What you may not know is that birthing the first PlayStation was no easy feat - not just because of the enormous technical challenges associated with building a powerful, cutting-edge console capable of producing sophisticated 3D graphics - but also, crucially, because the project had to be navigated through the political minefield of an enormous electronics company a company that was being asked to dive into an established market against two highly-entrenched companies that each had widely-recognised and beloved game franchises of their own.Īlthough many people worked on the PlayStation project, the credit ultimately - and appropriately - goes to Ken Kutaragi, the man often dubbed “father of the PlayStation”. We know, of course, that the fabled add-on never launched and that Sony ultimately decided to go their own way and develop their own console. Sony had famously tried to enter the industry by partnering with an established player (they signed a contract with Nintendo to produce a CD-ROM add-on for the wildly-popular Super Nintendo Entertainment System). Building a video game console is always an enormous challenge, especially so in the context within which the first PlayStation was born. The original PlayStation console was released in Japan in 1994, and in other major territories in 1995. So it makes sense, in turn, that millions of gamers grew up viewing PlayStation in this way. I recognise, though, that there’s a generation older than me (if you can believe it!) who feel this way about Atari rather than Nintendo or Sega. I grew up with Nintendo and Sega as the major pillars of video games - to me, they almost feel like the mother and father of the industry. It’s rather remarkable, then, to be sitting here, writing an article about PlayStation’s 25 years on the scene. For example, there’s a part of me that still sees Sony and the PlayStation as a relatively new presence in the industry. Next year, I’ll be 37 years old this is notable because when I discuss games with others - especially the lovely folks who write for Super Jump - I am immediately reminded that the era in which we grow up greatly informs our overall view of the major players. Like an increasing number of people around the world, I grew up with video games. In some respects, it still feels like a very young industry, and one that is continually pushing at the boundaries as it grows into adulthood - artistically, technologically, and even conceptually (the very definition of “video game” is debatable in some quarters today, depending on the title you’re referring to).Īs gamers, we each have deep personal experiences with this medium. Twenty five years is almost an eternity in the video games.
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