This is who bought that rare Nintendo PlayStation prototype
And it wasn't Palmer Luckey.
We now know who won the auction selling off an ultra-rare Nintendo PlayStation prototype, which was rediscovered in an attic in 2015. The winning bid of $300,000 USD (around £230,000) - excluding the $60,000 "buyer's premium" fee - came from Greg McLemore, the founder of Pets.com.
"I'm looking to not have this machine just buried in a closet somewhere," McLemore told Forbes. Along with his collection of over "800 coin-operated machines and countless other smaller games, trade magazines and original art", he says he wants to build a permanent museum in which he can showcase his collection.
"I'm interested in sharing my passion for gaming," McLemore said. "One of my areas of focus is the evolution of gaming, including how earlier arcade games inspired video games and how early video games influenced later innovation. I believe the Nintendo PlayStation fits in well with this focus."
As Matt explained when the month-long auction ended, the prototype was initially created as part of a doomed collaboration between Sony and Nintendo. It was intended to add CD-ROM capabilities to the 16-bit SNES, and was Sony's first foray into the world of gaming hardware. Famously, the project was terminated after a falling out between both parties when Nintendo suddenly announced a partnership with Sony rival Philips, but Sony's efforts would eventually form the basis for its own console, 1994's PlayStation.
Around 200 prototypes for the Nintendo PlayStation are believed to have been made, but most were eventually scrapped and only one is publicly known to still exist.
Cover image credit: Heritage Auctions