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Say hello!” to the Nintendo PlayStation, as seen at Portland Retro Gaming Expo 2016.
Sam Machkovech
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A Super Famicom controller with Sony branding? What kind of fresh hell is this?
Sam Machkovech
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Original owner Terry Diebold pointed out that the Nintendo PlayStation controller connector had a Sony logo printed on it…
Sam Machkovech
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…even though the controller itself has a Nintendo logo printed on it.
Sam Machkovech
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Although the homebuilt game Super Boss Gaiden was designed with the hope that it would one day run on the Nintendo PlayStation, this is not runs on the Diebolds system.
Sam Machkovech
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The capacitors and other parts removed from the original circuit board by Ben Heck.
Sam Machkovech
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Dan Diebold shows off a piece that has been removed from the circuit board.
Sam Machkovech
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This RAM cartridge must be connected to the Nintendo PlayStation in order to load the disc drive.
Sam Machkovech
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Let’s put the RAM cartridge in then.
Sam Machkovech
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No. No dice. This is the best error message the Diebolds and Ben Heck found after hacking the system’s components for some time.
Sam Machkovech
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Note the colored boxes in the corners of the Super Disc splash screen. Those are the same as the Super Famicom’s iconic four-color spread.
Sam Machkovech
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Due to issues with laser diodes, this is still the only error message displayed when a CD is inserted into the Nintendo PlayStation.
Sam Machkovech
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Upside down shot from the back.
Sam Machkovech
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Another photo from the back.
Sam Machkovech
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Top of the system. The Diebolds would have to cut into the top of the device for US cartridges to fit, but the cartridges do work.
Sam Machkovech
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The front is the victim of an annoying yellowing.
Sam Machkovech
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Interesting “1” and “2” notches on the front.
Sam Machkovech
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Tests.
Sam Machkovech
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Our intrepid reporter couldn’t help it.
Sam Machkovech
SEATTLE—Terry and Dan Diebold’s rise to geek fame hinges on a single piece of hardware, but when the kit is this good, that’s all you need. The father and son are the proud owners of the only known Nintendo PlayStation console, a hybrid Super Famicom and disc-drive system jointly developed in 1991 by Nintendo and Sony.
Thanks to reports on the internet, we’ve seen the system’s original, warehouse-related discovery, and we’ve seen an impressive teardown courtesy of hacker extraordinaire Ben Heck. But nothing beats getting a closer look at the “SNES-CD” hardware, which Ars got to see at the latest episode of the Seattle Retro Gaming Expo.
Father and son Diebold said it was the last stop in their nationwide tour of various geek events to show off their drooling discovery. They are well aware of the public interest in the system and to prove it they also had a laptop with an emulated version of Super boss Gaiden. That homebrew game was designed very recently with the hope that it will one day run on the Nintendo PlayStation (meaning it was designed for the weird system’s specs). Anyway, just to clarify: the game was not runs on the Nintendo PlayStation.
The Ben Heck Show‘s incredible video answers a lot of questions about the hardware, and I recommend reading Kyle Orland’s summary on that video if you haven’t already read it. However, Heck failed to name one key, a missing piece of the puzzle: a more powerful laser diode. Dan Diebold confirmed to Ars that the Nintendo PlayStation’s diode is currently too weak to read data from a compact disc, so that’s the next step in their quest to see if it can actually recognize and play disc media.
“We didn’t have enough time to stay” at Heck’s studio, the Diebolds told Ars, and that discovery came only after they left the production. Now they are looking for skilled hands to help them with a possible diode replacement and see if that works out. Let’s just hope it doesn’t take long.
After talking to the Diebolds, I played a quick game of the only Super Famicom game they had on hand, Street Fighter II turbo, and then asked for a demonstration of the system error state when attempting to run a CD-ROM game. The latter is shown in the gallery above, complete with a small hint of the Super Famicom’s iconic four-color spread on the error screen. I also completely mistreated the controller after blatantly begging to take a selfie with it. If the Diebolds come to your town and they’re currently crossing the US with a Nintendo PlayStation in hand, I suggest you try to do the same.
Frame image by Sam Machkovech