SNES Cd-Rom FAQ!!!

and here comes a little bump. ^^
just found this page http://maru-chang.com/hard/shvc/index.htm on the end of the page I found some little facts on the snes cd-rom
according to the translation:
"Adoption of a CD-XA standard The compatibility with CD-I is under examination.
It is used in piles downward. It connects with the bottom part (28PIN extension connector) of a main part.
It seems to be only for CD-ROMs. (CD for music cannot be used) "

so it seems like it could have been compatible with the CD-I too.. heh, that would be nice so we could play those zelda games

 

seems interesting... inever tought nintendo ever seriously planned compatibility

 

Whoa...I've got a real good feeling about him being the guy based on that info. Very interesting indeed.

-Rob

 

Anyone got any ideas on how to contact this guy?


-Rob

 

it's important to keep in mind that unlike the SNES' bottom slot , Nintendo chose to have an identical-to-the-top-drive almost system when designing the N64. This should indicate the various memory related issues etc. Also keep in mind that with the n64 when the 64DD is accessing the deck's memory, no other part of the system can. (it's a burst copy transmition strictly)

 

Sorry for the bump, but I just came across this picture:



Which I hadn't seen before.

Also, did anyone ever get any further with finding out about the unit that was shown at CGE?

 

h:h:h:h:h:h:h:h:h:h:h:h:h:h:h:h:h:h:h:h:h:h:h:h:h:h:h:h:h:h:h:h:h:h:h: what the hell is that pic ?

 

Think its an old picture. At least i think ive seen it before and it pops up in google images if you search for nintendo playstation.

I think this might of been printed in a magazine as a mock up of what the console would look like.

 

That pic is actually fairly common

But it is larger than the others I've seen, so you can actually make out the details

 

I hadn't seen much of the pre-SNESCD, but that is the first I have seen of that above picture.

Looks nice, I like!

 

I saw that in a magazine that was doing a retrospective on playstation or old consoels.

 

This post has been edited

 

A little addition:



HD pics here

One of the references (D324548) is one of the firsts Snes mock up

 

great find, really!

 

The controller that was with the so called SNESCD Dev kit

Here http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=64&f=G&l=50&d=PTXT&s1=(((game+AND+controller).CLTX.+or+(game+AND+controller).DCTX.)+AND+sony.ASNM.)&p=2&OS=aclm/(game+and+(controller))+and+an/sony&RS=(ACLM/(game+AND+controller)+AND+AN/sony)

 

I have one of the controllers. They really look like a bridge between the SNES and the PS1.

 

Would you mind sharing pics? And how did you acquire it, if you don't mind disclosing that information;-)

I've heard that Ken Kutagiri prefered this design, in fact he supposedly vehnomously disliked the final design.

 

As soon as I find it again I'll post a pic. Its currently buried pretty deep. Anyone else own any of these?

 

Some facts from a former Sony employee...

I gave the prototype CD-ROM attachment that is shown in the photos (and displayed at CGE) to Jerry. Where did I get it from? I used to be a Sony Imagesoft employee. During one of our moves from Beverly Hills to Santa Monica, this was earmarked for the trash. It shortly became apparent to me what it was.

The unit is as shown, a giant white front caddy loading CD development unit that plugs into the top of the SNES console (and is supported by missing pieces). The unit is not only large, but quite heavy. Without support, it tips the Super Famicom over (won't plug into a regular SNES because of the region cartridge locks that can obviously be removed). We had nothing else for it, everything else missing.

I kept it preserved in my office, eventually bringing it to our local classic game meets with Jerry when I moved to the Bay Area. Eventually I just gave it to Jerry.

Sony Imagesoft was earmarked to do development on it, and a small handful of titles had been started. One of those titles was "Hook" based on the movie, and was to be essentially what ended up being the cartridge version + CD music and movie clips. With the SNES CD cancelled, this work eventually made its way to the Sega CD instead.

As pointed out, the Digital Pictures titles were also earmarked for the SNES CD unit, but development never actually started on them for the CD, but the Sega CD instead.

Now, one title that has not been mentioned that I will mention here that was going to be exclusive for the SNES CD and be a potential pack in was a space shooter called Forteza. It was FMV backgrounds with an overlaid sprite based graphics. Think along the lines of 'Silpheed' for the Sega CD but with FMV real looking space graphics for the background. A video tape still exists of this game as well as a playable version. I am trying to get the tape from my former boss who has it, buried somewhere, but we'll find it and post it eventually.

As for the picture of the 'completed' Sony PlayStation (SNES) above, yes, 200 were made, and one (before I really knew about it, argh!) was sitting in our former presidents office in New York. That would be Olaf Olafsson, who is now at Time Warner. Anyway, I'm still trying to track this and other units down, but don't hold out much hope.

I hope this clears the air abit about that SNES CD prototype, who owns it, where it originated from, and some of the development history from Sony about it.

 

working prototypes aside, there were a number of display prototypes made with subtle differences, divided into two broad categories of design, from what I know, reflecting the different contracts made between Sony and Nintendo (first and third phase). Further to that, there are also prototypes of the Sony stand-alone-SNES-capable unit, as well as a silver/aluminum high-end-looking edutainment unit that was briefly showed at an expo, surrounded by various edu software titles such as Encarta if i m not mistaken.