Prototype "Nintendo Play Station" Sells for 360k

If you’re a fan of gaming history – perhaps because normal history is too useful and you wanted to study something a little less practical – then you’re probably aware that the whole reason the PlayStation exists is because, in the ’90s,Nintendo lured Sony into the gaming sphere by working with them to create a Nintendo-Sony console, then abruptly canceling the partnership. This action effectively wasted all effort Sony put into the console until they decided to tweak the prototype a little and release the updated version as the Sony PlayStation.

This mythical “Nintendo Play Station” has been the source of some fascination for gaming historians, so it should be little surprise that when a prototype of the console was found in some dude’s attic, people were chomping at the bit to have it for themselves. And, after a rather lengthy auction, the prototype console has a new owner: Greg McLemore, the founder of Pets.com.

Ol’ Greg is one of those millionaires able to make it big in the late ’90s and early 2000s through some smart investments and sales, right before the cyber-bubble burst. Since then, he’s buying gaming memorabilia and machines, and for the right to this particular device, he paid a whopping $360,000.

As for what he plans to do with it? Well, his current plan is to use it – and the 800-ish coin-operated arcade machines, smaller games, trade magazines, and original art he’s collected over the years – and build out a permanent gaming museum. And apparently to build up to that goal he’s even going to display some of his collection via outside partners, like the Pacific Asia Museum in Southern California.

Which probably means he’s the best person to have gotten the console, objectively speaking. This industry does a lousy job respecting its history, so I guess it’s only natural the fans would have to step up.

Here’s looking forward to seeing it myself one day.