
18 months after discovery, the “Nintendo PlayStation” is finally working - AdmiralAsshat
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/05/success-the-nintendo-playstation-prototype-is-fully-functional/
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partycoder
My favorite canceled Nintendo project is Star Fox 2.

A team of developers got a prerelease ROM which was rather unstable, patched
all the issues, translated it into English, and now it is fully playable from
start to end on any emulator supporting the Super FX chip. I have to say it
was better than Star Fox 64 considering the limitations of the Super Famicom.

You can watch a video here:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGqLwiVxTKY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGqLwiVxTKY)

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nobodyorother
Apparently there's a second, completed, ROM that was never released. It
contains features the leaked ROM doesn't, at least according to the folks who
worked on SF-Zero, who played it as research.

~~~
partycoder
Nice. That's what I like about this comments section, you always learn
something new.

Star Fox 2 has some interesting additions: it seems more fast paced than the
first one, the ship can transform in certain levels (in Star Fox 64 a
different vehicle would be deployed to the level rather than transform),
there's Star Wolf and some new crew members that make some appearances in Star
Fox 64.

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frik
Super NES CD-ROM System lead to Playstation 1 and Nintendo 64 after the split.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_NES_CD-
ROM](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_NES_CD-ROM)

~~~
nerfhammer
What's interesting about this device and the story behind it is how Nintendo
accidentally helped create one of their biggest competitors.

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goldenkey
Despite them being classically competitors, I'd say the relationship between
Nintendo and the rest of the gaming market (MS/Sony) is mutualistic.

The entire market might be a fraction of its size today if Nintendo didn't
gain competitors to create a much more appetizing gaming world.

~~~
frik
Not really, consoles are just one category. With the open PC hardware PC
gaming gained traction with Wing Commander in 1992/93\. And before that home
computers like C64/Amiga/etc were popular. Only since 2002/03 PC games and
console games and since 2010 also tablet games are developed on PC and ported
to several platforms. Nowadays PC not only means DOS or now Windows but also
macOS, Linux and SteamOS. It will be interesting to watch how Windows 10
effects the PC gaming world, now that Windows 10 S forbids all non-store apps,
preventing Steam and GoG. As there is only one Win10 only game at the moment,
there is still very little reason not to just stay with Win7 or 8, a much more
stable and privacy aware system, if you ask the educated users. On consoles
PS4 is going very strong with Pro, VR and a lot of exclusive console games,
and the second best sales are from Nintendo also with several exclusive
console games. They others have a very small world wide marketshare and little
exclusive games.

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bhhaskin
That is pretty amazing. Programmers where able to create games for hardware
that never had any games created for it.

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korethr
I read the wikipedia article on the SNES CD-ROM System, and one thing I'm not
sure of is whether any new capabilies are brought to the platform besides the
expanded capacity of CDs vs the cartridges, or the ability to play CD audio.
The Sega-CD brought additional graphical capability to the Sega Genesis. It'd
be really nifty if this did similar. The Sega CD brought the Genesis'
capability closer to the SNES. Wouldn't it be cool if this brought the SNES'
capability closer to the Neo Geo? That could make for some very tasty homebrew
games.

I wonder, would it be useful to have the higan developers to get their hands
on this thing?

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Frenchgeek
So first update the emulator then next step, house a raspberry pi in a
reproducted shell and create your own nintendo playstation hardware?

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sudojudo
Isn't the point of this to get the existing hardware to work?

Also, how is a Raspberry Pi (hardware) going to be reproduced in a shell
(software)?

I must be misunderstanding something here.

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positr0n
I took it to mean a plastic shell around the pi (hence "housed") to make it
look like the real deal.

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ianai
I don't really feel too emotionally tied to this as a museum piece. A museum
piece is something like a Mona Lisa or a piece of he moon. Something that's
not a consumer item and symbolizes the apex or formation of something. This is
more of an engineering prototype. It's very interesting as a technical
specimen. But archeologists aren't going to use it in 5000 years to understand
contemporary (to now) culture.

Having said that, total nerd out. I wish I had that level of technical chop.

~~~
mrrsm
Doesn't this have some relevance to nintendo and sony and their history. I
feel like sony wouldn't be where it is right now without that partnership gone
bad.

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ianai
It has a ton of history in that context. But ultimately history is concerned
about larger swaths of people than the design choices of two firms.

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chc
The Mona Lisa is a painting by one person of another person at the behest of
another person. That's a total of probably three people directly concerned,
and it was most likely a commercial transaction. A piece's relevance doesn't
come from how many people were involved in its creation or intended use, or
whether it was meant to make the creator money.

~~~
ianai
Sure, but the Mona Lisa gained notoriety for other reasons.

My point with these comments isn't to exactly win people over to this idea.
This is an idea I felt like 'fleshing out' with a conversation on HN. I'm not
entirely sold on it myself. I can't shake this feeling that not every
engineering example needs to be preserved for the ages.

~~~
chc
Sure, but insofar as the video game industry is an interesting cultural topic
for our age (which I think it is), Nintendo and Sony are probably the most
important players in its history, and this prototype represents a pivotal
moment for both of them.

