Meet the Unreleased PlayStation Pad with a PS1 Console Inside
▼ Summary
– Sony developed a prototype “PlayStation PUGA” controller that contained a full PS1 system, intended only for the Brazilian market.
– The device housed a TI-OMAP 3530 system-on-a-chip, ran on four AA batteries, and connected to a TV via composite cable.
– It would have come pre-loaded with ten PS1 games, similar to other plug-and-play micro-consoles from that era.
– The project was canceled because Sony’s licensing department could not agree on royalty terms for the pre-loaded games.
– Former Sony developer Brian Watson, who revealed the prototype, said he nearly left the company over the project’s cancellation.
Sony once came incredibly close to building an entire PlayStation 1 console inside a DualShock controller. That odd piece of gaming history has now been brought to light by a former Sony and DMA Design employee.
Brian “Biscuit” Watson, a veteran developer with more than four decades in the industry, revealed the unreleased hardware during an event at The Retro Collective museum in the UK. The device, known as the “PlayStation PUGA,” was designed exclusively for the Brazilian market and would have featured ten pre-loaded PS1 games. It strongly resembles the cheap plug-and-play micro-consoles from Atari, Capcom, and Namco that were popular about ten years ago.
According to Watson, the prototype (which is unfortunately no longer functional) was powered by a TI-OMAP 3530 system-on-a-chip with an ARM CPU and ran on four AA batteries. It connected to a television through a composite cable. “Yes, it’s a PlayStation controller, but it’s a PlayStation controller with PS1 inside of it,” Watson explained. “It worked off batteries; it was specifically for the Brazilian market, because they had import restrictions, so the consoles you could only get on the grey or black market there.”
So what killed the project? Watson points the finger at Sony’s internal bureaucracy. “The unfortunate problem is that Sony licensing couldn’t get their act together about the royalty terms for each of the games.” He felt strongly enough about the device’s potential that he “almost left Sony over that one.”
Watson’s long career includes work on classics like Lemmings, Turok 2: Seeds of Evil, Shadow Man, Re-Volt, and Medal of Honor: Rising Sun.
(Source: Timeextension.com)