We first wrote about this mysterious console in a July 2015 article, and many doubted its authenticity. Soon after, it was confirmed that the “Nintendo PlayStation” worked without issues with Super NES cartridges, but it couldn't record anything through its optical drive. The hardware eventually came into Ben Heck's hands, and he showed us the inside of the system in lavish detail. After months of testing, adjustments, and replacements, the CD-ROM drive came back to life.
This is without a doubt one of the most important hardware discoveries of the decade. The stories of Nintendo and Sony always spoke of a collaboration attempt that ended badly, but all related work was thought lost until Dan and Terry Diebold found a prototype (or a development kit, depending on your point of view) inside a box meant for the trash. Almost two years later, the Nintendo PlayStation has received rock star treatment. It has traveled around the world and taken part in several conventions, yet the desire to see it fully functioning never faded. That is what led the console to Ben Heck and his team.
Their work on the Nintendo PlayStation was divided into several phases, and this time they reached the main goal: restoring its CD-ROM support.
The video starts with an analysis of the two integrated DACs and what appears to be a decoder chip, but the first solid signal from the drive came after Ben moved his flexible cables and replaced capacitors (something logical for any piece of hardware over twenty years old). The next step was adjusting the potentiometers to optimize reading, and loading two homebrew games made in an emulator: Super Boss Gaiden and Magic Floor. Super Boss Gaiden displayed an error message, while Magic Floor ran with some graphical issues.
Ben reported this to the developers, and it should be only a matter of time before they apply the necessary fixes. With more complete access to the functional hardware, the advantages are considerable. Computer archaeology, reverse engineering, programming… multiple forces have come together to repair the Nintendo PlayStation. I am convinced we are going to see much more of it.
