When it comes to classic gaming artifacts, there might be none rarer than the Nintendo Play Station. Created as a joint venture between Nintendo and Sony in 1991 as an add-on for the Super Nintendo, the project was cancelled, before Sony made the decision to enter the video game industry on their own. The system never made it to market, but the prototype ended up in the possession of Terry Diebold, who unknowingly purchased the item in 2009. The item was sold in a lot of abandoned property once owned by a former Sony executive. Today, Heritage Auctions announced that the item will be sold at auction early next year.
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It will be interesting to see how much the item fetches at auction. The highest recorded price ever paid for a single video game is a sticker-sealed copy of Super Mario Bros., which sold for $100,150 earlier this year. The Nintendo Play Station, however, is an entirely different animal. This is far bigger than any one game, and collectors will likely spend a pretty penny to make this a part of their collection. There is, after all, no other like it. There isn’t even an item that can be stacked up against it for comparison. According to a statement Diebold made to Kotaku, the seller has been offered $1.2 million in the past, but he found that amount to be too little, given some of his past expenses traveling with the system around the country.
Though it would have been impossible to know it at the time, Nintendo’s falling out with Sony is possibly one of the biggest events to ever happen to the video game medium. Nintendo went on to release the Nintendo 64, giving the industry classic, groundbreaking games such as Super Mario 64, GoldenEye and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The PlayStation, meanwhile, was defined by classics such as Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil 2, and Final Fantasy VII. Sony became the unquestioned industry leader during that console generation, which is a title they’ve held ever since. The Nintendo Play Station isn’t just a rare item; it’s a window into what could have been.
The Nintendo Play Station will be auctioned off February 27, 2020.
How much would you pay for a piece of gaming history? Is there a rare gaming item that you’d love to one day own? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!
