Retro Console of the Month - December

RETRO CONSOLE OF THE MONTH - DECEMBER
NINTENDO PLAYSTATION
Today I am going to talk about a console that almost was, but never released to the public. In honor of the PlayStation's 25th Anniversary, I thought it would be appropriate to talk about the console that started it all, the Nintendo PlayStation.


Cast your mind back to 1988. Sweet Child O' Mine was released by Guns 'N' Roses, Beetlejuice was released in cinemas and VHS tapes were still being used everyday. Sony had signed a deal with Nintendo to develop a CD-ROM add on for the SNES to move them away from the use of cartridges. Both companies wanted to develop a new age for games consoles, and using CDs was going to put them on the up and up. But why did this console not come to be?

One of the reasons was money. There was a dispute between Sony and Nintendo on how much money each company would get. Sony wanted to keep all of the profits made from the CD licenses, but Nintendo disagreed with this.

Another reason (which is speculated) is that Sony wanted to work with 32-bit processors and create 3D games, but Nintendo were less impressed with this idea and wanted to stick with the 16-bit processors.

By 1992, everything had fallen apart between Sony and Nintendo. When showcasing the console in 1991, Sony were left in the dark about Nintendo collaborating with Philips (the DVD player company) to continue pursuing the SNES CD-ROM. Sony and Nintendo parted ways starting the rivalry between them. Sony went on to release the PlayStation in 1994, with Nintendo following in suit with the N64 in 1996.

What happened to the prototypes made? Well for all we know, 200 prototypes were made. One of them was found in 2015, and shown to be fully working. But they do go for £89,000! (About $100,099.99).

What do you think of this retro console? Would it have been a success if released or an utter failure like the Sega Dreamcast (shudders)? Leave your thoughts below!

So until next time,
Peace Out - Geekette