Forbes has revealed that the Nintendo PlayStation prototype has been sold to the founder of the original Pets.com and Toys.com websites, Greg McLemore.
McLemore, an entrepreneur in his early 50s, beat Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey with a winning bid of $360,000. In an exclusive interview with Forbes, McLemore revealed that he’s been collecting gaming and entertainment memorabilia for 20 years and plans to create a museum. His collection includes “strength-testing machines” from the 1880s, coin-operated horse rides from the 1920s, and the first commercially sold Computer Space game from 1971.
With over 800 coin-operated machines, the aforementioned antiques, and countless other memorabilia, McLemore certainly has enough for a museum.
“I’m interested in sharing my passion for gaming,” McLemore told Forbes. “One of my areas of focus is the evolution of gaming, including how earlier arcade games inspired video games and how early video games influenced later innovation. I believe the Nintendo PlayStation fits in well with this focus.”
McLemore revealed that he attempted to buy the Nintendo PlayStation prototype from Terry and Dan Diebold for $100,000 a few years ago. $360,000 might sound like a big number to many, but it’s considerably less than the $1.2 million that the Diebolds were offered by someone in Norway – an offer that they strangely turned down, only to end up auctioning the console off and settling for a fraction of that amount.
The Nintendo PlayStation was originally owned by Olaf Olafsson, who founded Sony Computer Entertainment in 1991 and served as its first president and chief executive officer. It’s now the single most expensive video game item ever sold.
[Source: Forbes]
