Father of the PlayStation, Ken Kutaragi, showcases rare Nintendo PlayStation prototype

If you haven't heard about it, the Nintendo PlayStation is the stuff of videogame legend. In the early 1990s, when the CD-ROM multimedia age of gaming kicked off, Nintendo was looking to partner with Sony to create a CD add-on for the then-popular Super Nintendo console.

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The mythical Nintendo PlayStation, as found in Ken Kutaragi, ex-CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America's, closet.

According to legend, around 200 units were produced, with the attachment set to boost the Super Nintendo's processing power and storage capacity in a big way.

PlayStation co-creator Ken Kutaragi, often called the father of PlayStation, was a key leader and engineer in developing the hardware and features of the original PlayStation, the PlayStation 2, and the PlayStation 3. In a recent photoshoot with Julian Domanski, Kutaragi showed off his very own Nintendo PlayStation console, tucked away in a closet - in pristine condition.

The Sony and Nintendo partnership fell through because Nintendo also made a deal with Philips for a CD add-on before it decided to move on to its next-gen 64-bit console, codenamed Ultra 64. Sony had no idea about this side deal and was surprised that Nintendo had simply decided to move on.

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This led to Ken Kutaragi and Sony developing the PlayStation as a standalone console. It was the first gaming machine from the audiovisual giant best known for televisions and portable stereos at the time. It became one of the best-selling consoles of all time, and by the time the PlayStation 2 arrived on the scene, the company had supplanted Nintendo as the biggest name in videogames.

The Nintendo PlayStation by Sony is the stuff of legend, with Julian Domanski taking to social media platform X to write, "I never thought I'd see something so rare, but today I actually got to fondle a Nintendo PlayStation!" In the same post, he notes that one of the only known prototypes sold at auction for around $300,000 makes it one of the rarest and most sought-after pieces of videogame 'what-if' history.

Kutaragi's prototype looks to be in better condition and is a more recent model. The PlayStation logo is blue, and the console itself hasn't faded or changed color with age - which is probably what happens when you keep it packed away in a closet for decades.