Home Gaming Charity PS4 auction falls through, Sony pays up anyway

Charity PS4 auction falls through, Sony pays up anyway

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20thAnniversaryPS4

Remember last month, we told you that some silly human being had bid $128 000 on the first numbered unit from the very limited run of 20th anniversary edition PlayStation 4s? We figured it to be okay though; it was obviously somebody with more money than sense, and the proceeds would be going to charity anyway. Not so fast. Turns out the winning bidder hasn’t been able to cough up the cash, and the whole thing’s fallen through.

Sony has, as a result, put a stop to the auction. The story does however have a happy ending; Sony’s opted to pay the winning bid straight to charity, matching the bid as promised. That’s $256 000 going to Save the Children Japan from the auction, plus a fair bit more from a Twitter campaign that saw the company paying 20 Yen for each tweet. That’s really quite nice, innit?

It’s just about 3 Million South African Rands, which is just about enough for a single Nkandla firepool, 500 regular PlayStation 4s at the local price or around 117 647 Big Macs, as long as you skip the fries and the drinks.

The 20th anniversary unit with the #00001 serial number will now be displayed at Sony’s showroom in Ginza, Tokyo, starting February 21. Just 12 300 of the things were made, in a delightful old-school PlayStation One grey, making them quite highly sought-after collectible items. And you can’t have one, because they’re not available at retail – and as far as I’m aware, very few of them made their way in to the country. They’re available on eBay though, going for up to R35 000.

Yeah, I think I‘ll pass, thanks.

Last Updated: February 18, 2015

20 Comments

  1. Spathi

    February 18, 2015 at 14:40

    Even though it sucks that the auction fell through, it’s nice to read a feel good story. Well done Sony.

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      February 18, 2015 at 14:47

      Agreed.

      Reply

  2. Hammersteyn

    February 18, 2015 at 14:46

    Installed the 20 year anniversary theme. I still giggle at the PS1 boot up sound every time the PS4 starts.

    Reply

    • RinceThis

      February 18, 2015 at 14:56

      Memories!

      Reply

    • Izzy

      February 18, 2015 at 15:06

      Holy crap, the nostalgia! o.o This is amazing. xD I need to get this as well!

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        February 18, 2015 at 15:14

        The theme is free as well

        Reply

    • I_am_Duffman!

      February 18, 2015 at 16:13

      That loooong wait for the black screen… That takes me back

      Reply

    • Pieter Kruger

      February 18, 2015 at 16:42

      HaHaHa! “Computer”, oh how they’ve tried…..????

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        February 19, 2015 at 07:34

        More like, oh how far they’ve come. 20 years is pretty impressive

        Reply

  3. RinceThis

    February 18, 2015 at 14:55

    Well at least SONY has a happy ending… http://media0.giphy.com/media/uEjTTOwDELaQo/giphy.gif

    Reply

    • Blood Emperor Trevor

      February 18, 2015 at 15:07

      But now it costs $256k, damn inflation…

      Reply

  4. Axon1988

    February 18, 2015 at 15:25

    Who was the person? I wanna kick them in the shin.

    Reply

  5. Gr8_Balls_o_KFM_Fire

    February 18, 2015 at 15:50

    How do we know this wasn’t a grand staged event for feel good publicity?

    Reply

  6. Pieter Kruger

    February 18, 2015 at 16:03

    Wahahaha! My plan worked perfectly, getting Sony to buy their own console back at a ridiculous price! Yeah Yoshi, who’s laughing now? ????????????

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      February 18, 2015 at 16:14

      Save the Children Japan

      Reply

      • Pieter Kruger

        February 18, 2015 at 16:39

        From what, boredom caused by crappy games? LOL! Anyways, I heard the money went to the WWF? ????

        Reply

        • Speechless

          February 18, 2015 at 21:03

          Really? I have no words. All this time I just thought you are an Xbox fanboy troll, but this comment just makes you look like an asshole.

          Reply

        • Hammersteyn

          February 19, 2015 at 07:36

          I read otherwise in the article, maybe you should too. ????????????

          Reply

          • Dragoon of death

            February 19, 2015 at 08:23

            I don’t think he knows how to read after he sees the word Sony, his brain most likely does a 180 from human to troll at the mere sight of the word.

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