The current landscape of the gaming industry isn't something that happened overnight, it has taken years for each of the big three companies to earn their current spots on the podium. While the Sony PlayStation is a brand that currently overshadows the likes of Nintendo and its Wii U in terms of sales alone, it's weird to think that the two companies initially planned to partner up and release the original CD-based PlayStation together.
This has been logged as gaming fact for many years, but there's no doubt that the current layout of video games would be drastically different if this partnership ever came to fruition. Now a fan has discovered a piece of gaming history in the form of an actual dev kit for the Nintendo PlayStation console.
Initially appearing on Reddit (which is currently undergoing a blackout following the firing of beloved Reddit moderator) before emerging on Imgur, user DanDiebold posted images of the scrapped platform in all of its glory. The gamer made some initial comments about how he came into possession of the system, as it allegedly belonged to a friend of his father's referred to as Olaf – which could very well be former founder, president, and chief executive officer of Sony Interactive Entertainment, Olaf Olafsson.
"My dad worked for a company, apparently one of the guys he used to work with, I think his name was Olaf, used to work at Nintendo and when my dad's company went bankrupt, my dad found it in a box of 'junk' he was supposed to throw out."
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As many longtime gamers may or may not know, the original PlayStation only launched after Nintendo backed out of a planned partnership with Sony. This alliance would have seen the the SNES gain CD-Rom support, but the Big N eventually decided to side with Phillips for this endeavour. Since the console designs were already hammered out, Sony opted to create the platform without Ninty's help, which immediately saw the company become a major competitor for the house of Mario.
Since very few of these kits were said to be made as a result of the short-lived partnership, they are incredibly rare. Suffice to say, if this Nintendo/Sony platform is the real McCoy and not some elaborate internet prank, then the owner of the hardware could be in for a major payday. Regardless, there's no doubt that the system is a piece of gaming history, so we'll keep our eyes peeled for any more details about where it may end up. In the meantime, stay tuned to Game Rant.
Do you think Nintendo should have partnered up with Sony for its hardware? Are you glad that the two companies now oppose one another rather than work together? Get at us in the comments.