Cancellation of Super NES CD-ROM

The Super NES CD-ROM System (SNES-CD), also known as Super Famicom CD-ROM Adapter in Japan and Nintendo PlayStation, is an unreleased video game peripheral for the mh:awesomegames:Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

The SNES-CD add-on was developed as a result of partnership between Nintendo and Sony. The platform was planned to be launched as an add-on for the standard SNES, as well as a hybrid console by Sony called the PlayStation.

History
Sony engineer Ken Kutaragi became interested in working with video games after seeing his daughter play games on the Famicom. He took on a contract at Sony for developing hardware that would drive the audio subsystem of Nintendo's next console, the SNES. Kutaragi secretly developed the chip, the Sony SPC 700. As Sony was uninterested in the video game business, most of his superiors did not approve of the project, but Kutaragi found support in Sony executive Norio Ohga and the project was allowed to continue. The success of the project spurred Nintendo to enter into a partnership with Sony to develop both a CD-ROM add-on for the Super NES and a Sony-branded console that would play both SNES cartridges, as well as games released for the new Super Disc format.

Development of the format started in 1988, when Nintendo signed a contract with Sony to produce a CD-ROM add-on for the SNES. The system was to be compatible with existing SNES titles as well as titles released for the Super Disc format.Under their agreement, Sony would develop and retain control over the Super Disc format, with Nintendo thus effectively ceding a large amount of control of software licensing to Sony.

Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi was already wary of Sony at this point and deemed it unacceptable, as Sony was the sole provider of the audio chip, the S-SMP, used in the SNES and required developers to pay for an expensive development tool from Sony. Furthermore, Yamauchi started to see a more favorable partner in Philips. Philips was also one of Sony's biggest rivals in the entire industry. So in order to counter the proposed agreement, Yamauchi sent Nintendo of America president Minoru Arakawa and executive Howard Lincoln to the Netherlands to negotiate a more favorable contract with Philips. At the June 1991 Consumer Electronics Show, Sony announced its SNES-compatible cartridge/CD console, the "PlayStation".The next day, Nintendo revealed its partnership with Philips at the show—a surprise to the entire audience, including Sony.

While Nintendo and Sony attempted to sort out their differences, between two and three hundred prototypes of the PlayStation were created,and software for the system was being developed. In 1992, a deal was reached allowing Sony to produce SNES-compatible hardware, with Nintendo retaining control and profit over the games. The two organizations never repaired the rift between them and by the next year, Sony had dropped further development of the Super NES CD-ROM, and instead refocused its efforts on developing its own console for the next generation of consoles which became known as the PlayStation.

Legacy
After the original contract with Sony failed, Nintendo continued its partnership with Philips. This contract provisioned Philips with the right to feature Nintendo's characters in a few games for its CD-i multimedia device, but never resulted in a CD-ROM add-on for the SNES. Witnessing the poor reception of the Sega CD, Nintendo cancelled plans for the add-on.The Nintendo-themed CD-i games were very poorly received, and the CD-i itself is considered a commercial failure.

Kutaragi and Sony continued to develop their own console and released the PlayStation in December 1994 in Japan and September in North America and Europe the following year. The CD-based console successfully competed with Nintendo's cartridge-based Nintendo 64 and other CD-based console systems, causing it to become the console leader due to its success. The broken partnership with Sony has often been cited as a mistake on Nintendo's part, effectively creating a formidable rival in the video game market.

Nintendo would not release an optical disc-based console of its own until the release of the GameCube in 2001.