User:DecafPotato/drafts/Super NES CD-ROM

The Super NES CD-ROM System is an unreleased add-on for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES).

History and development
In the 1980s, Nintendo dominated the video game console market. After CD-ROM technology emerged in 1985, Nintendo signed a contract with Sony in 1988 to develop a CD-ROM add-on for a future Nintendo video game console. CD-ROM technology had first been integrated into a video game system in 1988, when the CD-ROM² add-on released for the TurboGrafx-16 in Japan. Sony research and development engineer Ken Kutaragi previously initiated a collaboration between Sony and Nintendo that involved Sony producing the sound chip for Nintendo's Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Super NES), released in 1990. The partnership was a success, and Kutaragi proposed a second partnership with Nintendo to expand the Super NES with a CD drive add-on, offering increased processing power and speed, storage, and sound capabilities.

Nintendo and Sony publicly announced their partnership for the Super NES CD drive in February 1991. Sony would retain all licensing rights to the games developed for the system, and would be able to develop and sell a dedicated CD-ROM system capable of reading Super NES cartridges.

IGN PlayStation history; Kotaku; IGN; VentureBeat; Video Games Chronicle