Now that we live in the era of console wars, its hard to imagine any of the big three working with each other. But, if you’re up to date on your gaming history, you’re probably aware of Sony’s short relationship with Nintendo. In short, the big N teamed up with Sony in 1988 to create an accessory that would add CD-ROM support to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)–which previously was only cartridge based.

In 1991 however, during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Sony announced the “PlayStation” which unfortunately never landed on any shelves because the following day Ninty revealed that they would be moving forward with competitor company Phillips instead.

So, as you can imagine, the original PlayStation prototype built by Sony and Nintendo is a rare find. Thankfully, we’ve been gifted a special look at the console that never was. The images in this post come courtesy of imgur user DanDiebold.

Probably the best part however, is the story behind how he snagged the pics. According to him, the console came from his dad. He reveals:

“My dad worked for a company, apparently one of the guys he used to work with, I think his name was Olaf, used to work at Nintendo and when my dad’s company went bankrupt, my dad found it in a box of ‘junk’ he was supposed to throw out”.

The interesting thing about the remark, however, is that the Olaf (no not the Snowman) he mentioned could very well be Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson, the original co-founder and president of Sony Interactive Entertainment. If the console did indeed come from the founder, this bumps up the rarity of the console even further. There is, of course, no proof of that fact, but it is interesting to wonder.

I’ve also placed a video of YouTube user dizzle521 showing off the console at the top of the page. From the looks of the system, it doesn’t appear to be a fake. Whatever the case, it was a blast from the past that’ll make a lot of gamers happy.

HT: Imgur