Bidding recently commenced on the rare Nintendo PlayStation prototype that surfaced back in 2015. The only functioning prototype left, it is being auctioned off by Heritage Auctions on behalf of Terry Diebold, who received the unit for free from a friend who once worked at Nintendo.
As expected, the highest bid currently sits at $350,000 and the bidder is none other than Oculus VR co-founder Palmer Luckey. If the bids don’t go any higher, Luckey will pay a total of $420,000 with a buyer’s premium included. The auction will come to a close on March 6th, and the whole affair will be livestreamed.
Even if Palmer wins and there are no further bids, the Nintendo PlayStation will become the single most expensive gaming item ever sold.
“I have the largest game console collection, and I am on a quest to digitize and preserve the history of physical video games,” Palmer told a follower who asked why he wanted the prototype bad enough to bid $350,000. “Perfect VR will ensure the original experience lives on forever, but we need to keep these things alive and functional in the meanwhile.”
“At one time, this particular unit was owned by the founder, first president, and first chief executive officer of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. Olaf Olafsson,” wrote Heritage Auctions. “Olaf eventually left Sony to join Advanta Corporation, and became its president in 1998. A little over a year later, Olaf left Advanta to join Time Warner but he left his Nintendo PlayStation prototype behind at Advanta.”
A total of 200 Nintendo PlayStation prototypes were produced.
[Source: Palmer Luckey (Twitter)]
