This Nintendo Play Station is not worth anywhere near $3M, nor is it worth anywhere near $1.2M IMHO.
Considering an original Apple I computer just sold for $375k at auction less than 2 years ago [0]
People actually used the Apple I computer, saw it, touched it, it existed in the mind of the general public and still does to this day to some extent.
This prototype is only valuable to perhaps the engineering team who worked on it, some extremely eccentric gaming enthusiasts, and perhaps a few others.
I would have taken the offer of $1.2M if I were him.
I imagine the bids in this auction will top out around $100k.
The fact that Nintendo Play Station wasn't used is what makes this console all the more rare.
Plus retro gaming tends to pull higher prices than retro computing (generally speaking) and this piece of hardware is almost mythical in that it's the birth of the Play Station as well as a rare piece of hardware from the much loved SNES era (which also tends to command higher prices than it's 16bit Sega counterpart)
When I first saw this auction my first thought was "I bet that gets at least $1 million." - I think $3M is a little ambitious but I wouldn't say it's impossible.
This is my observations as a retro hardware collector. Ultimately something is only worth as much as someone else is willing to pay so it's sometimes hard to put a price on rarer items.
>The fact that Nintendo Play Station wasn't used is what makes this console all the more rare.
Value is not a function of rarity.
That's a lesson that took me many years and many thousands of dollars wasted at estate auctions to learn.
Palm pilots are pretty rare. And a lot of people liked and used palm pilots. But even brand new ones in their box are worth less than $1,000 at auction right now. [0]
You can only play Super Famicom games on this Nintendo Playstation. No games were ever created specifically for it.
This is purely a museum piece, not a collectible item that will gain in value over time.
Value is a function of supply and demand.
There are thousands of chinese porcelain pieces out there worth hundreds of thousands of dollars each. Some are worth millions. Because China is a wealthy nation now filled with hundreds of millions of people trying to recoup party of their culture that they sold to the lowest bidder of yesteryear.
100 years ago, a lot of these same vases that are now going for millions of dollars were literally being drilled through their bottoms and made into lamps for middle class American households.
They're not exclusively linked but it would be ignorant to deny a relationship.
> Palm pilots are pretty rare. And a lot of people liked and used palm pilots. But even brand new ones in their box are worth less than $1,000 at auction right now.
Again, retro computing hardware generally sells for less than retro gaming hardware. Also while boxed copies of specific brands Palm Pilots might be rare, there is a lot of PDAs still around and not a lot of people (compared to the retro gaming scene) collecting them. So prices are naturally going to be lower (market forces et al)
> You can only play Super Famicom games on this Nintendo Playstation. No games were ever created specifically for it.
I think you're missing the point of why some people collect. Sure, some of us like to buy stuff exclusively to play but there are a lot of people who like to buy simply to own.
You get people who collect full sets of PAL or NTSC games for a given console even knowing that they would never play most of those games. You get people who like to buy factory sealed games or hardware with no intention of opening. You get people who like to own variations of consoles (eg Pokemon, Animal Crossing, themed Nintendo Switches) even though they're all functionally the same and you can't actually play on more than one at a time. It's like stamp collecting for some people; it's not about the practical value but rather just the buzz of owning something uncommon or a collection. The more difficult or the higher the resale price could be, the greater the prestige.
Not everyone gets this mentality and to anyone on the outside it seems totally nuts and a complete waste of money. However regardless of your opinions, these people do exist and it's a big part of the retro gaming scene.
> This is purely a museum piece, not a collectible item that will gain in value over time.
Of course it will gain value over time. Inflation alone will see to that. However, like collecting anything from popular culture as a retirement nest egg: there is always the risk that the market could bottom out as people who grew up with those systems die off. That's what happened to the original gauge Hornby rail collectables (back when they had a dedicated 3rd rail for electricity). Trains used to be worth a few hundred each until recently when all the adults who collected that stuff started dying off. Now they're practically worthless.
The same might happen with retro gaming as well. Though as long as Nintendo and Sony are actively making consoles, I predict there will be interest in the Nintendo Play Station. So I can't see this particular piece losing value.
> Value is a function of supply and demand.
I'd already said that when I said things are only worth as much as someone is willing to pay. What you're ignoring is the real demand for people collecting retro gaming hardware.
> There are thousands of chinese porcelain pieces out there worth hundreds of thousands of dollars each. Some are worth millions. Because China is a wealthy nation now filled with hundreds of millions of people trying to recoup party of their culture that they sold to the lowest bidder of yesteryear.
> 100 years ago, a lot of these same vases that are now going for millions of dollars were literally being drilled through their bottoms and made into lamps for middle class American households.
That's true for a lot of collectables though. There's a period when old stuff gets sold off cheap because they're superseded by newer stock but not old enough to be "retro". Playstation 2 and 3 stuff is pretty cheap at the moment but in 10 years time those prices will start to climb. 5 years ago I could pick up Sega CIB Mega Drive / Genesis games (CIB meaning "complete in box" -- so with manual, game and box) for £5 to £15 (£15 being the expensive end). Now They're frequently a minimum of £15. Prices have literally doubled in 5 years. Same is try for the Dreamcast and Saturn too and in their cases prices climbing fast because those consoles had a limited life so there's some rarity attached.
Source: my dad (rest in peace) collected model railway. I collect retro gaming and retro computing hardware. So I'm rather familiar with the scene (in fact I knew about this auction from my buddies in the scene before it was posted on HN).
I would just like to see this in a well known popular museum, and have a generation kids who own the PS4 and Switch look at this thing and go ‘wait, wtf?’.
This is the only known unit of its kind, there are 63 known Apple I's according to wikipedia. Its also a hybrid of two extremely high selling, well loved consoles, the Super Nintendo and the Sony PlayStation, which far more people used than the Apple I. Case in point - a not particularly uncommon Super Nintendo game is already being bid at $2100 on the same site with several weeks left because it has a, umm, nice cardboard box [0].
I think the console will go for over $100k, but I agree an offer of $1.2M was worth taking.
My SNES games were stolen when I was younger so I only had the boxes and manuals which I kept in pristine condition. I decided to put one box+manual up on eBay and was surprised that it sold within 10 seconds (likely by a bot) for the $100 buy it now price. I suppose I should have priced it higher!
Heritage Auctions is having floor bidding on March 6, which is where the value will really be decided. But a copy of Super Mario Bros. sold for $100,000 last year. This thing is going to go for a lot more.
Just browse Twitter if you need sources for public opinion. Expectations are very high:
Heritage Auctions is running a sealed games scam, pumping fake values for veblen goods. That $100K SMB was "sold" to the owner of Heritage Auctions :-)
I’ve held, examined, and played this prototype at a couple of conventions while talking to the seller a bit. He’s an interesting and controversial fellow.
