PlayStation Canceled Game Surfaces in Interview

Former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida recently shared insights into his experience with the unreleased Nintendo PlayStation prototype, including playing a nearly completed game developed for the cancelled console.

In a MinnMax interview, Yoshida recounted his career at Sony, starting with his early work alongside Ken Kutaragi, the "father of PlayStation." Joining Kutaragi's team in February 1993, during the original PlayStation's development, Yoshida and other new recruits were introduced to the Nintendo PlayStation prototype. He described it as a functional prototype with an almost finished game already installed.

Yoshida played this game on his first day. He likened it to a contemporary space shooter, possibly Silpheed for the Sega CD, highlighting its use of CD-based assets. While he couldn't recall the developer's identity or the game's origin (U.S. or Japan), he expressed optimism about its potential survival in Sony's archives, given its CD-ROM format.

The Nintendo PlayStation remains a highly sought-after collector's item, a testament to its unreleased status and the "what-if" scenario it represents for Nintendo and Sony. Its rarity has fueled significant interest in auctions and among collectors.

The possibility of this Sony-developed space shooter seeing the light of day is intriguing, especially considering Nintendo's own release of Star Fox 2 years after its cancellation. Perhaps this lost piece of gaming history could one day be unearthed.