PlayStation Co-Creator Still Has a “Nintendo PlayStation” Prototype — Which Is Wild To Witness

Photographer Julian Domanski received the honor of a lifetime. Domanski got to pal around with the co-creator of the original PlayStation, Ken Kutaragi. And, better yet, Domanski even got to hold a true piece of gaming history: the Nintendo PlayStation. Which just seems like the perfect SEO sandwich, doesn’t it? Fun fact: I never even knew this existed before today!

“I never thought I’d see something so rare, but today I actually got to fondle a Nintendo PlayStation! The last one in existence was believed to have sold at auction for $300,000. Turns out the ex CEO of SonyCEA has one in his closet. Ken Kutaragi, top bloke. Signed my PS1 too!” Domanski writes (in case the above image is wonky).

So, I’m sure younger folks (hate typing that) have no idea how insane this discovery is. Once upon a time, PlayStation and Nintendo were almost lovers (well, “business partners”). The story of the monumental falling out between the two companies is… complex, to say the least. Just know that the PlayStation could be argued to be a product created from pure spite and malice. And there’s something oddly inspirational about that!

it’s my first time seeing the Nintendo PlayStation. oh, what could’ve been.

“On a sidenote, it’s still mad impressive to me that Kutaragi took this prototype, made a console out of it, at a time when everyone else doubted he would succeed, and then went on to make the first home console [PlayStation] to sell more than 100 million units. mad stuff. Gaming wouldn’t be the way it is without him,” one ResetEra member says.

You know, I do wonder now how Kutaragi feels about the whole PlayStation/Nintendo debacle many years later. Obviously, he didn’t batter the Nintendo PlayStation with a sledgehammer while cursing Nintendo’s name. Perhaps, after all this time, he smiles at it, wondering what could’ve been but glad things happened the way they did. Or, maybe he keeps it around as a trophy of his undeniable victory. I suppose the best parts of history always lie somewhere in the margins.