# Nintendo Playstation Prototype from earlier this year confirmed working



## ShadowOne333 (Nov 6, 2015)

This is truly a wonder in terms of Gaming History.


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## Margen67 (Nov 6, 2015)

Too bad there's no games to emulate.


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## Reploid (Nov 6, 2015)

Margen67 said:


> Too bad there's no games to emulate.


Too bad there is no games even to run on a hardware.


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## ShadowOne333 (Nov 6, 2015)

Reploid said:


> Too bad there is no games even to run on a hardware.


AFAIK SNES games are compatible with it, it's only the CD add-on that has no way to be tested out.


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## Reploid (Nov 6, 2015)

ShadowOne333 said:


> AFAIK SNES games are compatible with it, it's only the CD add-on that has no way to be tested out.


who сares about those old boring snes games?


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## ShadowOne333 (Nov 6, 2015)

Reploid said:


> who сares about those old boring snes games?


Because that way we could tell the console was real and working?


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## Xzi (Nov 6, 2015)

Is that a volume knob on the front of the console?

...Yep, that's from the 90's alright.  At least it has a headphone jack.  That's smart.  Just would've been much better if they had wired it to the controller.


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## Vipera (Nov 6, 2015)

It doesn't work? What about audio CDs?


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## Ryupower (Nov 6, 2015)

the video game landscape would be very different now, if this did work out and be came a thing


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## Deleted User (Nov 6, 2015)

Strange, I was just thinking about the Nintendo Playstation prototype last night and how we've heard nothing about it in a while.
Anyways, even though the CD-ROM drive isn't working, do you think there might just be a way we can get it working?


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## Pluupy (Nov 6, 2015)

Yeah no I call shenanigans. Unless an actual Nintendo or Sony employee can confirm this is legitimate, it's fake.

Also, *why would this development console be in the China?* Sony and Nintendo are _Japanese_ companies. The owners give absolutely no information about the nature of the "auction" they "received" it from.

*Why is the text on the console and menu completely in English?* What makes them think this console is legitimately developed by Sony and Nintendo? How would the developers be able to read something they made if it's completely in English?

It could just be a well-made custom console or an elaborate prank. That's like thinking the Atari Throwback console is legitimate. *People have access to at-home laser etching and 3D-printers at home.* _Anyone could have made this._ I find it adorable they think just because it can play SNES games and has Sony and Nintendo's names on it that it's real.

If they could date how old the plastic on the console is, the device is could be confirmed old enough to be in the time-span in which Sony and Nintendo were communicating and reinforce this thing's legitimacy. It appears the plastic might be undergoing oxidation. That, or someone painted the plastic that color to fool people.


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## Deleted User (Nov 6, 2015)

Pluupy said:


> Yeah no I call bullshit. Unless an actual Nintendo or Sony employee can confirm this is legitimate, it's fake. Also, why would this development console in the states? Sony and Nintendo are _Japanese_ companies. Why is the text on the console and menu completely in English? What makes them think this console is legitimately developed by Sony and Nintendo? It could just be a well-made custom console or an elaborate prank. That's like thinking the Atari Throwback console is legitimate. People have access to at-home laser etching and 3D-printers. Anyone could have made this. I find it adorable they think just because it can play SNES games that it's real.


So you think a father and son would 3D print a case, age it so it goes yellow by recyling old plastic into filament with the anti-heat shit, then add a SNES board in with a custom screen which'd need reprogramming of the board?
Also, the gamecube is Japanese, yet the english version speaks english.


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## Centrix (Nov 6, 2015)

Take it apart and put PS1 components in it


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## Walker D (Nov 6, 2015)

That's indeed awesome!  ...real and working

Hope they can discover more interesting stuff about it.. maybe there's more secrets in its code


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## Pluupy (Nov 6, 2015)

PokeAcer said:


> So you think a father and son would 3D print a case, age it so it goes yellow by recyling old plastic into filament with the anti-heat shit, then add a SNES board in with a custom screen which'd need reprogramming of the board?
> Also, the gamecube is Japanese, yet the english version speaks english.


It didn't need to be the father and son who did this, but yes. 

There are many people who make their own custom monster consoles which play multiple console games and have multiple purposes. 

There is no confirmation the "oxidated plastic" is actually real, old plastic that has oxidized. 

Why would this extremely rare console, that neither Sony or Nintendo wanted to be known, be sold at an auction in China? That's pretty convenient. 

Sony and Nintendo consoles were made in Japan until the Wii era. Again, why would this be in China? 

_Real SNES_ parts have both Sony and Nintendo's name on them. Why is it shocking for them to see the chips on this console have that? 





Most importantly, until a Nintendo and/or Sony employee who participated in the project can actually confirm this device is real, it is under scrutiny.


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## raulpica (Nov 6, 2015)

Pluupy said:


> Also, *why would this development console be in the China?* Sony and Nintendo are _Japanese_ companies. The owners give absolutely no information about the nature of the "auction" they "received" it from.


The backstory is widely known. It belonged to an ex-Sony president. Also, it was found in America and brought to a gaming festival in China. NOT found there *sighs*



Pluupy said:


> *Why is the text on the console and menu completely in English?* What makes them think this console is legitimately developed by Sony and Nintendo? How would the developers be able to read something they made if it's completely in English?


A shitload of Japanese consoles have their internal/debugging menus in English. They were usually thought for worldwide release, y'know.



Pluupy said:


> It could just be a well-made custom console or an elaborate prank. That's like thinking the Atari Throwback console is legitimate. *People have access to at-home laser etching and 3D-printers at home.* _Anyone could have made this._ I find it adorable they think just because it can play SNES games and has Sony and Nintendo's names on it that it's real.
> 
> If they could date how old the plastic on the console is, the device is could be confirmed old enough to be in the time-span in which Sony and Nintendo were communicating and reinforce this thing's legitimacy. It appears the plastic might be undergoing oxidation. That, or someone painted the plastic that color to fool people.


Shit, how you can not trust a trusted website like Engadget? Do you think they would resort to something as low as trolling and/or faking just to get some views? Get real.


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## Foxi4 (Nov 6, 2015)

There actually might be a couple of games compatible with this hardware - I remember reading that Imagine, a then-subsidiary of Sony, was working on 5 launch titles IIRC, at least one of which had a Beta disc. Who knows, maybe those too will surface one day.

As to why the text is in English, the reason is two-fold - the console was intended for an international release (this prototype is actually from the States IIRC) and because Kanji characters take up more space, they're a special font in addition to standard characters (although on such an old system fonts might've been tiled, which would nullify the problem above).


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## Psionic Roshambo (Nov 7, 2015)

Actually the yellow plastic thing... kinda is a hint this might be fake. 

Prototype would be made with generic plastic of the day, the SNES was made with some weird stuff. Literally it's the only thing I have from that time period that does that and the later releases did NOT do this... the SNES 2nd gen does not yellow a machine that would use the same plastic as the near end of life SNES/Sony hybrid. Plus being made by Sony they wouldn't be using Nintendo plastic to begin with.... (Again the SNES being the only machine I have that yellowed like that.) 

http://www.engadget.com/products/nintendo/snes/2nd-gen/

There might have been other things made out of plastic with bromine added but I don't have any... Would be an interesting thread on it's own. "What devices do you own that have turned colors with age?" lol


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## Foxi4 (Nov 7, 2015)

This is a very late close-to-release prototype, not a typical devkit (which were stored in shitty cubic cases). The reason it was fabricated like a complete console is that it was meant to be displayed and pitched. It's yellowed due to poor storage conditions and almost certainly real, judging by the accounts of people involved with the project. Plastic from that period often yellowed, as seen on countless keyboards or old 16-bit computers.


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## Sliter (Nov 7, 2015)

so many time to turn on the console that had 2 kinds of Audio/video exit and power source? Cd driver not working? but playing "super famicom" commonly? well very convenient hm?


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## cots (Nov 7, 2015)

I never doubted it's authenticity. I gladly added the nice pictures to my console picture collection.


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## Psionic Roshambo (Nov 7, 2015)

Foxi4 said:


> This is a very late close-to-release prototype, not a typical devkit (which were stored in shitty cubic cases). The reason it was fabricated like a complete console is that it was meant to be displayed and pitched. It's yellowed due to poor storage conditions and almost certainly real, judging by the accounts of people involved with the project. Plastic from that period often yellowed, as seen on countless keyboards or old 16-bit computers.



http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...ony-playstation-snes-console-spotted-pictured

"*UPDATE 4.45pm:* A French modder has now claimed to have made the Sony PlayStation SNES model shown today himself, rather than it being a legitimate early version of the rare Sony-Nintendo hybrid." 

I find this whole story pretty interesting. lol


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## Deleted User (Nov 7, 2015)

Psionic Roshambo said:


> http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...ony-playstation-snes-console-spotted-pictured
> 
> "*UPDATE 4.45pm:* A French modder has now claimed to have made the Sony PlayStation SNES model shown today himself, rather than it being a legitimate early version of the rare Sony-Nintendo hybrid."
> 
> I find this whole story pretty interesting. lol





			
				Eurogamer said:
			
		

> *UPDATE 6.20pm:* Good news - claims that today's find of a PlayStation SNES console were faked have now been cleared up and proven incorrect.
> [Snip]
> "Google Translate isn't perfect. But the media give [sic] me to smile... ", Amka told Eurogamer.



I'm surprised so many people are trying so hard to discredit this piece of gaming history. This thing is proof that if things hadn't gone wayside, gaming today would be an entirely different place, possibly dominated my Nintendo and Sony with a Iron Fist, outright murdering Sega and shutting Microsoft out.

(No, I'm not a Nintendo or Sony Fanboy, I'm a Ex-Sega Fanboy. So bite me. ;P)


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## HaloEffect17 (Nov 7, 2015)

Man, they would have made a killing if this thing worked out.  Just imagine it.


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## Sliter (Nov 7, 2015)

Thelucario21 said:


> I'm surprised so many people are trying so hard to discredit this piece of gaming history. This thing is proof that if things hadn't gone wayside, gaming today would be an entirely different place, possibly dominated my Nintendo and Sony with a Iron Fist, outright murdering Sega and shutting Microsoft out.
> 
> (No, I'm not a Nintendo or Sony Fanboy, I'm a Ex-Sega Fanboy. So bite me. ;P)


not about discredit but the way they are acting ... who do Xray of eletronics? (I saw it once but to show it as an piece of art xp), the console had simple energy imput and TWO way to video out (that is very strange by itself)
That japanese cart shown with the console first time? why never tried it on an actual snes? nor even take the rom and share them! And where is it now??
It no need of an professional do take it apart 
It's playing normally superfamicom games but the CD driver wasn't working ... well there are an professional there, ask him to fix it or replace for test ?
A lot of things don't connect :B


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## ric. (Nov 7, 2015)

Sliter said:


> not about discredit but the way they are acting ... who do Xray of eletronics? (I saw it once but to show it as an piece of art xp), the console had simple energy imput and TWO way to video out (that is very strange by itself)
> That japanese cart shown with the console first time? why never tried it on an actual snes? nor even take the rom and share them! And where is it now??
> It no need of an professional do take it apart
> It's playing normally superfamicom games but the CD driver wasn't working ... well there are an professional there, ask him to fix it or replace for test ?
> A lot of things don't connect :B


The test cart included with the console reportedly didn't work, but they're looking into it. If they ever manage to restore it to it's original, working condition I'm sure the ROM could be dumped.
I also recall reading somewhere that prototype carts, as they weren't intended to last as long as regular, commercial cartridges, contain a different kind of memory chip that is rewritable, but also degradates faster (EEPROMs I think?). It's possible, depending on the conditions this cartridge has been stored in, that the data inside these chips has already degradated (or perhaps it's contents were blanked out before they disposed of the unit, I don't know what Nintendo/Sony's policy on these things is), and that's why it doesn't work. If that's the case then there's not much that can be done to restore it - but if it's just a matter of dirty contacts or something like that then repairing the cartridge should be a fairly trivial task.
Keep in mind that this is a one of a kind system, you can't just give it away to any technician and hope they can fix it. Where would they even start? It's not like there's public schematics for this unit, you're not going to find a dissasembly guide for it on iFixit or anything. Besides, we have no way to know if the CD drive works or not - as we don't have a CD to test it with. If there's no compatible software for the unit then we'll never know if the CD drive is actually functional or if it's just there for show.
I suppose trying an audio CD would be a possibility (being the predecessor to the PlayStation it'd make sense for this thing to play music, the PSX was a damn good music player), but who knows if they actually got far enough to implement that feature.


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## Pleng (Nov 7, 2015)

Thelucario21 said:


> I'm surprised so many people are trying so hard to discredit this piece of gaming history. This thing is proof that if things hadn't gone wayside, gaming today would be an entirely different place, possibly dominated my Nintendo and Sony with a Iron Fist, outright murdering Sega and shutting Microsoft out.
> 
> (No, I'm not a Nintendo or Sony Fanboy, I'm a Ex-Sega Fanboy. So bite me. ;P)



Why do you assume that this would have even been successful?


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## ric. (Nov 7, 2015)

Pleng said:


> Why do you assume that this would have even been successful?


It's SNES-era Nintendo teaming up with Playstation-era Sony. What could possibly go wrong?


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## HaloEffect17 (Nov 7, 2015)

Pleng said:


> Why do you assume that this would have even been successful?


So, I'm guessing you feel differently about this?  In my opinion, this would have been a gamer's dream if this happened.  It would completely take over the market share in the video game industry.


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## Pleng (Nov 7, 2015)

ric. said:


> It's SNES-era Nintendo teaming up with Playstation-era Sony. What could possibly go wrong?



This was pre-Playstation. Sony were a nobody in the video game world at the time.


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## HaloEffect17 (Nov 7, 2015)

Pleng said:


> This was pre-Playstation. Sony were a nobody in the video game world at the time.


True.  But, then again, you have the backbone of an established Nintendo holding the ropes.  That's only a good thing.


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## ric. (Nov 7, 2015)

Pleng said:


> This was pre-Playstation. Sony were a nobody in the video game world at the time.


I'll give you that, but Sony surprisingly got pretty much everything right on the first try with the Playstation. What makes you think this wouldn't have been the case if this had actually been completed?


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## Reploid (Nov 7, 2015)

ShadowOne333 said:


> Because that way we could tell the console was real and working?


It might as well old boring snes anyway


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## Pluupy (Nov 7, 2015)

raulpica said:


> Shit, how you can not trust a trusted website like Engadget? Do you think they would resort to something as low as trolling and/or faking just to get some views? Get real.


Well yes, considering they're one of the "gaming journalism" websites who wildly bashed gamers during that whole debacle with Joystiq. The title is also petty clickbait. Engadget is *known *for their bullshit. I guess you were one of the people who were OK with being called a loser by these folks. The second Engadget and Joystiq gave in to believing the drivel spewed by GamerGate the second I stopped trusting them as actual journalists.



> Dan Diebold claims to have discovered the console in a box of items received from a friend of *his father, who used to work at Nintendo*..


People are seriously believing this? The old MY DAD WORKS FOR NINTENDO garbage?


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## Xzi (Nov 7, 2015)

Reploid said:


> It might as well old boring snes anyway


Sir, there was *nothing* boring about the SNES.  My number one requirement for mobile devices is that they be able to emulate the SNES.


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## FusionGamer (Nov 7, 2015)

Shame Ninty had to be such control freaks.


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## Xzi (Nov 7, 2015)

FusionGamer said:


> Shame Ninty had to be such control freaks.


Indeed.  A Nintendo Sony collaboration would have been interesting to see, but then they both went on to make some great games individually anyway.


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## DiscostewSM (Nov 7, 2015)

FusionGamer said:


> Shame Ninty had to be such control freaks.



Actually, if I recall correctly, both were control freaks regarding the scenario.


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## Reploid (Nov 7, 2015)

Xzi said:


> Sir, there was *nothing* boring about the SNES.  My number one requirement for mobile devices is that they be able to emulate the SNES.


why so serious?


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## Deleted User (Nov 7, 2015)

DiscostewSM said:


> Actually, if I recall correctly, both were control freaks regarding the scenario.



Yeah, they both have said their the one who broke it off with the other when interviewed, sounds like your stereotypical teen drama in corporate form. 



Pleng said:


> Why do you assume that this would have even been successful?



If they could have found ways of compromising and kept it going they could have dominated the market, with Sony's at the time proven hardware expertise and Nintendo's mastery of Game Design proven at the time by their track record could have dominated the market if they weren't so busy clashing heads during their partnership. My beloved Sega was a jack-of-all trades but they didn't have the staff trained in either field to dominate which lead to the state we're in now. 

Sony:
-Produced the best CRT Displays of the time
-Made Cassette tape players barely bigger than the tapes they played
-Best PCM Chips on the market for the price, second only in overall quality to Yamaha's amazing chips which cost a fortune (sega hurt hard working with Yamaha)
-had a history of making the most reliable hardware available

Their fate today:
-Can't keep enough AAA titles on the roster to keep fans dedicated.
-Develops the most powerful console hardware on the market nearly constantly which are about as useful as a big shiny black bricks without games
-Best titles are almost all multi-platforms by long standing allies
-Got the PS1 out of the deal, but it has cost them the ability to have console sellers out the gate for years in the future.

Nintendo:
-Made Donkey Kong, arguably the best Arcade game released to this day.
-Performed miracles with the NES' miserable hardware (SM3 anyone?)
-The best of the SNES' library of the time was roughly 75% Nintendo-developed titles

Their fate today:
-Can't develop hardware that can keep up with the competition.
-Keeps blundering with terrible hardware gimmicks they claim are "the next innovation in gaming" which seems to be just copying Sega's old hardware gimmicks and cocking up what made them work.
-Makes amazing titles constantly being held back from perfection by the limitations of their own hardware (Original 3DS, Wii U, Wii, arguably the N64 by their own claims)

Their problems today wouldn't exist if they where working together. Today's problems in the gaming scene could be solved in the future by going to the past and making sure they never part. Can I get a pact here? if any of us get access to time travel, we go back and fix this so the split never happened and save our world from having a incomplete gaming experience for the past 15 years.


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## YayMii (Nov 7, 2015)

Thelucario21 said:


> Sony:
> -Produced the best CRT Displays of the time


Kinda off topic, but: "of the time"? You mean "of all time"  Sony's Trinitron FW900 CRT is still regarded as one of the best PC monitors to ever be released (being a widescreen 1440p monitor that was also capable of achieving high refresh rates...back in the year 2000), and this holds true even today, especially considering that LCD monitor technology has only managed to catch up to it just last year.


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## Deleted User (Nov 7, 2015)

YayMii said:


> Kinda off topic, but: "of the time"? You mean "of all time"  Sony's Trinitron FW900 CRT is still regarded as one of the best PC monitors to ever be released (being a widescreen 1440p monitor that was also capable of achieving high refresh rates...back in the year 2000), and this holds true even today, especially considering that LCD monitor technology has only managed to catch up to it just last year.


Yeah, but that was after their alliance fell apart, this all happened back the 1990s. I'm talking about their merits just at the time of the brief alliance.


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## Xzi (Nov 7, 2015)

Reploid said:


> why so serious?


The SNES was my first console.  Thou shalt not blaspheme against Chrono Trigger and Donkey Kong Country, sir!


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## Cyan (Nov 7, 2015)

> Dan: It kinda looks like maybe they disabled it on purpose.
> Ah,* that's why the guy got to keep it*, right? Oh well, that's a bit of a shame, we'll never get to find out if it can actually play PlayStation games.


it means they gave him the console? he will try to fix the drive?


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## Bladexdsl (Nov 7, 2015)

but it has no gaems


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## motezazer (Nov 7, 2015)

Thelucario21 said:


> Their problems today wouldn't exist if they where working together. Today's problems in the gaming scene could be solved in the future by going to the past and making sure they never part. Can I get a pact here? if any of us get access to time travel, we go back and fix this so the split never happened and save our world from having a incomplete gaming experience for the past 15 years.


If I remember well, Nintendo stopped working on this device because of abusive conditions from Sony.
Sony was to be the "*sole worldwide licenser*," as stated in the contract.
And the contract was designed so that Sony would take almost all profits.

Then Sony, when they understood that Nintendo weren't working with them anymore, used all the knowledge they gained (a bad mouth would say "stole") with the contract to make their own home console.


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## gamesquest1 (Nov 7, 2015)

Pluupy said:


> Well yes, considering they're one of the "gaming journalism" websites who wildly bashed gamers during that whole debacle with Joystiq. The title is also petty clickbait. Engadget is *known *for their bullshit. I guess you were one of the people who were OK with being called a loser by these folks. The second Engadget and Joystiq gave in to believing the drivel spewed by GamerGate the second I stopped trusting them as actual journalists.
> 
> 
> People are seriously believing this? The old MY DAD WORKS FOR NINTENDO garbage?


this has been months in the works, the "stories" have actually been verified, and I'm sure before some gamer expo paid for the guy and his dad to be flown to china (and they probably got a sizable fee for keeping everyone in the dark about the console until that point) for the expo they would have had a few independent experts verify its authenticity, when i first read the story about 6 months ago i though it was probably bull, but after seeing the internet do what it does best and systematically stalk the guy and try to pull his story apart they actually ended up confirming most of it, finding out the name of the company his day worked for and finding out the a ex sony exec did in fact work there at the same time, finding references that the man in question did at one point have a nintendo playstation prototype on display when he worked for sony, basically if it was fake it would have been caught out by this point.....and as much as the old "my dad knows someone who works for nintendo and i have this super rare item" is 99.99% bullshit of 10 year olds.....very occasionally its actually true


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## mario5555 (Nov 7, 2015)

Psionic Roshambo said:


> Actually the yellow plastic thing... kinda is a hint this might be fake.
> 
> Prototype would be made with generic plastic of the day, the SNES was made with some weird stuff. Literally it's the only thing I have from that time period that does that and the later releases did NOT do this... the SNES 2nd gen does not yellow a machine that would use the same plastic as the near end of life SNES/Sony hybrid. Plus being made by Sony they wouldn't be using Nintendo plastic to begin with.... (Again the SNES being the only machine I have that yellowed like that.)
> 
> ...



Model 2 SNES systems don't yellow.....Oh really....

https://ancientelectronics.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/snes3.jpg

(and see below for my comment about every 90's era consumer electronics device that has yellowed plastic.)



Pluupy said:


> Yeah no I call shenanigans. Unless an actual Nintendo or Sony employee can confirm this is legitimate, it's fake.
> 
> If they could date how old the plastic on the console is, the device is could be confirmed old enough to be in the time-span in which Sony and Nintendo were communicating and reinforce this thing's legitimacy. It appears the plastic might be undergoing oxidation. That, or someone painted the plastic that color to fool people.



I don't even had a reply for your skepticism.  There are too many facts staring you in the face to ignore that it's an elaborate hoax.  No one official (even if they've been with the company long enough, remember *this is over 25 years ago*, I would be surprised many people are still with Sony who might know about that) is going to give confirmation that this thing is legit, so I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for an official response from them.

*Carbon dating*...._seriously_, the pressed silicon with the names of both companies and dates on the chips aren't enough proof for you...?  The thing I love is you deny that it's legit, yet it plays a sony bios cart and snes games with no issues and knowledgeable people who get their hands on it and from their first hand exp. claim it's real, yet your disbelief remains.

Classic.

I also love all of the comments about the plastic, I've seen yellowed SNES, Dreamcast, old PC keyboards, PC Engine, etc. (any hardware made in the 90's with white-ish plastic) from that era that have all yellowed, the oxidation proves nothing, except give it a air of legitimacy.  Not that some wanker with too much time on his hands spent hours with yellow paint coloring the plastic to make it look authentic. 

Btw, not sure where you (or whomever mentioned it) pulled that french modder story from, funny thing is other than that one "debunker" I've never heard anything to the contrary that the thing is fake or made by some french guy as a prank to have a laugh.



Sliter said:


> not about discredit but the way they are acting ... who do Xray of eletronics? (I saw it once but to show it as an piece of art xp), the console had simple energy imput and TWO way to video out (that is very strange by itself)
> That japanese cart shown with the console first time? why never tried it on an actual snes? nor even take the rom and share them! And where is it now??
> It no need of an professional do take it apart
> It's playing normally superfamicom games but the CD driver wasn't working ... well there are an professional there, ask him to fix it or replace for test ?
> A lot of things don't connect :B



They x-rayed it looking for a suicide switch (see Capcom CPS2 hardware) which would kill the system if opened up, that does make sense.

Why would they (Sony) spend lots of time/money on providing anything past simple power input and A/V output, this was a prototype, your comment makes little sense.

Not sure what you are talking about unless you're referring to the bios cart, and frankly even if they dumped it, who has a use for something like that other than something to study, but most will not find a use for it.

If you had a rare 1 of 200 prototype would you not want someone with knowledge of retro hardware to open it up and check it out?  I wouldn't want to do it myself and break it or not get it back together...come on man.

So you think everyone has an older model Sony cd-rom from the early 90's just lying around that is compatible (and working) with the cd format the system uses....be serious now my friend.

The things that don't connect is the lack of logic I'm reading from many of the skeptics in this topic.  I can't say for sure I wasn't skeptical, but I did believe based on the story they were telling (that hasn't differed much since it was originally told, btw) that the pieces fit and make sense.  And it seems to be too much of a time and hassle to make a fake of it, and even with undeniable proof and more people getting hands-on with this thing, people STILL don't believe, have some faith people, not everything is a hoax or a ruse meant to fool you.  ;




Cyan said:


> it means they gave him the console? he will try to fix the drive?



I think they are referring to Olaf Olafsson, but it is pure speculation that they (Sony) disabled the CD drive intentionally.  I would be shocked to see a early generation cd-rom drive from the early 90's still be functional after all this time on a dev unit of all things.

I'm done, the doubters can (continue) to doubt, I'm on the side this thing is legit.


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## Online (Nov 7, 2015)

Thelucario21 said:


> Their fate today:
> -Can't keep enough AAA titles on the roster to keep fans dedicated.
> -Develops the most powerful console hardware on the market nearly constantly which are about as useful as a big shiny black bricks without games
> -Best titles are almost all multi-platforms by long standing allies
> ...



bloodborne was a console seller though and sony 2016 line up is a first party powerhouse, weather they remain first party is up for question but ps4 has got games, even more so if you take into account the obscure weeb games it already has like quintet, orichbana and disgea5


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## Cyan (Nov 7, 2015)

mario5555 said:


> I think they are referring to Olaf Olafsson


ahh, yes. I didn't thought that. it make sense.


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## gamesquest1 (Nov 7, 2015)

i guess the only thing that woud confirm its legitimacy to some people would be a sony/nintendo exec saying its the real deal, which almost certainly wouldnt happen, but just from the xray pics showing the internal layout, most people should be satisfied its not just a normal snes butchered into a new case with hot glue and duct tape holding it together


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## FAST6191 (Nov 7, 2015)

Online said:


> how can they have headphone jack for this ancient piece of hardware yet ps1/ps2/ps3 all no headphone support gay tbh


Because buying a cheapo cable to convert AV to headphone sockets/jacks is hard?

As for the fake or not discussion I saw nothing to doubt last time and things have not changed. The only things people had were some not really suspect actions and a poor understanding of electronics and plastics prototyping.

On "radically different landscape"... nah. People were already massively unhappy with Nintendo's iron first approach (Sony ran with the being nicer to devs concept but Sega was at least moving with that in the 16 bit era), MS were hardly upstarts (sidewinder and directx as well as numerous game devs working with them for years) and Sega... software only was the only hope really. Some of the names might have been different but I can not see there being different types of games getting made, different practices happening (exploitative practices have long been a thing in arcades/microtransaction, expansion packs is the same idea as DLC really and it is no coincidence that many of the free to play terms are borrowed from long established terms in the other gaming (casinos/gambling) if I may borrow an American mindset), online was clearly a way things were heading (doom came out in 1993 and was not exactly the first), attracting more people is business 101 (not to mention people would still have grown up with computer games either way) and I think that is most of the "changes" covered.


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## gamesquest1 (Nov 7, 2015)

the only thing i find funny is the new story about him buying it in a bankruptcy auction, iirc when they first shared the story he just took a box from the office after they went bankrupt....but i guess that's probably lawyers at work making a story that would mean he is indisputably the owner


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## migles (Nov 7, 2015)

gamesquest1 said:


> most people should be satisfied its not just a normal snes butchered into a new case with hot glue and duct tape holding it together


sadly they didn't... because they could meet the president and earn lots of free stuff from big companies and get lots of fame...






more info:


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## sj33 (Nov 7, 2015)

Foxi4 said:


> This is a very late close-to-release prototype, not a typical devkit (which were stored in shitty cubic cases). The reason it was fabricated like a complete console is that it was meant to be displayed and pitched. It's yellowed due to poor storage conditions and almost certainly real, judging by the accounts of people involved with the project. Plastic from that period often yellowed, as seen on countless keyboards or old 16-bit computers.


The vast majority of Snes consoles you find in Japan have the same miscolouring. It's extremely widespread and due to certain materials used in the plastic. You sometimes find wierd consoles where the upper half may be discoloured but not the lower due to the shells coming from different production runs.

The discolouring actually makes it more likely to be genuine, because Nintendo are known to have used that type of plastic at the time.


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## Online (Nov 7, 2015)

migles said:


> sadly they didn't... because they could meet the president and earn lots of free stuff from big companies and get lots of fame...
> 
> 
> more info:




That kid is going to have a moment of clarity in his adulthood and realize people weren't as dumb as he wanted to think they were and that microsoft and facebook used him for ad space and  he's going to wish he would've made a video in his teens and told the world the truth about what happened.

If I was him as an adult this incident will be eating away at the back of my mind for the rest of my life. When people smile and greet you, you have to be thinking ''do they know? or are they being nice? Do they even remember me?''.

In my opinion That would be true suffering, to harbor that kind of regret and its quite sad for him, we are all young at some stage and make silly decisions.


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## Foxi4 (Nov 7, 2015)

gamesquest1 said:


> i guess the only thing that woud confirm its legitimacy to some people would be a sony/nintendo exec saying its the real deal, which almost certainly wouldnt happen, but just from the xray pics showing the internal layout, most people should be satisfied its not just a normal snes butchered into a new case with hot glue and duct tape holding it together


How's this then:
http://www.engadget.com/2015/07/07/sony-shuhei-yoshida-nintendo-playstation/
Yoshida confirmed that the prototypes did exist, there was Beta software, but he seems unwilling to confirm whether this one is legitimate or not. He wants it to be a "mystery" rather than debunking it, and I can understand that seeing that the project was canned. If it was fake, he could just say so without any fallout, wheras confirming that it's real would inflate the prototype's price and could cause legal issues since they were never meant to leave the premises.


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## gamesquest1 (Nov 7, 2015)

Foxi4 said:


> How's this then:
> http://www.engadget.com/2015/07/07/sony-shuhei-yoshida-nintendo-playstation/
> Yoshida confirmed that the prototypes did exist, there was Beta software, but he seems unwilling to confirm whether this one is legitimate or not. He wants it to be a "mystery" rather than debunking it, and I can understand that seeing that the project was canned. If it was fake, he could just say so without any fallout, wheras confirming that it's real would inflate the prototype's price and could cause legal issues since they were never meant to leave the premises.


yeah, but im just talking about people who are still calling fake without reading any of the back story, that statement will probably be as close as a confirmation as we will get, well short of sony/nintendo trying to seize the console, which i don't think anyone would want to happen really.....the way i see it, if if the expo with resources to xray machines and trained experts deemed it genuine, nobody just looking at pictures online really has much grounds for still calling fake


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## JaapDaniels (Nov 7, 2015)

do we have the disc drive at all? i heard about it once.
if we do is it still working?
since it plays snes, we can try starting, a multi-disc. i mean there used to be a copy-box that had an option for cd-drive upgrade (not ever had one on my hands though) maybe we could run code the same way it worked on that system?


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## AceWarhead (Nov 7, 2015)

What's with all the people clamoring to "debunk" this? It's been an ongoing story for a while now.


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## FAST6191 (Nov 7, 2015)

I have no idea why people are attempting to "debunk" this, it kind of feels like those times business decisions that are actually fairly basic business decisions and logic within it get people wound up (not all of them but do a search for Michael Pachter and see the comments there). That there was not a lot to doubt just seemed to get people to spin wheels even more.


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## froid_san (Nov 7, 2015)

just hate It when a nice piece of hardware falls on to a clueless random dude, when someone can and who have the capability to utilize it and research it is much more better.

like devkits being on some clueless collectors, just sitting on a stand being stared at.

I believe the volume is for listening to audio cd's and the top of the console also has a LCD panel similar to old audio cd players. so try an audio cd dudes! open it up and dump the bios so we can have the peace and quiet if it's legit or not.

honestly I'm special about this since this is like the missing link of a console gen and people is talking and looking for it for years and it just pop like that, if it's gonna get found it should be found years ago. hard to believe a non collector old man/father/parent will hang to a unknown console for many years, most clueless people will just sell it on a garage sale as a snes console because of the carts.


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## Something whatever (Nov 7, 2015)

:{ is it bad that I want  someone to clone this? Not a cheap bootleg


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## Jao Chu (Nov 7, 2015)

froid_san said:


> like devkits being on some clueless collectors, just sitting on a stand being stared at.



Don't forget another thing rare hardware collectors love to do... Make a YouTube video of their obscure piece of development hardware so they can be cool and feel accepted by their other collector buddies!

You just paid 2000 dollars to make a video for something that can't play retail software, can't use it for debugging or making homebrew due to missing components or PC-side stuff, that's even if it actually boots up at all! Then you put it back in storage to collect dust until you sell it to the next collector guy two years later, and subsequently the cycle begins again!


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## FAST6191 (Nov 7, 2015)

Something whatever said:


> :{ is it bad that I want  someone to clone this? Not a cheap bootleg


Why? As Jao Chu just said it seems to be barely functional, lacking much in the way of existing software* or capability to make new software. The specs are likely nothing special at all by the standards of today and at the same time are probably not going to even provide anything cool to play with -- you bolt together a 68K processor, a vector screen and a fancy audio chip and though I could probably do it all very simply in software these days it will be great fun to play with.

*there are plenty of arcade boards with only a single cool demo or game that get heavily researched, this seems to be lacking even that.

I would love to get it, a late SNES, an early PS1 and take all three apart to see if I could get on the thread of design logic that was being used, possibly also analyse some of the software that might have been being written for it at the time. All that would be a fascinating little project and yeah I would probably also see if I could cobble together a "this is more than a SNES but also not a PS1" type tech demo at the same time. As a general fan of homebrew I am not seeing the merit.


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## DinohScene (Nov 8, 2015)

All these people who cry out fake also believe we never landed on the moon, that snake-headed aliens run the oil business and believe that we're all wired into a giant computer that runs a simulation called Real Life.

People... please.

How I'd love to only even touch the controller, let alone see it with me own two eyes.
The prototype console that lead to the PS1 <З
I'm no Sony fan, but this is the thing that brought Sony into the console war.


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## PhyChris (Nov 9, 2015)

Would love to see a BIOS dump,


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## tony_2018 (Nov 9, 2015)

raulpica said:


> The backstory is widely known. It belonged to an ex-Sony president. Also, it was found in America and brought to a gaming festival in China. NOT found there *sighs*
> 
> 
> A shitload of Japanese consoles have their internal/debugging menus in English. They were usually thought for worldwide release, y'know.
> ...



Dude...I swear man, the shit members come up with to NOT believe.  Goes to show how "out there" they really are.  

Members there is life outside of gbatemp and *-iso, get to know the web better.  You might even find some website that can't be found through any search engine.


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## LuigiBlood (Nov 9, 2015)

I'll begin by saying: I strongly believe this is real.

I also wrote up an analysis of the technical specs of the prototype from the pictures:
http://luigiblood.tumblr.com/post/132730812143/here-are-my-research-about-the-snes-playstation

And also some analysis of the BIOS:
http://luigiblood.tumblr.com/post/132818021433/super-disc-system-cartridge-bios-095-self-check

Also, this console was produced at least in 1991. You can find pics with "Sony Corporation 1991" on the PCB, so it WOULD TOTALLY YELLOW because 1991 is the year of release of the Super Famicom. In Japan, and that was in December. The smaller model probably wasn't even planned at that point. 

There are people who thinks it's a fake because the SNES CD is supposed to be an addon. Technically it is. But a standalone version was planned. 100% sure you could find that specific info in magazines. Also read an article from IGN that dates back to 1998, talking about the SNES CD and the PlayStation, which its older name was... "Super Disc". IN 1998. Sounds familiar?

Also a BIOS dump will happen in the next couple of days. Stay tuned.


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## Muffins (Nov 9, 2015)

It would have been amazing if some prototype software had been found with it.

Like the real, uncut version of Seiken Densetsu 2. Just thinking about how much that game was ruined in order to cram it into a teeny cartridge makes me sad.


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## LuigiBlood (Nov 9, 2015)

doom127 said:


> It would have been amazing if some prototype software had been found with it.
> 
> Like the real, uncut version of Seiken Densetsu 2. Just thinking about how much that game was ruined in order to cram it into a teeny cartridge makes me sad.


I don't think Secret of Mana SNES CD ever existed.

Someone asked a question about this to Hiroki Kikuta, the composer:
https://www.reddit.com/r/gamemusic/...ki_kikuta_the_composer_for_the_secret/cfn1nwz

If it existed, it was probably very early and not really what you would hope it would be.
It didn't get ruined.


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## ric. (Nov 9, 2015)

LuigiBlood said:


> I'll begin by saying: I strongly believe this is real.
> 
> I also wrote up an analysis of the technical specs of the prototype from the pictures:
> http://luigiblood.tumblr.com/post/132730812143/here-are-my-research-about-the-snes-playstation
> ...


Oh man, it's Luigiblood! Big fan of your work, especially the BS-X project!
Good to have confirmation from someone like you, but I'm particularly intrigued by the pictures on your blog - do you have access to this console? I had never seen those pictures anywhere else - just the ones posted in the article linked in the OP, so I'm curious.
Also, from the article on your blog I'm guessing this wouldn't have been a very strong competitor on the hardware department - sounds like it would've been a bit of a mess to work with. Would this console even be able to do 3D like the Playstation? None of the necessary components seem to be included, so to me it just looks like it would've been Nintendo's answer to the 32X and the Sega CD.


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## Muffins (Nov 9, 2015)

LuigiBlood said:


> I don't think Secret of Mana SNES CD ever existed.
> 
> Someone asked a question about this to Hiroki Kikuta, the composer:
> https://www.reddit.com/r/gamemusic/...ki_kikuta_the_composer_for_the_secret/cfn1nwz
> ...



That's really, really odd. All the stuff I've read basically said that the game was pretty much complete- including redbook audio, which is why there is so much "non SNESy" music that relies on percussives and woodwinds with the game. They had to cut out almost half the game, plus basically ruin the translation, turning it into a garbled mess, before it would fit into the cartridge.


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## LuigiBlood (Nov 9, 2015)

ric. said:


> Oh man, it's Luigiblood! Big fan of your work, especially the BS-X project!
> Good to have confirmation from someone like you, but I'm particularly intrigued by the pictures on your blog - do you have access to this console? I had never seen those pictures anywhere else - just the ones posted in the article linked in the OP, so I'm curious.
> Also, from the article on your blog I'm guessing this wouldn't have been a very strong competitor on the hardware department - sounds like it would've been a bit of a mess to work with. Would this console even be able to do 3D like the Playstation? None of the necessary components seem to be included, so to me it just looks like it would've been Nintendo's answer to the 32X and the Sega CD.


I wish I had access to it. The pictures comes from different sources that I linked at the end of post.
And no it wouldn't be able to do 3D or anything. That's what the Philips SNES CD model would be able to do, which was made after Sony SNES CD / PlayStation / Super Disc.



doom127 said:


> That's really, really odd. All the stuff I've read basically said that the game was pretty much complete- including redbook audio, which is why there is so much "non SNESy" music that relies on percussives and woodwinds with the game. They had to cut out almost half the game, plus basically ruin the translation, turning it into a garbled mess, before it would fit into the cartridge.


Well I'm afraid it's a big rumor (and fake to me) because the composer should have known about the medium he's making music for. CD quality VS SPC700 sampled music is quite a difference.


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## Muffins (Nov 9, 2015)

"The designed game was salvaged by cutting a significant amount of data in order to make it fit onto an SNES cartridge. A large portion of the story's script was cut after a certain point, as well as possibly a few mini-games (the carousel, for example) and sprites (like the melting snowman.) Various different routes which would lead to different endings were removed and substituted with linear gameplay.

Designer Koichi Ishii estimated that roughly 40% of the game's content was cut, and producer Hiromichi Tanaka has stated that the original storyline had a much darker tone. Due to the drastic cuts, there is virtually zero character development present."

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/art...ould-Have-Been-Great-With-Its-Missing-Content

So they quote at least two high level developers there.

I honestly can't say for sure, but I'm really going to have to go with that article, myself. Sorry.


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## LuigiBlood (Nov 9, 2015)

doom127 said:


> "The designed game was salvaged by cutting a significant amount of data in order to make it fit onto an SNES cartridge. A large portion of the story's script was cut after a certain point, as well as possibly a few mini-games (the carousel, for example) and sprites (like the melting snowman.) Various different routes which would lead to different endings were removed and substituted with linear gameplay.
> 
> Designer Koichi Ishii estimated that roughly 40% of the game's content was cut, and producer Hiromichi Tanaka has stated that the original storyline had a much darker tone. Due to the drastic cuts, there is virtually zero character development present."
> 
> ...


FINALLY A PROPER SOURCE for this. I couldn't find any kind of source that I could trust. Then it might be before the composer even did anything for the game.

EDIT: Found another source:
http://www.vgmonline.net/seikendensetsuboxliners/ (Search for "Maru Island")


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## ric. (Nov 9, 2015)

LuigiBlood said:


> I wish I had access to it. The pictures comes from different sources that I linked at the end of post.
> And no it wouldn't be able to do 3D or anything. That's what the Philips SNES CD model would be able to do, which was made after Sony SNES CD / PlayStation / Super Disc.


Ouch. That really puts things into perspective. I guess 1991 was still a bit too early to have decent 3D on consoles - probably too clunky and expensive, the technology just wasn't there at the time. The only benefit I can see from this expansion is making games longer or improving the music, but I'm thinking it would also add loading times so I'm actually not sure if it's an improvement or not. Also, longer games = higher development costs, so I don't think many developers would've been on board with the idea of making games for the SuperDisc. 
Thanks for the reply!


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## Muffins (Nov 9, 2015)

ric. said:


> Ouch. That really puts things into perspective. I guess 1991 was still a bit too early to have decent 3D on consoles - probably too clunky and expensive, the technology just wasn't there at the time. The only benefit I can see from this expansion is making games longer or improving the music, but I'm thinking it would also add loading times so I'm actually not sure if it's an improvement or not. Also, longer games = higher development costs, so I don't think many developers would've been on board with the idea of making games for the SuperDisc.
> Thanks for the reply!



Just off the top of my head, if I were to put to paper a quick sumup of what it seems that the SNESCD could possibly accomplish without the aid of extra processing power (and you have mentioned a few of these things)...

Much, *much* more content in games. More levels, longer levels.
No more limited space for translations. So much was truncated during the SNES/NES era that it's heartbreaking.
Many, many more enemies, enemy types, room types. Basically when you're talking about 2D tilesets, you're giving unlimited freedom.
Redbook, fully orchestrated audio.
Much cheaper game production costs. $10 or 20 down to .25 is a nice thing...


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## ric. (Nov 9, 2015)

doom127 said:


> Just off the top of my head, if I were to put to paper a quick sumup of what it seems that the SNESCD could possibly accomplish without the aid of extra processing power (and you have mentioned a few of these things)...
> 
> Much, *much* more content in games. More levels, longer levels.
> No more limited space for translations. So much was truncated during the SNES/NES era that it's heartbreaking.
> ...


I understand that making games on CD is cheaper on the manufacturing aspect of things - but on the development side it either means developing a game takes longer (because there's a lot more content to create, design, program, debug, etcetera), or you have to hire more artists/designers/programmers/playtesters. Both of which increase the production costs dramatically. Nowadays it's not hard to imagine hundreds of people working on a single game, but back in the 90's - the early 90's, when games were usually made in teams of 10~20 people, sometimes even less- the very concept would've been ridiculously impractical, given how small the industry was.
I'm not saying it would've been impossible - I'm sure Nintendo would've produced their fair share of first party titles, and the other big devs like Capcom or Square would've made good games for it, but it would've essentially killed smaller studios, which would've been unable to keep up.
That said, I don't think the console would've necessarily been a failure.


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## Muffins (Nov 9, 2015)

It wasn't impractical, it was what developers _wanted._ They had been chafing at cartridge size limitations since the beginning of the Super NES era, and as it wore on the exorbitant cost and extreme space limitations of cartridge media became harder and harder to justify. Some companies like Tri Ace came up with ingenious compression algorithms to fit the games into such limited space, but other companies just threw their hands up and cut out content. The latter is what happened to Seiken Densetsu 2.
There's a reason why companies jumped on the PlayStation instead of the more powerful Nintendo 64.


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## CIAwesome526 (Nov 9, 2015)

I was just thinking about this on friday.....

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

I want this thing so bad.


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## FAST6191 (Jul 16, 2016)

Teardown and repair (next video in the series) and closer look


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## Bladexdsl (Jul 16, 2016)

CIAwesome526 said:


> I want this thing so bad.


for 1 game street fighter?!


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## Langin (Jul 16, 2016)

FAST6191 said:


> Teardown and repair (next video in the series) and closer look




Thats a very nice video! Thank you for posting this.  Could you also post their follow up video on this one once it's out?


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## FAST6191 (Jul 16, 2016)

Just noticed it was posted elsewhere in the forums yesterday, not sure if it is worth merging or closing various threads so I will leave it all as is.
http://gbatemp.net/threads/snes-playstation-teardown.434468/

My bad, not sure how I missed it. I just saw it clicking around bookmarks this morning.


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## FAST6191 (Jul 22, 2016)

Part 2 is out, and as it was asked for then posting here as well


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## Deleted-379826 (Jul 22, 2016)

Dang those videos are cool, will they ever find a disc though  ?


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## Langin (Jul 23, 2016)

FAST6191 said:


> Part 2 is out, and as it was asked for then posting here as well




Thank you for posting the video! I appreciate it!


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## FAST6191 (May 6, 2017)

The saga continues


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