In 2020, a prototype of the Nintendo PlayStation console that never released sold for $360,000. Now, its gamepad has sold for $35,000 at Heritage Auctions — a staggering sum for an item that looks like a Super Nintendo controller but has Sony and PlayStation logos on its body.

In the early 1990s, Nintendo announced a partnership with Sony. The companies planned to create a game console that could work with both Nintendo cartridges and Sony CDs. At the time, discs were considered cutting-edge technology because they offered 100 times more storage than traditional cartridges.

However, the collaboration did not last long and eventually Nintendo withdrew from the agreement and became Philips’ partner in the ill-fated Philips CD-i project. At the same time, Sony continued to develop the PlayStation console independently. However, in recent years, the Nintendo PlayStation console has reached the prototype stage, which has become an extremely rare and expensive collector’s item.

A few years after the end of the collaboration with Nintendo, the PlayStation logo was improved and Sony’s first and second generation consoles quickly overtook Nintendo’s devices. As for Nintendo’s PlayStation prototypes, 200 were produced, most of which were destroyed when the companies stopped working together. Therefore, every preserved prototype is of great value to collectors.