The Nintendo PlayStation Prototype is for sale

[Jeevan | 8,907]

1 minute ago, RH said:

Well, it looks like the high bidder has retracted their bid.

Current Bid: $280,000.

Was just gonna say the same thing, i was checking outta curiosity and low and behold it went down in price lol.

[O.G. CIB | 415]

3 minutes ago, Jeevan said:

Was just gonna say the same thing, i was checking outta curiosity and low and behold it went down in price lol.

Interesting development...... maybe the guy who was twitting saying he was the high bidder scared off his competition or some decided not to get into a bidding war. 

[RH | 4,882]

6 minutes ago, Jeevan said:

Was just gonna say the same thing, i was checking outta curiosity and low and behold it went down in price lol.

Yeah, I bookmarked the sell page because I wanted to follow this one. I check once a day, or so this was semi-new development  I don't think it happened yesterday, so it must have been retracted this morning.

3 minutes ago, Mr. CIB said:

Interesting development...... maybe the guy who was twitting saying he was the high bidder scared off his competition or some decided not to get into a bidding war. 

I know a page or so back, it was pointed out that a couple of billionaires were taking notice of this, so... maybe one of them had a bid in and decided to retract it for this reason.  And before anyone things (well, if they retracted a bid, they probably can't re-bid again) just realize that if they are billionaires, they can pay someone to use a shill account for a final bid.

That said, they may be rich but know one really wants to pay more than they want.  Removing their bid can make this look "not so valuable".  Maybe Notch/The Occulus guy is trying to play a mind game, assuming if they both place a last-minute bid, it they can just put a max higher than the other guy, who is expecting a very low (relatively speaking) final bid.

I don't know how these auctions work, since I've not tried, but if I had deep enough pockets, I still want to play my cards so that I only play $2m rather than $5m because of a stoopid bid warz.

[Woobie | 46]

19 minutes ago, RH said:

Yeah, I bookmarked the sell page because I wanted to follow this one. I check once a day, or so this was semi-new development  I don't think it happened yesterday, so it must have been retracted this morning.

I know a page or so back, it was pointed out that a couple of billionaires were taking notice of this, so... maybe one of them had a bid in and decided to retract it for this reason.  And before anyone things (well, if they retracted a bid, they probably can't re-bid again) just realize that if they are billionaires, they can pay someone to use a shill account for a final bid.

That said, they may be rich but know one really wants to pay more than they want.  Removing their bid can make this look "not so valuable".  Maybe Notch/The Occulus guy is trying to play a mind game, assuming if they both place a last-minute bid, it they can just put a max higher than the other guy, who is expecting a very low (relatively speaking) final bid.

I don't know how these auctions work, since I've not tried, but if I had deep enough pockets, I still want to play my cards so that I only play $2m rather than $5m because of a stoopid bid warz.

From what I know the auction keeps going until there is no further bids. There is no real "cut off time", auctioneer will just keep upping til nobody takes

$150,000? Yup

$160,000? Yup

$170,000? Yup

$180,000? Nope...going once...nope...going twice? nope...Sold

[GPX | 1,366]

This is just bonkers. How are people justifying these sorts of values? And why is the bidding so high so early on in the bidding? 

Is anyone getting any shill bidding vibes, or is it just me? 

[RH | 4,882]

7 minutes ago, GPX said:

This is just bonkers. How are people justifying these sorts of values? And why is the bidding so high so early on in the bidding? 

Is anyone getting any shill bidding vibes, or is it just me? 

When it comes to collectibles, value has to be determined by a few factors working in tandem. Specifically,

 - Scarcity

 - Demand

 - Available cash in the market place

If something is scarce (one-of-one like this item) and there is demand (um, yeah, this is probably in the top-5 coolest gaming collectibles for many of us) then what comes into play is bullet point three--availability of cash in the market place.  As we've seen, people are starting to widely paying attention to old games as legitimate collectibles and as wealthy people join the collector scene, they are going to look for rarer and desirable items. 

If you are a gamer with any since of history, you know the infamous nature of how this device came into existence.  I'm going to guess that at most 2-3 other units like this one were ever built and there's a good chance they are now forever lost or destroyed.  The entire PlayStation line got it's start because Nintendo acted like a bunch of idiot-jerks to SONY, and SONY responded by saying "screw off, we're taking our ball and we'll directly compete with you."  This device is true history, so those rich kids entering the collecting market will have the deep enough pockets to set the price.

So, gauging the real value of something like this is tough.  The real question is, who is paying attention to this and how much money are they willing to throw at it? This isn't just a cool item, it's an extremely important item for gaming history which means that the provenance is about as high as it can get.  Legitimately, I can't think of to many known items that exist that could fetch a higher price than this since it's publicly available.  I mean, maybe, the very first working Famicom proto... or the oscilloscope that ran "tennis for two" with all documentation, but those "don't exist".  This is as hot as they come so it's value is as much as the deepest pocket that wants it.

[GPX | 1,366]

3 minutes ago, RH said:

When it comes to collectibles, value has to be determined by a few factors working in tandem. Specifically,

 - Scarcity

 - Demand

 - Available cash in the market place

If something is scarce (one-of-one like this item) and there is demand (um, yeah, this is probably in the top-5 coolest gaming collectibles for many of us) then what comes into play is bullet point three--availability of cash in the market place.  As we've seen, people are starting to widely paying attention to old games as legitimate collectibles and as wealthy people join the collector scene, they are going to look for rarer and desirable items. 

If you are a gamer with any since of history, you know the infamous nature of how this device came into existence.  I'm going to guess that at most 2-3 other units like this one were ever built and there's a good chance they are now forever lost or destroyed.  The entire PlayStation line got it's start because Nintendo acted like a bunch of idiot-jerks to SONY, and SONY responded by saying "screw off, we're taking our ball and we'll directly compete with you."  This device is true history, so those rich kids entering the collecting market will have the deep enough pockets to set the price.

So, gauging the real value of something like this is tough.  The real question is, who is paying attention to this and how much money are they willing to throw at it? This isn't just a cool item, it's an extremely important item for gaming history which means that the provenance is about as high as it can get.  Legitimately, I can't think of to many known items that exist that could fetch a higher price than this since it's publicly available.  I mean, maybe, the very first working Famicom proto... or the oscilloscope that ran "tennis for two" with all documentation, but those "don't exist".  This is as hot as they come so it's value is as much as the deepest pocket that wants it.

I’ve read hundreds of gaming mags back in the 90s so I’m fully aware of the historical significance of this item. The backdrop is certainly cool with its link to 2 of the biggest gaming giants currently in battle. However, it is arguable that this is the most precious gaming item in history. There are plenty of candidates for the coolest gaming item in history. Examples:

- rare limited collectors edition of games or consoles before it.

- sealed one-of-a-kinds of 80s and early  90s games (eg. Sticker-sealed first print Nes Mario)

- rare tournament prizes

- rare prizes sent by gaming companies for special gamer’s achievements

——————————

The Nintendo PlayStation no doubt is a popular item among the gaming enthusiasts, but the big question is that how many actually care to spend 6 figures or more? And at what price point do we agree it’s a legit bid versus market manipulation? 

[RH | 4,882]

23 minutes ago, GPX said:

The Nintendo PlayStation no doubt is a popular item among the gaming enthusiasts, but the big question is that how many actually care to spend 6 figures or more? And at what price point do we agree it’s a legit bid versus market manipulation? 

People collect for different reasons but, in general, strong history/provenance is what tends to drive value.  I mean, you gave a good outline of really fun/cool items, but a legit, entire branch of a major corporation was started by that one device.  In fact, if this IS the only model they made and had they not managed to get so far in the design that they made this ONE device, there is a chance that SONY would have just left the gaming scene.  But the fact that this unit, more-or-less, works shows that SONY put the effort into making a console.

Put differently, what this item is, is a specific, pinpoint moment that forever changed the gaming industry and the world.  If this item did not exist, I wouldn't have the Final Fantasy VII I love today, who know what beloved series like Twisted Metal, Tony Hawk, Crash Bandicoot, others, would have looked like if they didn't get their start on the PS1.  Would SEGA still be making hardware and doing what "Nintendon't". 

Yes, there are tons of cool one-offs, but this specific device legitimately changed the course of history.  It is the culmination of hours of research and developer work, and if Nintendo kept up with their soft-agreements with SONY, we'd be living in a different world. This proto would still have value, but not as many people would pay attention to it.  Again, I'm sure you are aware of the history, but it's the implication of that history that makes this important.  The single genesis of possibly this singular item made much of the gaming world what it is today and, bonus, half of that reason is because a company foolishly pissed off another company's execs--it almost never even occurred.

[GPX | 1,366]

4 hours ago, RH said:

People collect for different reasons but, in general, strong history/provenance is what tends to drive value.  I mean, you gave a good outline of really fun/cool items, but a legit, entire branch of a major corporation was started by that one device.  In fact, if this IS the only model they made and had they not managed to get so far in the design that they made this ONE device, there is a chance that SONY would have just left the gaming scene.  But the fact that this unit, more-or-less, works shows that SONY put the effort into making a console.

Put differently, what this item is, is a specific, pinpoint moment that forever changed the gaming industry and the world.  If this item did not exist, I wouldn't have the Final Fantasy VII I love today, who know what beloved series like Twisted Metal, Tony Hawk, Crash Bandicoot, others, would have looked like if they didn't get their start on the PS1.  Would SEGA still be making hardware and doing what "Nintendon't". 

Yes, there are tons of cool one-offs, but this specific device legitimately changed the course of history.  It is the culmination of hours of research and developer work, and if Nintendo kept up with their soft-agreements with SONY, we'd be living in a different world. This proto would still have value, but not as many people would pay attention to it.  Again, I'm sure you are aware of the history, but it's the implication of that history that makes this important.  The single genesis of possibly this singular item made much of the gaming world what it is today and, bonus, half of that reason is because a company foolishly pissed off another company's execs--it almost never even occurred.

I think you’re looking at it purely from the pre-existing hype - historical importance popularity and rarity.

I’m acknowledging all the above and with extra observations of the current bidding patterns. 

- why such a high amount so early in the bidding? 

- I haven’t looked at the actual bidding, but some posts above state there has been a cancellation of a high bid. It does make you wonder..

-  all this 1-3 million dollar talks - how did the owner come up with this value?

- final point, how do we know this is actually one of a kind? There could possibly be a few more, or a few dozen more, locked in a shed somewhere. Actual one of a kind is a lot different to Potential one of a kind, particularly in value. 

I’m probably more keen on seeing who the winning bidder would be and what they plan to do with this item, more so than the actual end bid. 

[Lincoln | 230]

Bidding has to start somewhere. Why not get your bids in now? Not like anyone is gonna snipe this.

Owner has claimed he's turned down million dollar offers already.

It is one of a kind because it's the only one known to exist. Maybe there's a warehouse full somewhere but nobody has claimed to have another one let alone provided proof of it.

[Rooster | 124]

What would you do with this if you had it?  Put it under glass, rent it to youtubers, reverse engineer it? 

[Romiked2689 | 120]

1 hour ago, Rooster said:

What would you do with this if you had it?  Put it under glass, rent it to youtubers, reverse engineer it? 

Let it collect dust 

[Nes Freak | 584]

3 million?..  thats not bad.   Let me check my over the rainbow account and see how much gold coins i have so i can to pay for it.

[BreaKBeatZ | 136]

On ‎2‎/‎19‎/‎2020 at 9:42 AM, RH said:

Yeah, I bookmarked the sell page because I wanted to follow this one. I check once a day, or so this was semi-new development  I don't think it happened yesterday, so it must have been retracted this morning.

I know a page or so back, it was pointed out that a couple of billionaires were taking notice of this, so... maybe one of them had a bid in and decided to retract it for this reason.  And before anyone things (well, if they retracted a bid, they probably can't re-bid again) just realize that if they are billionaires, they can pay someone to use a shill account for a final bid.

That said, they may be rich but know one really wants to pay more than they want.  Removing their bid can make this look "not so valuable".  Maybe Notch/The Occulus guy is trying to play a mind game, assuming if they both place a last-minute bid, it they can just put a max higher than the other guy, who is expecting a very low (relatively speaking) final bid.

I don't know how these auctions work, since I've not tried, but if I had deep enough pockets, I still want to play my cards so that I only play $2m rather than $5m because of a stoopid bid warz.

I believe Heritage goes to live auction the day after the online bidding has ended. I have bought a few comics from Heritage in the past, and I always had to wait a day after the auction ended to see if someone outbid me in the live auction. I never looked into how that takes place (whether it is in a physical location or just live in the sense that people are bidding against each other in real time online) but it would eliminate a lot of the tricks people play on ebay.

 

There are a lot of items that go for over a million dollars on Heritage, so I think they run a tighter ship than eBay.

[GPX | 1,366]

Anyone got further updates or further thoughts on this auction?

 

[Tanooki | 4,929]

It's still rotting at like 280K with like 2 days or less to go.  I bet the owner is feeling like a real dumbass if that 3M offer was real that wasn't taken.

 

Forgot to add the easy link to it last night:

https://comics.ha.com/itm/video-games/nintendo/nintendo-play-station-super-nes-cd-rom-prototype-sony-and-nintendo-c-1992/a/7224-93060.s?fbclid=IwAR1owj9GxUBIOQDb7HchlDv2gCEkffm9WYGBaz7Hzfz8UkzYPCrGGrR9QR8

Edited March 4, 2020 by Tanooki

[Code Monkey | 2,005]

Where's the guy that offered millions? Why isn't he throwing in a $500,000 bid? Seems like a steal.

[RH | 4,882]

10 minutes ago, Code Monkey said:

Where's the guy that offered millions? Why isn't he throwing in a $500,000 bid? Seems like a steal.

Well, there's nothing saying this won't reach those numbers.  Others have said that HA bumps the end time with each bid.  I have no clue why the price keeps going up and down, but if the wealthy are just waiting out the clock and are in no rush to get this in their hands, I assume this could drag on a looooooong time.

[Gloves | 11,749]

Don't these all go to live auction after this initial bidding, with these numbers just being the starting point or something like that? Part of why I've not even bothered at all with these auctions is that the whole process seemed convoluted. 

[Tanooki | 4,929]

I don't follow that auction group and how they handle things, but hey I hope you're right it goes to live and people get into a battle over it as it does as far as history of gaming goes seems grossly under valued.

[Gloves | 11,749]

Nah I hope it sell for like 600k and the dude who owns it gets significantly less than his arrogant ass expected. 

[docile tapeworm | 4,194]

12 minutes ago, Gloves said:

Nah I hope it sell for like 600k and the dude who owns it gets significantly less than his arrogant ass expected. 

ya!

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,104]

20 minutes ago, Gloves said:

Don't these all go to live auction after this initial bidding, with these numbers just being the starting point or something like that? Part of why I've not even bothered at all with these auctions is that the whole process seemed convoluted. 

That's pretty much how it goes. 

[VGCollectaholic | 111]

32 minutes ago, Code Monkey said:

Where's the guy that offered millions? Why isn't he throwing in a $500,000 bid? Seems like a steal.

 

That assumes that the guy who offered the $1m isn't the guy who has the high bid right now.   I believe it's still Palmer Luckey who has the current high bid.  I could see him being the source of the previous $1m offer.

[PineappleLawnchair | 88]

I remember the guy saying that bidder was from sweeden, is palmer sweedish