an auction in 2009. It allegedly came from a collection of items once owned by a Sony executive, who was not named. It was his son who stumbled upon the device stored in the family attic. Since then, the duo has been travelling to classic game shows to exhibit this rare piece of video game history.

It appears that Diebold and his son are finally putting the Nintendo Play Station up for auction to make up for the money they've spent over the years travelling to expos. "I can't keep losing money," wrote the owner in an email to Kotaku. "I've put a lot of work into this by travelling with it and we have made nothing on it. Every trip that we... have taken with it has cost us money out of pocket," he added.

The auction will be handled by Heritage Auctions, which is no stranger to high-profile gaming collectables. The price was not specified since it is the first of its kind to go up for bidding, but the current owner claims someone once offered him $1.2 million, but he declined. Gaming historians are hoping that whoever wins the auction will donate the Nintendo Play Station to a museum.