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. "Everybody who joined [Ken Kutaragi]'s team around that time, the first thing they showed us was that Nintendo Sony PlayStation, like a prototype already working," Yoshida stated. He even played an almost finished game on the system his first day.

Yoshida described the game as similar to a contemporary space shooter, possibly Silpheed for the Sega CD, which streamed assets from the CD. He couldn't recall the developer's identity or the game's origin (U.S. or Japan). However, regarding the game's potential survival in Sony's archives, he expressed optimism: "I wouldn't be surprised...it was like a CD, so… yeah."

The Nintendo PlayStation remains a highly sought-after collector's item due to its unreleased status, representing a fascinating "what-if" scenario in gaming history. Its prototype has frequently appeared in auctions and among collectors.

The prospect of this Sony-developed space shooter seeing release is intriguing, given Nintendo's own precedent of releasing Star Fox 2 years after its cancellation. Perhaps this lost piece of gaming history could one day resurface.