Skip to main content

Fans develop first-ever game for prototype 'Nintendo PlayStation'

Months after a one-of-a-kind “Nintendo PlayStation” console was discovered and restored to working condition, diehard SNES fans have crafted a homebrew game compatible with Nintendo’s unreleased SNES CD-ROM peripheral.

Developed by German coders “Chrono Moogle” and “Dieter Lazer,” Super Boss Gaiden has been confirmed to interface with prototype Nintendo PlayStation hardware via emulation, making it the first-ever game to take advantage of SNES CD-ROM technology.

Recommended Videos

Satirizing the recent public unveiling of the Nintendo PlayStation, Super Boss Gaiden puts players in control of a Sony executive sent into a violent rage after learning that unlicensed software has been created for the scrapped SNES CD-ROM add-on. Players spend the next several levels beating up everyone and everything in their way as they attempt to track down those responsible for the Nintendo PlayStation’s current wave of popularity.

Super Boss Gaiden is available as a free download that includes both ROM and SuperDisc versions of the game. The ROM edition is playable using stock Super NES emulators and on original SNES hardware using aftermarket flash cartridges. The SuperDisc version can be burned to CD-R and booted with no$sns, which is thus far the only software emulator to feature Nintendo PlayStation support via a recently dumped BIOS file.

Players expecting a vastly superior CD-ROM experience may be disappointed, however, as Super Boss Gaiden‘s ROM and SuperDisc versions are largely identical. After examining the Nintendo PlayStation in detail following its discovery, hardware experts found that the peripheral would not have had a significant impact on SNES game development beyond increased storage capacity.

Regardless, Super Boss Gaiden offers a fascinating glimpse at what SNES CD-ROM games may have looked like, had the peripheral entered production. Given that hardware emulation is already stable enough to support fully fledged games, it’s likely that more Nintendo PlayStation homebrew releases will follow in the future.

Danny Cowan
Former Contributor
Danny’s passion for video games was ignited upon his first encounter with Nintendo’s Duck Hunt, and years later, he still…
3 new PlayStation Plus games to play this weekend (June 6-8)
Faux getting huge air in Bomb Rush Cyberfunk.

We're fully in showcase season with SGF 2025 starting today and a surprise State of Play happening earlier this week with tons of upcoming PS5 games shown off. Oh, and there's a little console called the Nintendo Switch 2 that just came out as well. But if you're a PlayStation faithful, you will need some games to play this weekend between showcases and while waiting for Death Stranding 2. Last week we got an early drop of PlayStation Plus games, but there's even more that just hit the service this week you might've forgotten about. I've picked out a fresh batch of brand new games you can get lost in over the weekend, so let's get to it.

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk

Read more
3 new PlayStation Plus games to play this weekend (May 30-June 1)
Key art for Destiny 2: The Final Shape. It shows three characters standing in front of an orange sky.

Under normal circumstances, we would have to wait until next week to get our drop of new PlayStation Plus games, but this is a special occasion. We're currently right at the start of the Days of Play event where Sony celebrates with tons of community events and huge discounts on PS5 games and accessories. The icing on the cake is that we're not only getting four new games for Essential members, but an additional four for Extra and two more for Premium, with several already available. That's a lot to keep up with if you weren't prepared for it, which is where I come in. We will have to wait for most of the games until Tuesday, but here are a few new games you can start playing over this weekend to start the celebrations early.

Destiny 2: The Final Shape

Read more
3 new PlayStation Plus games to play this weekend (May 23-25)
The King's son Beelzebub and his assistant Thief excited while out in the desert.

There's nothing better than an extended weekend to treat yourself to some guilt-free gaming time. Memorial Day means a ton of us get a whole extra day to chill out and explore the best games on PlayStation Plus, which just so happen to have added a huge chunk of titles. We've got multiple dangerous open world games, RPGs, and more to pick from, making this one of the hardest weeks I've had in narrowing down my recommendations to just three. That's a great problem to have and only means you will easily find a game that clicks with you. Even though we've got a three-day weekend, there's no time to waste, so here are the three best new PlayStation Plus games you need to be playing.

Sand Land

Read more