Nintendo Playstation at auction currently at 300K

[Calavera]

Nintendo Play Station Super NES CD-ROM Prototype Auction on Heritage Auctions

So it looks like the owners are finally putting this thing up for sale. I guess this prototype is neat and all but even if I was loaded I don't think I'd try to buy it. It is neat and all and I could see somebody spending 5 digits on it but anymore than that is crazy. Yeah it is one of a kind but all it is is a SNES with a CD drive. It contains no extra graphical hardware at all like the Sega CD did. It is basically just a SNES with a different case and a CD drive that doesn't really add anything to the system.

I get that isn't really the point. Somebody would want it as a retro gaming trophy more or less. I just don't think that even with it being one of a kind that it is worth that much. The owner has stated in the past that he turned down an offer of 1.2 million. If that is true then he is stupid. Heritage Auctions take a 20 percent buyer's premium. Which means it would have to sell for 1.5 million at auction for him to get 1.2 million. The owner is greatly over estimating the value of this item. It is currently at 300K and I think it will end up selling for around that number. I'm gonna say the max will be 500k. If it sells for 500k the seller is going to get about 400k of that not including taxes. I am pretty sure that it will not go over 1 million nor will it even get close to it. Again if the seller seriously turned down a real offer of 1.2 million then he just threw away over 500k. He still would have had to pay taxes on it which I have no idea what that would be but there would be zero auction fees. The guy that offered 1.2 million is that buyer at the end of the rainbow. That one person who would pay an insane amount for an item like this. Anybody who would be interested in owning this knows about. He should have considered that he got ONE offer of 1.2 million. He wasn't getting million dollar offers left and right. There aren't all that many people out there that have a million dollars to blow and are also interested in owning a piece of hardware like this. Maybe the same person who offered that will end up bidding on it but now he'll get it for fifty percent off!

It would be a great item to be in some sort of electronics/video game museum, but as an item for a collector to own it is kind of pointless overall. I do get why somebody who is loaded would want to buy this, I guess I just think it is a waste since even though it is one of a kind at the end of the day it is still just a SNES. The whole story behind it is really adding to the price. People have heard the Nintendo Sony story for years. If we had never heard the story about Sony working with Nintendo and all that and this thing just popped up out of the blue I don't think the price would be near what it is now.

So what are your opinions? What do you think it will end up selling for? Will it stay at around 300k-500k or will it shoot up into the millions? Will the seller end up getting more than the 1.2 million he was offered or was it extremely stupid for him to turn down that offer? There is also another very real possibility. This is technically property of Sony. It was a prototype that was supposed to be returned to them that never was. If they wanted to they could say they wanted it back and if the owner didn't comply then they could start a lawsuit that they would win. Just another reason why the owner should have taken the 1.2 million offer. It doesn't seem likely that Sony will do that but you never know. They could and if they did the law is on their side.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

I'll give them $15 for it.

[melancholy]

I doubt it will reach the 1.2 mil he was offered, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it came close to that. Hell, I’d drop a million bucks on it if I was a multimillionaire. This thing is one of those most famous collaborations that ultimately never was, and lead to the birth of one of the world’s largest brand names. And as of right now, is the only one in existence (though I feel like time will reveal another).

So yes, I feel $1.2 million is a reasonable sum of money for this. If a functioning Apple 1 computer is worth nearly a million, and there are multiples of them, then the only existing Nintendo PlayStation should be right up there.

[Roofus]

If I had Jeff Bezos money, I'd buy it. But I don't so I probably won't.

[Skynet]

If I had Jeff Bezos money, I'd buy it. But I don't so I probably won't.

I like that "probably won't" leaves wiggle room for the possibility of buying it.

[ian]

Echoing my sentiments from the retro thread

I’m betting Nintendo will buy it, and publicly and brutally destroy it to send a message to retro enthusiasts and other companies not to fuck with them, their products or profit.


It Seriously should go for a lot... people are already paying like millions of dollars for shit like GameCube cables, SNES’s, NES’s and they made MILLIONS of them

So expect this to be a LOOOT of money.

Should top a million.
I’d pay about $150 for it because that’s how much it is to get a Super Nintendo mini and a PlayStation mini.

Maybe $152 so I can buy some sticky tape or glue to combine them.

[Roofus]

If I had Jeff Bezos money, I'd buy it. But I don't so I probably won't.

I like that "probably won't" leaves wiggle room for the possibility of buying it.

There's always a chance that I'll start a successful online business and make $200 billion before the auction ends.

[ian]

Or be contacted by a down on their luck Nigerian prince, who will reward your generosity in helping them get their fortune back!

[Dr. Zoidberg]

It sold for $360k.

[pixel]

It sold for $360k.

Yikes, but I guess it makes sense. It's not just a Nintendo collectible, but the first Sony prototype created.

But it only added CD storage, correct? Sounds like it didn't offer any co-processors like the Sega add-ons, so it's a $336K MSU-1 machine?

[Dr. Zoidberg]

But it only added CD storage, correct? Sounds like it did offer any co-processors like the Sega add-ons, so it's a $336K MSU-1 machine?

It had an extra 256KB of RAM, but that's about the only difference. The Sega CD was more powerful than it.

[melancholy]

I’m shocked at that price. I was expecting triple that.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

[Calavera]

I’m shocked at that price. I was expecting triple that.

I think they waited too long to sell it. The hype for it had died down quite a bit. It was all the way back in 2016 when it was on the Ben Heck show. I think if they had sold it around then they would have gotten more for it. And if he truly did turn down an offer at one time for 1.2 million he must be super depressed right now. After the fee Heritage Auctions take he is looking at around 288k. Then you have to account for taxes which can be up to 37 percent. So it is possible that out of the winning bid of 360k that the seller will end up only getting 180k. Not bad for something you found laying around in your attic but I'm sure it is way wayyyyy less than he was expecting.

If he had sold it when the hype was at the highest he could have more than likely did a private deal for a lot more than 360k. I'd like to know if the rumor of him turning down a 1.2 million offer is really true. I'm gonna say it isn't true but you never know.

*edit I found a quote about the 1.2 million offer

That’s why it’s likely that some big money will be splashed out in this auction. “We turned down 1.2 million from someone in Norway,” Diebold said. He said that after paying taxes on that amount, splitting the remainder 50-50 with his son, and paying off all his outstanding debts, he would “pretty much end up with nothing.”

There is also this quote

“I can’t keep losing money,” Diebold told Kotaku in an email. “I’ve put a lot of work into this by traveling with it and we have made nothing on it. Every trip that we... have taken with it has cost us money out of pocket.”

If all this is true then it looks like in the end they have made next to nothing from it. I kind of believe the 1.2 million offer after reading that quote. I think they got greedy and thought this thing was worth far more than it actually was. So at 1.2 million he could have been debt free but that wasn't enough. He pressed his luck and hit a whammy. Now he is still in debt and may have actually lost money in the whole process. It wouldn't surprise me if the son has a hard time getting his 50 percent share unless some legal document about it was drawn up beforehand.

Here is the article where both quotes are from.
https://kotaku.com/nintendo-play-statio ... 1840485537

[pixel]

But it only added CD storage, correct? Sounds like it did offer any co-processors like the Sega add-ons, so it's a $336K MSU-1 machine?

It had an extra 256KB of RAM, but that's about the only difference. The Sega CD was more powerful than it.

That's from Wikipedia, which gives a good picture how the CD add-ons stacked up. Looks like the Nintendo Playstation could've had some great audio with maybe some larger sprites or more graphic tiles? But I wonder if stuff like Mode 7 would've had access to the CD drive. Either way, still sounds better than the CD-i

It's good that someone bought it to keep out in public view.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

But I wonder if stuff like Mode 7 would've had access to the CD drive.

It would have used Mode 7. Secret Of Mana was originally made for the SNES CD. They had to cut the game down to get it on cart when the add-on was axed.

[pixel]

But I wonder if stuff like Mode 7 would've had access to the CD drive.

It would have used Mode 7. Secret Of Mana was originally made for the SNES CD. They had to cut the game down to get it on cart when the add-on was axed.

Man, what could've been It's crazy to think of an alternate reality where the SNES CD and the Sega Tower of Power were competing. Developers might have actually stuck with systems like the 32X had they not had the Playstation as an option.

[ian]

I’m shocked at that price. I was expecting triple that.

I am really quite surprised too to be honest.

I think they waited too long to sell it. The hype for it had died down quite a bit.

don't know about waiting too long, it's just that it was the wrong time.

should have sold on the playstations 20th, or 25th anniversary, or held on to it to the 30th anniversary and it would have done better.

Really shitty time to sell. Buyer has to be happy knowing it'll be worth more in just under 5 years

[Dr. Zoidberg]

[Calavera]

don't know about waiting too long, it's just that it was the wrong time.

should have sold on the playstations 20th, or 25th anniversary, or held on to it to the 30th anniversary and it would have done better.

Really shitty time to sell. Buyer has to be happy knowing it'll be worth more in just under 5 years

Either way they screwed up big time. It is unknown if that 1.2 million offer was actually real but apparently the seller had an actual real offer of 1 million and turned it down. So why did he not set a reserve on the auction?