SNES PlayStation Prototype does Exist! (maybe)

There's an astounding split in gaming history that many retro-gamers may not know about.  The short lived collaboration between Nintendo and Sony that ultimately made them heated competitors.

A prototype Sony PlayStation SNES - an ultra-rare piece of gaming history - has been discovered and photographed today! Often refereed to as the SNES-CD system. It has not been officially verified that the device is a genuine prototype, but it certainly appears that it is. 1990s Developers from the Sony have chimed in and claimed this is authentic. I will update this article as things unfold.







After several years of development with Sony the plans fell through. Nintendo opted to partner with Philips instead (major failure the CD-I). While that deal faltered, Sony continued with the development of its CD-compatible PlayStation as a separate device.

This cart  has "demo use" handwritten Japanese

Most articles are claiming 200 of these were original made. Not  True! The 200 prototype thing is an old myth. Very recently a 90's SONY employee stated there are only 5 in existence and 2 of those are in private hands. The other one is this very early unique prototype. The rest are apparently at Sony headquarters.

The owner of the device posted photos on Imgur (user DanDiebold) Terry Diebold, Dan's father, worked as a maintenance man at Advanta Corporation from 2000-2009. Olaf Olafsson was president of the company. Olafsson also happened to be the former CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment that created the PlayStation. It was during Olafsson's time that Sony worked on the Super NES to play CD games.

"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” 

The owner also has a CD and a cartridge, but doesn't know what's on either.

"When they went bankrupt the company ordered my dad to throw a bunch of stuff out," Dan Diebold said. "As he was cleaning out the rooms he found this box." Inside, what appeared to be the prototype for the SNES Play Station. 

"He kept a bunch of stuff from there," Dan Diebold said. "My dad has tons of old systems and stuff. He keeps everything."

Dan says he hasn't tried turning the system on yet because its missing the power cord, but that he plans on buying a cord that will work with it soon to test it out. The system also has a cartridge and a CD. He has no idea what's on either.
As for the future of the system, Diebold says he's not exactly sure what he's going to do with it yet.

"At the moment, I don't know," he said. "I'm sure my dad would think about selling it because he's pretty broke."

SNES Controller with Playstation Logo!

Official US Patent Photos

I manged to track down an original US patent photo and one other early image from Nintendo. The similarities of DanDiebold photos are striking. This is either the best looking fake in gaming history or an historic find.

Unreleased Prototype Pictures from early 1990s

Whether it still works is unknown, as a power cable needs to be sourced that will allow the prototype to be tested. Hopefully he will locate a trustworthy tech (me? I wish!) before attempting to power-on this console.
I will update this article as the news unfolds.

Below is a video from the owner and links to current discussions.

Reddit Post: Here
AssemblerGames: Here

 Official Video from Owner