Nintendo's Playstation Prototype found?

[ImpulsE69]

There are some people saying this is an elaborate hoax and fake put on by a modder, but hard to tell at this time.

https://games.yahoo.com/news/nintendos-playstation-holy-grail-game-142200344.html

Partial article:

An extraordinarily rare prototype of the SNES-CD console, which was created as part of a failed partnership between Nintendo and Sony some 25 years ago, has been discovered.
Never-before-seen images offer the first ever close-ups of the machine, now yellowed with age, which combines the form factor of the SNES along with the branding of PlayStation.
The console is so rare that its specific design features, such as a horizontal volume slider at the front and an assortment of outputs at the back, were not public knowledge. There are several other known prototypes of the SNES-CD, each with different variations on its design, which likely means that the version pictured below is the only in existence.

I'd like to call attention to the back -- one thing that strikes me is no one knows what the "Next" port is, but it SURE looks like HDMI. Also, the multi-out port has a directional notch, which is something I believe was never implemented on electronics until later, same with the power port which IIRC is something that was not used back in this time. I'm not 100% sure on that though...

 

[mmntech]

Well the A/V multi-out port looks identical to the one on the N64, which would make sense. They do have a directional notch. The "Next" port definitely does look like HDMI though.

He has posted a video showing a better look at the system.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCV6RusogAk

If it's a fake, it's a pretty convincing one. He says he's going to boot it up if he can find the proper power adapter.

 

[notposting]

Hmm, looking at Wikipedia, HDMI didn't even get designed until the early 2000's. DVI was late 90's. Heck, USB was mid to late 90's. The connector could have been around previously but...

That part alone is giving me pause.

 

[Sonikku]

LOL @ the hdmi out.

Also lol @ "I can't find a power adapter to boot it up!". Convenient.

 

[notposting]

Although, looking at what they have for the EXT port on the SNES/Super Famicom, I could see that port being part of it.

Also...wouldn't you go to Radio Shack Amazon and order a darn power adapter before posting this? Get it to boot, show it to your friends, cackle with glee, etc etc?

 

[Ichinisan]

I'd like to call attention to the back -- one thing that strikes me is no one knows what the "Next" port is

There have been multiple proprietary "EXT" ports on practically every Nintendo console before the Wii. Even console add-ons like FDS had EXT ports they might later use. Usually, they had letters like "EXT A." Calling it "NEXT" was probably a Sony marketing idea (like "iLink" instead of Firewire/IEEE1394).

, but it SURE looks like HDMI.

LOL! Not even close.

The power of suggestion is funny. I can't believe every single poster in this thread seriously thought that looks like HDMI. Even a slight familiarity with HDMI should allow you to immediately tell that is *not* HDMI.

Hint: The corners of HDMI would be more "notched" than just a simple bevel. What you see there is simply the most basic way to make a keyed connector.

Also, the multi-out port has a directional notch, which is something I believe was never implemented on electronics until later,

Every single Super NES and Super Famicom ever made has that connector. Every single AV Famicom. Even some rare versions of the USA top-loading NES. Every N64. Every GameCube.

... same with the power port which IIRC is something that was not used back in this time. I'm not 100% sure on that though...

Looks like almost every DC jack ever made since at least as far back as the mid '80s -- including NES, Famicom, Famicom Disk System, Super NES, and Super Famicom. I wouldn't expect this to look any different unless it was an AC input.

 

[Ichinisan]

... The "Next" port definitely does look like HDMI though. ...

Hmm, looking at Wikipedia, HDMI didn't even get designed until the early 2000's. DVI was late 90's. Heck, USB was mid to late 90's. The connector could have been around previously but...

That part alone is giving me pause.

LOL @ the hdmi out.

No. Strange that anyone on a tech forum could take a single glance and not immediately conclude: "That is definitely NOT an HDMI port."

It's not HDMI. It doesn't look like HDMI. It's not supposed to look like HDMI.

 

[Ichinisan]

"OMG! HDMI!"

 

[Ichinisan]

Also lol @ "I can't find a power adapter to boot it up!". Convenient.

...wouldn't you go to Radio Shack Amazon and order a darn power adapter before posting this? Get it to boot, show it to your friends, cackle with glee, etc etc?

I would be every bit as cautious about plugging-in adapters all willy-nilly. In Japan, Super Famicom took the same power adapter as the Famicom. I think many sets didn't even include the power adapter (and this is still a common practice in Japan).

If you connect an NES power adapter to a Famicom or Super Famicom, you fry the system. The USA NES had an internal rectifier and the standard power adapter had AC output! I believe even the SNES adapter could fry it (something about polarity). I also recall you also need to be extremely careful when selecting a power adapter for the Famicom Disk System.

Something like this probably draws more power than the standard non-CD version of the console. You'd want to be DAMN SURE you don't plug in a power adapter that will destroy your incredibly unique piece of hardware.

 

[CZroe]

Wow. Every single post in this thread until Ichinisan was laughable. You all think you're "skeptics" but try too hard... and FAIL.

There is so much right with this that I am pretty sure it's real. Early PSX consoles had that same arrangement of RCA cinch connectors with a power port for powering a modulator thought it was quickly removed so that you would be forced to buy a proprietary Multi-out AV, S-Video, or RF adapter. Super Famicom controller cords really are that short. CD audio playback with headphone jack and volume control really would have been pushed as a feature if it came out at that time (it was part of MPC spec for ages which is why PC drives continued having a headphone jack and a skip button for so long).

 

[CZroe]

The only thing that makes me even slightly skeptical that I've noticed so far is that the discoloration around the controller ports seems to be intentionally less severe in a distinct block around controller port 1. This almost seems intended to make you think that a controller was left plugged in for years and blocked sunlight/UV from discoloring that area, but the notorious discoloration that the SNES and Super Famicom had in some units (indeed, sometimes only some panels on some units) was caused by a bad mix of flame retardants in the plastic. I'm pretty sure that it reacted with the air over time and it wasn't "sun bleached."

I want to see the L & R buttons. Early SNES/SFC controllers had printed L & R lettering. Most are hard to make out because they simply left the smooth texture for L & R without printing/coloring it in. The redesigned controller with the deeply carved Nintendo logo on the front (not the "Super Nintendo Entertainment System" printing) has carved in L & R.

Early SNES consoles and all original SFC consoles had a locking mechanism for the game paks. I want to see that too.

 

[CZroe]

Looking for more stuff that might indicate a fake:
Nintendo is known for making a sub panel on the back for the outputs, but this has another panel around them that does not appear to be part of either half of the main shell. Considering the color difference around the video connections that appear to have come from an early PSX, it screams "custom insert!"

The main unit itself looks very similar to an early 2000s Sony photo printer I might still have around. The big round glossy buttons are also a very familiar part that may have been on that same unit.

The EXT port on the bottom is curiously recessed, as if it was molded to line up with an SNES board that they couldn't mount lower. If they retained the port to pass through to another expansion device like the BSX Satellaview it would need to duplicate the shape of the bottom of the SFC so that it would still fit. This would not.

 

[Ichinisan]

There's absolutely nothing remarkable about the presence and physical appearance NEXT extension connector. It looks very similar to so many other connectors we've seen before on various Nintendo and Sony systems.

Reminds me a lot of this DMG-04 cable sitting in front of me (Nintendo GameLink cable for the original full-size Game Boy)...but the NEXT port is bigger. The Gamecube "Digital AV" port is like an even bigger version of that. Then you have countless similar-looking "EXT A, B, C, ..." ports on Famicom Disk System, Sharp Twin Famicom, Game Boy, Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Color, etc.

 

[Raduque]

Those of you complaining about the hodge-podge look of the system gotta remember it's supposedly a prototype machine. It's meant more to demo the capabilities of the system, not how a retail unit is going to look.

It's too early for me to call it conclusive one way or another. I want a look inside though, bad.

 

[CZroe]

Those of you complaining about the hodge-podge look of the system gotta remember it's supposedly a prototype machine. It's meant more to demo the capabilities of the system, not how a retail unit is going to look.

It's too early for me to call it conclusive one way or another. I want a look inside though, bad.

It's not the hodge-podge look so much as the surprising level of refinement for something that still has the rough edges that it does. If it were a metal box like so many others then I wouldn't care that the EXT port is submerged and the bottom wouldn't fit in a BSX Satellaview.

The sub panel is still bugging me too. The reason they do the sub panel is so that the connectors from different regions can still share the same housing/shell. That wouldn't be a concern for a prototype until the housing was more refined/final than that. The mismatch is that this panel is closer to a 1995 PlayStation than a 1992 prototype. They wouldn't finalize that before getting the exterior sorted.

To be clear, I do think it's real. I want to see inside as much as anyone. I am just steeling myself should these issues pan out.

FWIW, early SNES consoles had a modular SPC700 unit so I expect to see that here.

 

[ImpulsE69]

I wouldn't know, I have a life. To me it does look like one at first glance. Rather than be condescending in response to your condescending response, I'll just leave it at that.

 

[CZroe]

I wouldn't know, I have a life. To me it does look like one at first glance. Rather than be condescending in response to your condescending response, I'll just leave it at that.

It sure seemed like you were trying to be funny when every single point you brought up was laugh-out-loud hilarious! Literally. Laughter came out of my mouth. Thanks for the link, and thanks for the laughs, but someone had to say something.

...
I'd like to call attention to the back -- one thing that strikes me is no one knows what the "Next" port is, but it SURE looks like HDMI.

It baffles me that the next four out of four posters went along with this! Four out of four Anandtech members can't identify an HDMI port?! Now THAT'S funny!

Also, the multi-out port has a directional notch, which is something I believe was never implemented on electronics until later,

You mean the exact same multi-out port that already existed on the SNES?!

Are you saying that "electronics" always had individual connectors for single-conductor cables or are you saying that they had cool reversible multi-conductor cables (no need to have them keyed)? Well: Every console prior had keyed controller connectors.

same with the power port which IIRC is something that was not used back in this time. I'm not 100% sure on that though...

Even though you said you weren't sure, it's still funny that anyone would suggest that barrel connectors might not have been used back then. I mean, it's hard to think of a device with an external adapter that DIDN'T have that type of connector. What about the SNES? Sega Genesis? Gameboy? NES?

 

[Ichinisan]

Sorry for being an ass. I really couldn't help it after seeing what was going on in this thread.

I didn't see any of that in the other thread (the one in Off Topic). I still thought it was funny though

 

[Ichinisan]

I wonder if that cartridge can be re-programmed through the "Nintendo Power" kiosks...

 

[Subyman]

Polygon reports that he's going to take it to a specialist when he gets back from his 4th of July vacation, so I guess we will know soon enough. IMO, it seems awfully well thought out to be a hoax (such as the blank cartridges with "Demo" written in Japanese.) Hope we get to hear more soon.

 

[CZroe]

Where should I watch to get updates on this?

 

[SOFTengCOMPelec]

Where should I watch to get updates on this?

Some people, probably me as well, are saying it might be a fake.

E.g.

If you get the reasonably very high resolution digital photographs of the unit, and carefully blow them up, and examine them. It looks like it has (partly clumsily) been made, by gluing cut up squares of different (normal) consoles. The connectors are a good place to start this.

He could have easily shown it to someone else (e.g. a games console expert), by now, but apparently he has NOT.

The video seems to intentionally either hide and/or put out of focus, various bits. Perhaps to make it harder to spot that it is a fake.

One of the MAJOR guys, who deal with this (at the time, when these 200 were being produced), has been asked in a video interview about it. But he refuses to say, if he thinks it is real or fake.

Or it could be real, and this guy is just REALLY slow at doing things.

EDIT:

Article including Video with Sony expert commenting on this

EDIT2:

Take This hi res picture which is already in this thread, higher up.

Focus on the "Next" connector (which already looks rather odd, because it seems to be a shiny modern HDMI connector). Blow it up in your favorite photo image viewer/editor. You can then see that the plastics are slightly different, it is a "square", which seems to have been cut out of something else (maybe cheaply bought used on ebay), and glued/fixed/etc into the place, "cut" into the plastic. In some cases you can see slight (clumsy) damage to the plastic, while this was done. These marks/strange mods, can be seen in many other places, especially the connectors.

One would imagine that the 200 prototypes were PROFESSIONALLY produced, and would NOT have these "amateur" construction marks and look like they are from a different machine with slightly different coloured plastic.

 

[CZroe]

Some people, probably me as well, are saying it might be a fake.

E.g.

If you get the reasonably very high resolution digital photographs of the unit, and carefully blow them up, and examine them. It looks like it has (partly clumsily) been made, by gluing cut up squares of different (normal) consoles. The connectors are a good place to start this.

He could have easily shown it to someone else (e.g. a games console expert), by now, but apparently he has NOT.

The video seems to intentionally either hide and/or put out of focus, various bits. Perhaps to make it harder to spot that it is a fake.

One of the MAJOR guys, who deal with this (at the time, when these 200 were being produced), has been asked in a video interview about it. But he refuses to say, if he thinks it is real or fake.

Or it could be real, and this guy is just REALLY slow at doing things.

EDIT:

Article including Video with Sony expert commenting on this

EDIT2:

Take This hi res picture which is already in this thread, higher up.

Focus on the "Next" connector (which already looks rather odd, because it seems to be a shiny modern HDMI connector). Blow it up in your favorite photo image viewer/editor. You can then see that the plastics are slightly different, it is a "square", which seems to have been cut out of something else (maybe cheaply bought used on ebay), and glued/fixed/etc into the place, "cut" into the plastic. In some cases you can see slight (clumsy) damage to the plastic, while this was done. These marks/strange mods, can be seen in many other places, especially the connectors.

One would imagine that the 200 prototypes were PROFESSIONALLY produced, and would NOT have these "amateur" construction marks and look like they are from a different machine with slightly different coloured plastic.

That "200" figure was pure conjecture that I laugh about every time some publication cites it, so we can forget about that (almost certainly WAY over-inflated).

Anyway, it doesn't even remotely look like an HDMI connector, as we established earlier. It looks very similar to a Sega Saturn or Sega Dreamcast connector, maybe even identical (I have to look at one).

There is nothing about the the connector itself that makes it suspect, but the placement makes it highly suspect. The block of video connections is higher than the Next and Multi-Out connectors, meaning they are either mounted upside-down or they aren't on the same PCB. I've never seen an upside-down version of the multi-out connector Nintendo uses (AV Famicom, SNES, N64, GameCube), but the connector itself is right-side up. Putting it on a different PCB from the other video outputs would be a huge engineering no-no, but this is supposed to be a prototype so that alone doesn't kill it.

Sony does like to use colored DC power ports these days but I don't know if they were doing it back then. For a console this size I would expect the PSU to be internal with an AC jack, like the original PlayStation. There may be something fishy there as well.

 

[SOFTengCOMPelec]

Anyway, it doesn't even remotely look like an HDMI connector, as we established earlier. It looks very similar to a Sega Saturn or Sega Dreamcast connector, maybe even identical (I have to look at one).

The "Next" connector, does, at a quick glance, look like it would take, this:

Sega Saturn Connector source

BUT there still seem to be many reasons, to think it might be a fake. The connector STILL looks like an HDMI one, to me, as well.

EDIT2:
Actually, looking at HDMI connector images, it DOES look different, NOW!.

Maybe it is a real console connector. But it still could have been removed from an old, second hand console and made to look like a long lost prototype. Or it could be genuine. I'm NOT too sure, now.

 

[SOFTengCOMPelec]

That "200" figure was pure conjecture that I laugh about every time some publication cites it

Sorry if I got that figure wrong, but many people, including the wiki, seem to say it was 200.

Anyway, it doesn't even remotely look like an HDMI connector, as we established earlier.

I agree now. I have NOT paid too much attention, when I plug HDMI stuff, together. It did look the same to me, originally.

If you are annoyed, I am saying it MIGHT be a fake. Embarrass me with THIS video clip.

In answer, to your original, question...

Where should I watch to get updates on this?

The following THREAD, especially the first post (best to read it first), may be the definitive "thread", for information, at the moment. As far as I can tell. Without spending, considerably more time, researching this.

http://assemblergames.com/l/threads/nintendo-snes-playstation-finally-uncovered-read-the-first-post-before-posting.57166/

https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/3bwyj0/it_took_forever_but_i_finally_got_some_pics_of_my/
Oh mah gawd.

MODERATOR NOTE

This thread is getting very large and people aren't reading the full thread, leading to a lot of pointless duplication and off-topic material cluttering up the thread. Staff requested people only talk about this item, but let's make this clear now:

This thread is to discuss the discovered Play Station unit ONLY
Discussion on the SNES CD format in general, including other models, belongs in the SNES CD history discussion thread
Here are some areas that we request you DO NOT DISCUSS in this thread:
You think this is a fake (there is plenty of evidence that it is not).
Giving legal advice regarding ownership, selling, Nintendo, Sony or anything else (you are most likely NOT a lawyer and, even if you are, it is unlikely you are an IP specialist in the electronics and gaming industries).
Giving advice on what the owner should do with it (this includes advising whether he should sell, how much he should sell it for, how he should store it, whether he should open it, that it should be in a museum, whether he should take it to a game shop, advising someone else he should take it to, what power adapter to use, whether he should dump the contents of the cartridge/CD...) - it is his to do with as he pleases
Making an offer to purchase it. The owner has stated that it is NOT for sale. In any event, he is a new user and does not meet our requirements to sell, plus this is NOT a marketplace post, If you HAVE to make a genuine and reasonable offer, do so via a private conversation - and don't be upset if you don't get a response! .
Offering to send the owner a PSU. These are common and he will be able to find one himself with ease.
Asking what is on the cartridge/CD. He doesn't know - but if and when he finds out, it'll be posted.
Let's keep the discussion friendly and positive - any flaming or being disrespectful to other members will be dealt with.

If you have something to say, make sure you can back it up with FACT. Wikipedia is not a good source for fact unless a credible source is listed (in which case, quote that instead) - for example, there is NO evidence that there were 200 of these made, sent out and recalled. Also, try to check that something hasn't already been posted in the thread, and check your facts. Here are a few key points:

Asianat0r is the OP of this thread, but has no involvement with the machine.
The item was first shared on Reddit by analogueboy, who is Dnldbld on ASSEMbler. He is the owner of the item (well, his Dad is!) It was shared here shortly before Reddit went dark, hence we were quoted as source in many articles.
Dnldbld's Dad DID NOT work for Sony, or Nintendo. He worked for a bank, as did Olaf Olafsson, who worked for Sony before that. He left the item behind, Dnldbld's Dad was told to throw some items out when the company folded and this was amongst them.
Dnldbld has a cartridge with the machine, which may or may not be related. He bellieves he still has a CD in his attic somewhere, too. The contents of both are unknown.
Brian has nothing to do with the unit. He used to work for Sony. He is legitimate.
The patents have been posted in the SNES CD history discussion thread - please don't duplicate them here. However, if you find any that haven't been shared in the other thread, by all means post them... in that thread!

Anyone who can't comply with the above requests will have their posts removed and a warning point issued. Anyone breaking forum rules (e.g. flaming or insulting other members) will be dealt with more severely.

Please also remember...

TRY NOT TO DOUBLE POST. USE THE MULTI-QUOTE FEATURE OR THE EDIT BUTTON!

Here are some key posts from the thread: