A previously unreleased prototype controller for the Nintendo PlayStation console is up for auction. The prototype controller changed hands for $35,000 in a US auction. This shows that the interest in special pieces in the gaming world still continues.

Nintendo PlayStation prototype controller at auction

A Nintendo PlayStation controller has been put up for sale by Heritage Auctions. According to the auction listing, this is the first time a Nintendo PlayStation controller prototype has been auctioned. This rare gamepad was part of the Nintendo PlayStation, of which only 200 were produced.

Developed as a joint project between Nintendo and Sony in the early 1990s, the Nintendo PlayStation would have allowed for CD-ROM games to be played alongside SNES cartridges. However, Nintendo ended the partnership and partnered with Philips for disk-based games.

This move worked more in Sony’s favor. The company launched its own PlayStation console a few years later. With the deal canceled, an estimated 200 Nintendo PlayStation development kits are known to exist.

Prototypes unearthed from the collection of a former Sony executive are now being auctioned off. Previously, the Nintendo PlayStation console changed hands for 360 thousand dollars, and now the controller is priced at 35 thousand dollars.

Heritage Auctions points out that Nintendo PlayStation artifacts are quite rare. Of course, it should be underlined that Nintendo and Sony never made a deal again.