Sony Crushed Nintendo With a Console Originally Designed for Them

It is probably the biggest faux pas in the history of gaming

Geraint Clarke
The Startup

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Photo by Luis Villasmil on Unsplash

What does the founder of Pets.com, Sony, Nintendo & Sega have to do with the best-selling games console of all time?

It sounds like an intro to a Mob-movie, but the story behind this product isn’t as simple as it seems.

In short, a hidden prototype of the ‘Nintendo Play station’ was recently sold at auction for $360,000. That wasn’t a typo. I said ‘Nintendo Play station’.

Why? Because the Playstation, an irrefutable giant of the Sony company, was originally designed for Nintendo — and they stupidly passed on it.

Where it all started

Ken Kutaragi, originally a Computer Entertainment Engineer for Sony struck a deal with Nintendo to develop a CD-ROM add-on to the Super Nintendo.

His view was that CD’s were superior to cartridges. They could hold more data and would become the future of gaming. Time has taught us that he was right.

Unfortunately, the deal went sour and Nintendo ended-up pulling away from the partnership with Sony. Instead, they brokered a deal with Phillips and Sony’s prototype was dismissed.

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Geraint Clarke
The Startup

Creator of Bespoke Marketing Campaigns… Follow Me for Practical Business & Self-development Lessons. https://shor.by/geraintclarke