Yes this is a Sony Branded SNES, CDplaying, "Play Station"

[88keys]

admitted fake by who? The original 'admitted fake' in that article was a fake.

Yeah that article doesn't make a very good case for it being fake IMO. Somebody probably having no idea what it was could just as easily have discarded it amongst a host of other 20+ year old scrapped projects.

It is known that Sony and Nintnedo had been working together for a long time and very likley went through various prototype designs as many consoles do prior to launch, and the lack of 'nintendo' branding (other than the SNES logo on the controller) could be simply because it was a prototype and obviously not intended for consumer use.
And interestingly enough, it does seem to bear a striking resemblance to this

Granted, this image depicts a slimmer version of the SNES Playstation and also seems to be a standalone unit (which could explain it's slimmer design). This unit also appears to have no Nintendo branding other than the controller connector.
If it is indeed a hoax, I'd call it an extremely elaborate one. The imprinted sony logo on the Super Famicom controller connector would be very difficult to fake along with the distinct yellowing of the plastic which is uneven with dark and light spots like aged plastic from the 80's and 90's often does. Overall it looks like it was professionally manufactured and not some fancy case mod type of project.

If it were faked, it would have been done by taking some kind of Sony branded electronic device(s) from that period (like a vintage external CD-Drive) and combine it with some Super Famicom parts to make this.
It would be interesting if one could find the original hardware used to make this. I wonder if there is a data base of all Sony products to look up.

I'd be interested to see if he can actually get the console fired up and working. The fact that it has physical ports and that it came with an unlabeled cartridge tells me that it probably did work. And interestingly enough, it seems to take the same voltage as original PS1.

 

[Red Squirrel]

lol if this is real I'm sure it would have been a lawsuit waiting to happen. That's awesome though. Lawyers are why we can't have nice things.

 

[ImpulsE69]

Here's a bit more background which makes it more believable.

http://www.polygon.com/2015/7/3/8889237/Nintendo-Play-Station

 

[waggy]

Yeah that article doesn't make a very good case for it being fake IMO. Somebody probably having no idea what it was could just as easily have discarded it amongst a host of other 20+ year old scrapped projects.

It is known that Sony and Nintnedo had been working together for a long time and very likley went through various prototype designs as many consoles do prior to launch, and the lack of 'nintendo' branding (other than the SNES logo on the controller) could be simply because it was a prototype and obviously not intended for consumer use.
And interestingly enough, it does seem to bear a striking resemblance to this

Granted, this image depicts a slimmer version of the SNES Playstation and also seems to be a standalone unit (which could explain it's slimmer design). This unit also appears to have no Nintendo branding other than the controller connector.
If it is indeed a hoax, I'd call it an extremely elaborate one. The imprinted sony logo on the Super Famicom controller connector would be very difficult to fake along with the distinct yellowing of the plastic which is uneven with dark and light spots like aged plastic from the 80's and 90's often does. Overall it looks like it was professionally manufactured and not some fancy case mod type of project.

If it were faked, it would have been done by taking some kind of Sony branded electronic device(s) from that period (like a vintage external CD-Drive) and combine it with some Super Famicom parts to make this.
It would be interesting if one could find the original hardware used to make this. I wonder if there is a data base of all Sony products to look up.

I'd be interested to see if he can actually get the console fired up and working. The fact that it has physical ports and that it came with an unlabeled cartridge tells me that it probably did work. And interestingly enough, it seems to take the same voltage as original PS1.

wow makes it more believable.

 

[CZroe]

The Nintendo-authorized Sharp Twin Famicom has no Nintendo branding either. We already knew that the Nintendo/Sony "Play Station" project would have a similar arrangement and that Sony would have had complete control over the CD format side of that console's business, which is why Nintendo got cold feet (no question about that; it's properly researched and sourced; read "Game Over: The History of Nintendo"). It stands to reason that the stand-alone Sony console would not have carried Nintendo branding as part of the same contract, especially in light of the Sharp Twin Famicom.

 

[88keys]

There was also an NES TV that sharp made that had no Nintendo branding.

 

[CZroe]

There was also an NES TV that sharp made that had no Nintendo branding.

Yep.

I noticed the Nintendo Seal of Quality static-cling sticker in the corner of the floor model's screen at K-Mart back in the day but that would get pulled off before use even if the boxed sets had it. Because the shelf tag said nothing about it having a Nintendo I had to bring in my copy of Super Mario Bros. and a controller to prove that it had a built-in Nintendo.

 

[Ichinisan]

Cool. I've seen pictures of similar prototypes, but this is the holy grail.

 

[Ichinisan]

[edit]
OK. I see the DC power jack.

I hope he's careful. Some Nintendo power supplies between regions can fry the system. The NES had AC power and I believe its power cord would fry a Famicom. I believe the normal Super Famicom took the same AC adapter as the Famicom and does not work with an NES or Super NES power adapter.

 

[88keys]

Cool. I've seen pictures of similar prototypes, but this is the holy grail.

I'd love to see how high the eBay auction would climb. It could very well be worth more than your car....

As for the jack, I can't tell if it says 7.5v or 7.6v. Did a little more research and the original PS1 had an internal PSU with an output of 7.6v while the PS1 slim model took a power adapter of 7.5v. Either way I'm sure he would have no problem finding a retro gaming enthusiast with an electronics background to find a working power adapter. I personally wouldn't take any chances with something like that.

I'd really be interested to know what the cartridge and the CD contains. My guess is that it could be an early demo of Donkey Kong Country or Star Fox. Both of which were games that are rumored to have been designed for the SNES CD.

 

[CZroe]

[edit]
OK. I see the DC power jack.

I hope he's careful. Some Nintendo power supplies between regions can fry the system. The NES had AC power and I believe its power cord would fry a Famicom. I believe the normal Super Famicom took the same AC adapter as the Famicom and does not work with an NES or Super NES power adapter.

Yeah. The PSone and PSone LCD had identical-looking adapters with different specs because of the extra draw that the LCD required so I'd expect this to require extra power too (probably takes quite a bit extra to spin that drive up).

 

[CZroe]

I'd love to see how high the eBay auction would climb. It could very well be worth more than your car....

As for the jack, I can't tell if it says 7.5v or 7.6v. Did a little more research and the original PS1 had an internal PSU with an output of 7.6v while the PS1 slim model took a power adapter of 7.5v. Either way I'm sure he would have no problem finding a retro gaming enthusiast with an electronics background to find a working power adapter. I personally wouldn't take any chances with something like that.

I'd really be interested to know what the cartridge and the CD contains. My guess is that it could be an early demo of Donkey Kong Country or Star Fox. Both of which were games that are rumored to have been designed for the SNES CD.

He drives an Aveo, so it would be worth many times more than his car.

If any prototype console could break a million, it's this!

DKC was not in development yet. The Star Fox devs were Arganaut Software and they never said anything about this to my knowledge despite reading many interviews. They helped develop the SuperFX chip and were not involved in developing the console hardware. I think you are confusing statements about them showing what could be done with a cartridge and explaining that CDs could not add capabilities to the system like SuperFX and such could. They routinely paraded DKC with it's fluid animation on a 32Mbit/4MB game pak as proof that there was no need for CDs.

 

[HeXen]

How about the Pioneer Laseractive? You could play Genesis, segacd, turbografx 16..etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgtiRDZF3zI

There's also the Nintendo M82
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXEE1ZLPxlU

 

[Ichinisan]

Wow. The thread in the Console Gaming sub forum was a massive fail. The extension port is clearly not HDMI, people.

 

[Ichinisan]

How about the Pioneer Laseractive? You could play Genesis, segacd, turbografx 16..etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgtiRDZF3zI

Haven't clicked your link, but I'm pretty sure I saw that in Damark catalogs and it always made me "WTF?"