The legendary Nintendo PlayStation prototype is up for auction

The console ended up in the hands of Terry Diebold after he discovered it among a bunch of items he’d won in an online bankruptcy auction (for which he paid the ridiculously low price of $75), but it wasn’t until his son Dan happened upon a Reddit thread about the system that he realized just how important the console was. The product of a not-quite partnership between Nintendo and Sony back in the early ’90s, some argue that the Nintendo PlayStation inadvertently led to the creation of Sony’s own PlayStation, which of course has had a phenomenal impact on gaming itself.

For years, the Diebolds have toured the system around the globe, which, as you can imagine, doesn’t come cheap. Speaking to Kotaku, Terry says that he’s made “nothing” by taking the console on the road, and that continuing to do so is costing money he can’t afford to lose. As such, the pair have decided to part with the console — and it looks like there’s going to be mega bucks involved, with the Diebolds already turning down $1.2 million from someone in Norway.

The console will be sold in an online auction run by Heritage Auctions, which has in the past sold gaming collectables for eye-watering prices — a sealed copy of the original Mega Man made a whopping $75,000 earlier this year, for example. The sale will begin on February 27th, although no-one’s really sure how much the legendary console will go for. Valarie McLeckie, Heritage’s director of video games said that while it will definitely sell, the market will determine its value. “In the case of this particular item, since it’s never been sold at public auction before, there’s really no way to tell,” she said. Chances are it’ll be a bit out of your budget, though.

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