The PlayStation SNES prototype is now fully working

Way back in the late 80s and early 90s, Nintendo and Sony formed an alliance, bringing to life what we now refer to as the ‘PlayStation SNES'. This prototype console was essentially a Super Nintendo with a CD-ROM drive built in, allowing it to play discs and cartridges. The relationship turned sour, so only 200 prototypes were ever made and most were destroyed. However, in 2015 one working prototype was discovered and it has now been restored to full operation by console modder Ben Heck.

This particular console was thought to be long lost but in July 2015, someone discovered a working prototype and quickly took to the internet to spread the news and share pictures. The console has since found its way into the hands of Ben Heck, who after working on the hardware several times, has now managed to get it running games.

In the video, which you can see above, Ben goes over how he was able to repair the prototype hardware, get the disc drive running and show off some home-brew software running on the console via the disc drive. No official games for the PlayStation SNES exist (as far as we know), so home-brew software needed to be used instead.

These games were created using emulators, which were in-turn created around what the SNES PlayStation was thought to have contained hardware-wise. One particular game tried in the video didn't work because it used up more RAM than was available on the actual console itself.

KitGuru Says: It was huge news when this console was rediscovered in 2015 but it's way more satisfying to see the console functioning in the way it was intended, with a working disc-drive and all. Hopefully this piece of gaming history will be preserved.

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