Sony/Nintendo Playstation Prototype

[Sik]

1) The original PlayStation would have been a CD extension that plugs in the bottom of the SNES. The original SNES controllers and console would have been used. Very similar to what the FDS is to the NES. There would not have been such a thing as PlayStation controllers.

Everywhere people are saying that the original deal was both an add-on and a two-in-one system. Also let's face it, Sega did it all over the place with the Sega CD (remember JVC had a license to make its own unified system, that's why Wonder Dog even exists in the first place, it's their attempt at a console mascot).

Also reminds me of the Sega CD devkit, which is literally a model 1 Mega Drive and a Sega CD both crammed into the same shell. Like, same size as the original and everything, just with an unified shell. It's possible this is like that too.

[tokumaru]

Don't forget the Sega CDX, which was basically a Genesis + Sega CD in a compact shell.

There's also the Sharp Twin Famicom, which is a Famicom + Disk System made by a company other than Nintendo, which could very well be the case of this PlayStation.

[Shonumi]

2) I don't think any prototype unit was even made.

How do you explain this article, specifically the 3rd, 9th, and 10th images? I mean, I guess someone at Sony might have thought it would have been funny to mess around (on-the-record no less) with an established gaming publication by sending them an elaborate fake, but I kind of doubt that.

[drk421]

More details:

http://www.engadget.com/2015/11/06/nint ... -it-works/

BIOS works as does the test cartridge. Hopefully BIOS and test cart eventually get dumped.

Neat stuff, not sure if there are any additional helper chips (ala Super FX), or if it's just a SNES with a CD-ROM drive.

[lidnariq]

The pictures didn't show anything particularly novel on the mainboard. A standard 1/1/1 CPU/PPU revisison with WRAM and S-CPU and S-DSP. A portion of PCB is labelled "SFX" but it just looks like the standard SNES ICs.

Weirdly, it still has the standard SNES EXP port.

[tepples]

Perhaps Nintendo was planning to let stack expansions, with a Super NES on top of the CD-ROM accessory on top of something else. Does the Satellaview receiver also have a daisy-chained expansion port on the bottom?

[Drew Sebastino]

Maybe this is just a CDX equivalent, where the CD module is built into the system, and that they planned to actually have an add on type unit. It would be nice to know if the SNES part of the system is exactly the same so you could know if this was even a possibility. (It does work with regular games, but I wonder if they did something like add more vram.) It's kind of a bummer the CD part of the system doesn't work...

[LuigiBlood]

More details:

http://www.engadget.com/2015/11/06/nint ... -it-works/

BIOS works as does the test cartridge. Hopefully BIOS and test cart eventually get dumped.

Neat stuff, not sure if there are any additional helper chips (ala Super FX), or if it's just a SNES with a CD-ROM drive.

Wanna say there's a new video about it from the owner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JT15xl4ZzOI

I analyzed the pictures of the inside myself:
http://luigiblood.tumblr.com/post/13273 ... laystation

Spoiler: It's just a SNES with a CD drive (+ components to use the drive). There is no BIOS in the console, everything is on the cartridge. On the comments of that new video, he said that nothing happens if there's no cartridge plugged. Cartridge IS the CD BIOS.

[lidnariq]

For the benefit of anyone else, the hiragana that shows up is nothing particularly informative:
きほんきのう (ki hon kinō) = basic functions
おんげん (on gen) = sound source
かくちょう (kakuchō) = extension

[Bregalad]

There is no BIOS in the console, everything is on the cartridge.

Unsurprising since that's exactly how the FDS was based.

I still belive this video is a fake.

[Zonomi]

I still belive this video is a fake.

Do you really think someone would recreate a full SNES PCB, add some IC, a cd-rom, create a case, a new cartridge, ask for endgadget to test it, just for a hoax ?
Do you really think engadget's journalist is a liar ?

I think even with the console in your hands, you'd still say «nah, it's a fake»

[tepples]

There is no BIOS in the console, everything is on the cartridge.

Unsurprising since that's exactly how the FDS was based.

Yet the Twin Famicom, which has an internal disk drive, also has an internal version of the system card. So does the TurboDuo. My guess is that the prototype had the system card on a cartridge, and the add-on CD drive for the Super NES was going to be the same, but the final version was intended to be essentially a Twin Super Famicom (not to be confused with FC Twin) with an internal system card.

[Cytlan]

I still belive this video is a fake.

Do you really think someone would recreate a full SNES PCB, add some IC, a cd-rom, create a case, a new cartridge, ask for endgadget to test it, just for a hoax ?
Do you really think engadget's journalist is a liar ?

I think even with the console in your hands, you'd still say «nah, it's a fake»

If it is a fake, then it's a damn good fake. Fooled me!

I just hope the driver cartridge will be dumped and released quickly. I'd be really cool to disassemble it and see how it works.
Did anyone catch if there were any CD's with the unit?

[Memblers]

Unfortunately there were no CDs with it, and when the drive was opened it was found to be empty. So the CD-ROM itself is apparently both non-working and useless (unless some software for it turns up), but quite interesting nonetheless. To be precise, there were CDs in the box with the unit, but they were just some normal Playstation games. Amusingly, one of the articles speculated that maybe the system plays those, but clearly they're unrelated, they just ended up in the same box.

Now I wonder if we'll ever see the Philips version of the SNES CD, I doubt it, but you never know. If it even existed. At least some of Nintendo's documents were released for it, which mentions that it has a 32-bit RISC CPU but it was pretty light on details.

[LuigiBlood]

Now I wonder if we'll ever see the Philips version of the SNES CD, I doubt it, but you never know. If it even existed. At least some of Nintendo's documents were released for it, which mentions that it has a 32-bit RISC CPU but it was pretty light on details.

There are other documents like the System Service Utility, which talks mostly about managing files.
Game IPL is a file named "NINTENDO.CO", and if read fails, it looks for "NINTENDO.CO2".

https://twitter.com/stevenplin/status/4 ... 2609299457