Update #2 [Wed 8th May, 2024 16:55 BST]: The auction has now been cancelled.
Update #1 [Wed 8th May, 2024 09:05 BST]: The auction for a super-rare Super Famicom prototype is approaching the $2 million mark with four days remaining on the clock.
At the time of writing, the auction has reached 300,000,000 yen (approx $1,932,000 / £1,548,000). The auction's starting value was 5,000 yen ($32 / £27). 576 bids have been tabled so far.
For reference, the SNES PlayStation – a prototype of a console that never actually saw release – fetched $360,000 back in 2020.
Original Story [Sun 5th May, 2024 19:55 BST]: A prototype Super Famicom / SNES console has gone up for auction in Japan.
The system is largely the same as the design which would eventually appear in Japan and Europe, save for the fact that it has a red power switch, an expansion port on the front (rather than on the bottom, as was the case with the final version) and a 3.5mm headphone socket and volume dial on the side.
It's currently up for auction on Yahoo Japan – at the time of writing, the price is 51,000 yen (around £270), but it's likely to sell for much more than that. A Nintendo 'development sample' sticker is still affixed.
This is just one iteration of the console; three other known variants exist, as seen in various magazines from the period:
The SNES would famously be redesigned for its North American release.