The PlayStation is celebrating its 30th anniversary. If the various game consoles have established themselves as safe values in the video game market, the launch of the very first PS One was not a painless one. Ken Kutaragi, its creator, now 74 years old, has already explained in the past how difficult it was for him to convince Sony executives of the future success of this device.
“A guaranteed failure”?
Quoted by AFP and relayed by Fortunethe latter thus confided: “Everyone told us we would fail. Most (Sony) executives were vehemently opposed”. The latter seemed to fear that this would tarnish the reputation of the Japanese giant as a producer of high-end electronics.
It must be said that at the time, video games clearly did not have a good press and they were regularly accused of dumbing down young people and making them violent. For their part, video game developers have also been quite skeptical about the PlayStation project.
Ken Kutaragi thus evokes a “icy reaction” during the first contacts. It seemed to them in fact “unthinkable” to produce 3D games while most of their rivals, notably Nintendo, preferred to stay on 2D.
Nintendo-Sony clash
Thirty years ago, Sony and Nintendo worked together to create a CD-ROM player compatible with the Super Nintendo console. Sony continued to use this technology to launch its PlayStation.
Nintendo eventually backtracked and preferred to team up with Philips. Sony is having a hard time with this, as Ken Kutaragi explained: “The newspapers said it was bad for us. It was inevitable that we and Nintendo would go our separate ways, because our approaches were completely different.”.
He then continues to bet on his idea despite the skepticism that surrounds him. Sony can also say thank you. The term PlayStation is clearly established in the imagination to the point that it is synonymous with games console. As for the five versions of these devices, several hundred million copies have been sold.
What to remember:
- PlayStation celebrates its 30th anniversary
- On this occasion, its creator, Ken Kutaragi, returned to its development
- Most executives and developers believed it was a flop
