Shuhei Yoshida says Nintendo helped create PlayStation by cancelling Super NES collaboration

Former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida has reflected on the cancelled partnership between Nintendo and Sony in the early 1990s, saying the move indirectly helped create one of Nintendo’s biggest rivals.

In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz (via Time Extension), Yoshida discussed how Nintendo’s decision to abandon its collaboration with Sony on a joint console — often referred to as the “Nintendo PlayStation” — ultimately allowed Sony to establish itself as a dominant force in gaming.

“It was almost helpful that Nintendo cancelled the project – otherwise the Sony team would have been stuck as part of a Nintendo system,” Yoshida said.

The collaboration initially aimed to produce a Super NES system equipped with a Sony-designed CD-ROM drive.

However, Nintendo abruptly switched partners to Philips, resulting in the failed CD-i console and several poorly received games featuring Mario and Zelda characters.

Sony, meanwhile, took its CD-ROM technology and developed the first PlayStation, which launched in 1994 and went on to outsell the Nintendo 64 by a significant margin.

“Nintendo created their big competition,” Yoshida continued. “But competition is always healthy. Now, Xbox, Nintendo, PlayStation seem to be going in very different directions, and I think that’s great for the overall industry.”

Yoshida also revealed that the original prototype was close to completion before the deal fell apart. “The system was already done and almost ready for manufacturing, and a few games were already finished,” he said.

“I played one game that was a space shooter, but still it was based on Super Nintendo tech, right? So it was limited.”

Prototypes of the cancelled console are now considered some of the rarest gaming hardware in existence, with one unit reportedly sold at auction for over $300,000.