Nintendo PlayStation Console 1
Image: Heritage Auctions

Remember that ultra-rare Nintendo PlayStation prototype that was a thing of legend until someone discovered it a few years ago? Well, you can own it, as it’s been put up for auction. The bidding concludes on 27th February, but unsurprisingly it’s already up to $48,000 – expect that figure to rise much higher over the next two weeks.

For those confused by this device’s existence, Sony and Nintendo briefly collaborated on a CD-ROM add-on for the Super Nintendo, but the project was scrapped and the PlayStation was subsequently released by the former as a solo effort. However, a prototype of the device designed by the two Japanese juggernauts was discovered by father and son Terry and Dan Diebold in a box which once belonged to a bankrupt company named Advanta. That firm was fronted by ex-SCE boss Olaf Olafsson.

The console includes an SNES cartridge slot and a disc drive; it also comes with a Sony-branded SNES controller. Apparently around 200 of these were produced, but many of them have been scrapped. Even more incredibly, it still works: “We at Heritage can attest the prototype is working,” the auctioneers wrote, “as we've played a couple of rounds of Mortal Kombat on it using a Super Famicom cartridge.”

[source comics.ha.com]