SNES CD Add-on

[richard]

I know that Sony was making a SNES add-on which transformed into the PSX, but I don't know if this is what it was supposed to look like. Interesting nonetheless!
http://outerspace.terra.com.br/retrospace/materias/consoles/imagens/parte26/snes_cd-rom.jpg

[Hamsnibit]

That looks about like the same image I saw in EGM years ago when it was first being talked about. I think they were just very early prototype drafts. I'm pretty sure there wasn't ever a final design.

[hamburgler]

You are correct,Richard.That's what the real Super nintendo cd add-on looked like.

[richard]

ahh... ore info about this...in 1991 nintendo signs a deal with sony to develope this SNES add-on to the SNES...which was then called THE PLAYSTATION...by then they went seperate ways....so this was the 1st stage of the playstation being born i suppose

[digitalpress]

This is the first time I've seen that picture - at least that I can recall. It looks a little like those game copiers, I know they made a CD-based backup unit for Super NES but I can't say if this is the prototype add-on or a copier! Sorry.

[CrazyImpmon]

First time? You never read any of those magazines in early 90's??? :o My, my... ;)

It was featured in EGM and I'm sure a couple others as well, like VG&CE. IIRC it looked more like an artists rendation of the CD-ROM add on and not an actual picture of the device.

To add confusion, Nintendo switched side with another company to make SNES CD-ROM add on because Nintendo didn't want to give Sony all rights to any games released on the CD-ROM. But then Nintendo switched back to Sony because Sony was the only company that made chips used in SNES console and Nintendo was afraid of losing Sony and killing SNES too soon.

This is how CDi got 3 Zelda games even though Nintendo ended up not doing any business with Phillips. Because the CDi at one time was going to be SNES CD-ROM add on.

And the Playstation we know is not related to the origibnal SNES CD-ROM add on but it does sport similiar hardware and the same name.

[hydr0x]

yeah i know the pictures, it was shown in every german video-game mag back then, and afaik the picture shows the sony cd-thing not the philips, if it shows anything at all ;) i have no idea if it was ever made or just drawn :(

ehm imp? sure that the psx is not related to the cd-add-on???? i'm pretty sure it is

[brandver3]

The head designer of the Playstation SNES add on on Sony's side insisted on continuing the project, with much moaning form the powers that be.

And low and behold look where it ended up, funny how that works.

[rolenta]

Here's what the prototype looks like:
www.rolentapress.com/memorabillia/clip_image002.jpg

[NvrMore]

The Playstation is actually based on the hardware Sony was creating to form the SNES CD, the most notable feature they share being the PS1 Controller which was actually designed by Nintendo for the add-on at the time.

There's a lot of speculation as to why the deal between Nintendo and Sony went sour, although it's pretty safe to say that it is known to have been largely due to two factors.
The first being the mutual greed of the two parties and the indecision over who would have what rights to the hardware and how the profits would be shared. Both parties were said to be adamant that their logo would be foremost on the hardware and that they must be given the bulk of the profits from software licencing fees and sales.
The second was Nintendo's growing impatience with Sony, who were taking an excessivly long time to produce results with the unit already having been in production for several years before a preliminary prototype was even produced. This led Nintendo into talks with rival manufacturer Phillips which caused considerable friction with Sony when they found out.
Thus the culmination of these and other arguable/refutable factors eventually led to a breakdown between the two companies and the project was scrapped, with Sony choosing to take the work they had and use it to develop a console of their own.

Regarding the hardware, as far as I know before the big bust up it was almost completed and dev kits for it had been sent out to some of Nintendo's preferred Developers. There was even an interview with one of Capcom's main guys in which he made reference to the hardware and their having begun preliminary work with the dev kit, however I've never heard anything more about what happened to the dev kits or the prototypes of the add-on after the deal fell apart, although it has been strongly speculated that there was at least one fully functional unit.

There were also rumored to be a number of titles in development by Nintendo for the system, including a couple being worked on by Shiggy himself, one of which was rumored to be a port of the abandoned SNES Mario 3D game, but nobody knows how far they got and anything that was made was probably locked away in Nintendo's vault with the rest of their protos and restricted projects.. x_x

And yes, this reply was far too long but believe it or not it was the short version :P

[Keir]

Here's what the prototype looks like:
www.rolentapress.com/memorabillia/clip_image002.jpg

And you can still see the blood stains from a deal gone horribly wrong...