In the late 80’s and 90’s Nintendo was on the back foot to the Sega MegaDrive. Sega had the lead and also a lot of add-ons and functionality that Nintendo didn’t. Sega was the console aimed at the teens and was seen as the cooler brand. Nintendo knew it had to mix it up and get with the future and back in the early 90’s CD-ROMs were the future and seen as a desirable bit of kit for every gamer with a center parting. Nintendo wanted to get into the mix and release an add-on to the super Nintendo to show off cutting edge graphics, and so, it turned to Sony to manufacture the CD drive that would serve as both an add-on but also as a standalone console that could also run Sony licensed CD-ROM discs – and you think todays console market with PS4 PRO and XBOX ONE S variants is confusing!
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| The Identical Controller and Similar Console Shape Carry Across To Sony’s Effort |
The date was set, June 1991 was supposed to be the time to unveil the project to the press and public. Prior to this date though, Nintendo must have finally given the contract they signed a read and quickly decided they wanted out of the deal. They felt that the console they were working on with Sony, benefited Sony substantially more due to Sony having complete control over the Super Disc format they were developing. Sony carried on production of the system until June 1991 when Nintendo stepped out on stage at the Consumer Electronics Show. The Nintendo PlayStation was about to be revealed but instead of introducing the new project from Sony, Nintendo did a full swerve and announced a new deal with Phillips.
