SNES - Playstation prototype found after 25 years

Most of the time when something tries to "appeal to a wider market" I don't really like it too much. The other consoles may have more games, but Nintendo has more games that I want.

I agree with you 100% on their copyright policies though. It's bad news for everybody involved, really.

when something tries to "appeal to a wider market" it's usally the start of downfall of its quality...

About the console... since he did a video too, there are 2 chances:
1) it's real;
2) it's homemade, but that would be quite impressive too, assuming that the console works for real... it would mean he made on his own a console with some quite interesting features.

About the console... since he did a video too, there are 2 chances:
1) it's real;
2) it's homemade, but that would be quite impressive too, assuming that the console works for real... it would mean he made on his own a console with some quite interesting features.

We can't be 100% sure until he plugs it in, but chances are pointing toward option #1. Option 2 is not really possible, there's more chances someone would have just assembled an empty case. I have read on a French site that a French video game historian thinks this is genuine.

First of all I would dump on a computer the cartridge (looks like a SFC cartridge) and disc then open it up to make sure it can work with the help of someone who can detect if there is any leaking or damaged pieces. Then I would make sure he finds the RIGHT power adapter. Then I would cross my fingers and start the thing. If this prototype is real, it belongs to a museum. I wonder what the two demos are (it's written "for demo purpose" in Japanese on the cartridge and the guy says he has a disc too). They could aslo dump the PSX BIOS for archival purpose. I just hope this is not a hoax or that the guy doesn't f**k this up.

just for clarity when i said appeal to a wider audience i ment in specific nintendo's lack of 18 plus games. Dont get me wrong i love nintendo my first proper console was an n64.. but there slipping like it or not

As for the original device, I could build something similar without much effort. Just cram a PS and a SNES hardware in one box, dress it up, etc. They'd work independently but would still be a one box deal. Software wise, still wouldn't be a huge issue with emulators and such. The OS would just have to detect or ask which one to boot at startup if the builder was going for a truely combined system. Another route would be build it based on a micro computer (yes I have built computers that size before, used a 64mb SD card for a harddrive) then add in the adapters for SNES controller to USB, and program your own OS. Tis possible, still cool either way, factory or homemade.


As for playing "ROMs" on a PS, I chipped an original PS to play homemade disk once. Issue was you had to turn the power of the laser up in order for it to read non-factory disk, obviously playing for 20hours straight with a cranked up laser cooks things... yes mine cooked.

Another note, Dreamcast could be made to boot up just about any cartrage console game via emulator. Personally I made a disk for Atari, NES, and SNES games. I'm pretty sure it would do genisis consoles but getting up to N64 and PS don't remember if it had the power to run it.

My favorite was still playing games from a harddrive installed in the original PS2's. PS2 quality with cartraige load times.

Computers and emulators are still my perfered method though.

just for clarity when i said appeal to a wider audience i ment in specific nintendo's lack of 18 plus games. Dont get me wrong i love nintendo my first proper console was an n64.. but there slipping like it or not

I still don't feel like they're slipping, at least not in terms of what matters to me. A T for Teen type of game can easily have a great story/gameplay/music, and that's all I really want out of a game. Excessive gore, swear words and explicit scenes (like a lot of 18+ games, but not necessarily all, go for) just add a lot of narm for me in most cases, like they're trying too hard to be cool.

Perhaps that's a large part of why you see Nintendo as slipping and why I see most everything else as slipping (except XBox lol, they never had anywhere to slip from as far as I'm concerned).

As for the original device, I could build something similar without much effort...

Wow, that's pretty cool. I guess that if you could do it, then it definitely puts the option back on the table for somebody else to do it as well.

@Madsiur: Do you have a link for that site?

When I say I could build it... actually yeah I don't see why not.

The insides of a PS are pretty straight forward. Little closer to a CD player than a computer though. Several years ago there was a wiring diagram where someone mapped out a PS memory card and wired it into a computer serial port, then performed read/write operations so even if you were going to go the route of a micro computer using emulators, butchering a PSone and hot wiring it to a computer motherboard is legit.

As for the snes side, I've never gutted one (still have my first, one and only and it still works, course so does my atari but I have seen the inside of it) anyway, the point, electronics from the snes time were simple to splice and wire. Pretty tolerant to being hotwired that is. So still possible.

The issue with the computer route would be the time frame. I only know for a fact that computers could be that small in the 2000 area, but not high priced then either so maybe around for years before. The software for emulation would be another factor, was there even understanding of that stuff back then? The time frame on this? I'd lean toward, if homemade, it would be two systems spliced Frankenstein style.

Being that it doesn't have any giant bolts, or burn marks from the lighting used to give it life, also the logos and such, if it is a homemade job they did damn good.

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All that being said, the plastic of the top and bottom looks to have come from two seperate places. Frankly the bottom half looks like its spent several years in the house of someone who smoked alot. (Only time I've seen that shade of plastic). The top half looks fairly new and polished.

Frankly the bottom half looks like its spent several years in the house of someone who smoked alot. (Only time I've seen that shade of plastic). The top half looks fairly new and polished.

Nintendo used some plastic in the 90's that was becoming yellowish after years. Not all SNES case are like that but I think more of the early models, including the bottom of my own SNES. That could explain that. Just look at any computer screen from the 90's.

@Lockirby: I couldn't find the article since Firefox clears my browsing history on closing but it was a one line thing like "This discovery is so big that one might think of a fake but after seeing the photos I can say I think it's a real prototype". There wasn't really any argument to back up this.

Personally while I think you could build that you can't fake what is inside and how it works to the point of selling it like a fake painting. If an expert opens the prototype, they know rapidly if this is a hoax or not. You can't just put a SNES and PSX together and claim to have found a SNES-CD and the sell it. The PXS components would probably not be the same as the PSX that came out in 1996? since this prototype is at least 5 years older.

Okay, to an extent heat would do that too. (I've still cracked open several yellowish things from that generation that not only looked like it, but smelled of it). Regardless of why it is tinted, why wouldn't all the plastic be the same aged/stained color?

Prototype. That really explains it all though. Somebody had to build something in order to pitch it. With that label it could have anything in it if it was made pre-production if it was a first gen prototype or a second gen. Might even have parts from a samsung VCR in it's heart.

Okay, that is a bit far fetched but, while it shouldn't have future parts in it, it could have anything from anywhere older than the listed date. With first generation vehicles, you might find parts from a '68 car on a brand new '98 truck because, before it was set to mass produce they used whatever fit and worked, then made new parts when it was cost effective to produce them for the product directly (as in it sold succesfully).

Point being, by calling it a prototype, you can't really prove or disprove much of anything unless you find parts that are newer than the listed date, beyond that it is just a matter of who built it, someone that worked for the company, or someone else that just had to much free time. Tis still a cool concept regardless, real or not.

Regardless of why it is tinted, why wouldn't all the plastic be the same aged/stained color?

Not necessarily if the plastic (top/bottom) comes from two different places. The half of my SNES is stained like this. Never seen any Sony product, especially darker colors staining like this.