The legendary Nintendo PlayStation console was never released. A copy of the prototype is worth a lot of money today. This inspired a YouTuber to build his own version of the gaming console.
33 years ago, Nintendo and Sony presented a joint game console. The Nintendo PlayStation was never sold and was canceled before its release. This was also the starting signal for Sony’s own game consoles.
At least one prototype of the hybrid console from this time still exists and was auctioned for a large sum in 2020. A YouTuber has now used this piece of video game history as a model for his own version of this unique game console.
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YouTuber recreates a piece of video game history
What kind of game console is this? YouTuber James shows how to build his own Nintendo PlayStation console in a video. In it, he creates a new game console step by step from parts of a PlayStation and the Super Nintendo (known in Japan as the Super Famicom).
The inner workings consist of the electronic components of the PlayStation. The external appearance, on the other hand, is determined by the housing of the SNES (Super Nintendo). As the video progresses, you will witness several successful test runs of his creation.
The console conversion on YouTube
What were his first steps? First, James had to repair a capacitor on a circuit board on the PS1 so that the game console would start again. Since his copy was missing the reading unit for the game discs, he also had to use a different laser. Alternatively, he could have used the laser of a special PS1 if it had been available to him.
Once he had made sure that the PS1’s electronics were working again, he was able to begin the conversion. However, the YouTuber quickly discovered that he could not install the motherboard and other components without making serious adjustments.
What adjustments were necessary? Since the dimensions of the SNES case were not large enough for Sony’s hardware, James had to make some changes to the case and electronics. The housing and also the electronics were attacked using an angle grinder.
After the YouTuber had trimmed some of the components to a suitable size, they had to be rearranged and soldered back together. Cables, connections (for example those of the PS controllers) and switches were also made “compatible” with one another.
Suitable tools and a console model as an idea
What kind of tools were used? In addition to the angle grinder already mentioned, a soldering iron, pliers for rough work and a hot glue gun were also used. He used the latter to fix all the components that he had already put into the SNES case at the time.
After a few technical problems and the resulting additional work with the soldering iron, he was able to successfully test the previously converted hardware. James now faced the difficult task of combining the reading unit with the module slot for the Nintendo games.
How did he go about the reading unit? The initial tests with the new laser resulted in scratched data carriers in a horizontal position. Therefore, the reading unit had to be installed vertically. The deep module slot in the SNES case was ideal for this.
James fixed the laser with hot glue over the module slot on the top of the housing. In this way, a game disc partially “disappeared” into the slot when it was inserted. Fortunately, after a final use of the soldering iron, the connected controller also worked.
Where did his idea for the hybrid console come from? At CES 1991, Sony and Nintendo presented their joint game console. The SNES (Super Nintendo) with a module slot should be expanded to include a CD-ROM drive. The name for the expansion at the time was PlayStation.
A legal dispute over contractual content ended the project before publication. Nintendo then worked with Philips on a CD game console. Sony, on the other hand, started developing its own PlayStation, which was launched on the market almost 30 years ago.
After the end of the project, all prototypes of the Nintendo PlayStation were to be destroyed. A single specimen escaped destruction and was later rediscovered by chance. In 2020, this piece of video game history changed hands at auction for 274,000 euros. For this amount you could buy significantly more than 100 PS5s, which are particularly popular with thieves.
The original Nintendo PlayStation from 1991 (Image source Wikipedia)
Confident that the final result of his newly created gaming console would work without a hitch, the YouTuber secured the bottom and top of his own Nintendo PlayStation with a large amount of hot glue. Another hobbyist needed significantly less glue for his own game console creation. In the end, he preferred to use cable ties: the hobbyist invested 1,500 euros and months of his life to create the most powerful Xbox in the world – now he wants to sell it