Heritage Auctions has sold the “Nintendo Play Station” prototype console for $360,000 in their Comics and Comic Art Signature Auction, setting a new record for the most expensive item of video game memorabilia ever sold publicly.

This prototype, a collaboration between Nintendo and Sony, was once thought to be an urban legend; allegedly, only 200 such consoles were ever made, and it is believed that the others were destroyed. Sony and Nintendo worked on the Play Station console in an attempt to bring CD-ROM technology to Nintendo’s family of home consoles, though the two companies had a falling out after Nintendo instead chose to partner with Philips – eventually leading Sony to develop their own line of home consoles beginning with the PlayStation. The console is in working condition, and can play both Super Famicom/Super Nintendo cartridges as well as music CDs via the disc drive. This is a one of a kind piece of gaming history that may not be crossing an auction block again for quite some time.

“This was an exceptional auction that further strengthened Heritage’s position as the premier auction platform for comics, comic art and video games,” Heritage Co-Chairman Jim Halperin said. “Comic art, in particular, fared well, and the demand for the Play Station console reflected its importance in the evolution of video games and gaming systems.”

At one time, this particular unit was owned by the founder, first president, and first chief executive officer of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. Olaf Olafsson. Olafsson eventually left Sony to join Advanta Corporation, and became its president in 1998. A little over a year later, Olafsson left Advanta to join Time Warner – but he left his Nintendo PlayStation prototype behind at Advanta. Roughly around this time, Advanta filed for bankruptcy and began gathering up everything in their corporate office to sell at auction. As the story goes, the Nintendo Play Station prototype was grouped together with some miscellaneous items that was boxed up with a group lot, the contents of which were veiled.

Other notable video game lots sold by Heritage in this auction have so far included Stadium Events WATA 9.2 A+ for $66,000, Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! WATA 8.5 A for $45,600, Super Mario Bros. WATA 9.8 A+ for $20,400, Chrono Trigger WATA 9.0 A++ for $11,400, and Secret of Mana WATA 9.8 A+ for $10,200, among others.

Wata Games President Deniz Kahn shared his thoughts on the continued success graded video games have had on the auction block as of late.

“What we’re seeing become solidified is the importance of condition rarity and grade, as well as the attraction of characters and key titles. 9.8s and 9.6s are commanding huge premiums, as they should, but we are only just beginning to see massive jumps at those levels. Likewise, early printings such as Hangtabs or the no Rev-a Tyson for popular games, which were already desirable before the recent growth in the market, have more than sustained their desirability with new collector audiences and are performing tremendously… perhaps too well,” he said. “With that we are also seeing a tapering off with certain titles that were historically considered rare. It seems that once you pass the $10,000 mark, those willing to spend the big bucks are focusing on ‘keys’ as they relate to popular culture and their significance in it as a whole, not just to rarity and significance among video game collectors. I was surprised to see that the day a sealed Mike Tyson’s Punch Out!! sells for more than a sealed Little Samson, and close to the old selling price of a sealed Stadium Events, has arrived. Overall I think prices are strong. Coupled with the distribution in this last sale, I think there is a lot of room to grow on the majority of titles – similarly, I believe some areas that are white hot will cool off in the medium term.”