On December 3, 1994, Sony’s very first PlayStation was released.
AFP
Since 1994, the first PlayStation and its four heirs have shaken up the world of video games and the uses of players. We look back on 30 years of anecdotes, controversies and funny episodes:
Release of the PlayStation in Japan, several months before the rest of the world (it will be released on September 9, 1995 in the United States and September 29, 1995 in Europe). It will sell more than 102 million copies.
The project began with Sony collaborating with Nintendo to add a CD-ROM drive to its Super Famicom console (Super Nintendo in the United States and Europe). Humiliated when Nintendo broke off this collaboration, Sony decided to launch its own machine. A prototype of the original console, never released, sold for $360,000 at auction in 2020.
Sony’s adoption of the CD instead of the cartridges used on Nintendo and Sega consoles reduced manufacturing costs and production times. Sony also offered cheaper development kits and charged fewer royalties than Nintendo.
“The gray color of the PlayStation was inspired by developers’ workstations, which also inspired the name of the console,” explains Hiroyuki Maeda, specialist in the history of video games. “Sony executives in the United States would have preferred black, considered more elegant, but the Japanese side categorically refused.”
For Sony, then inexperienced in the console field, “creating the gamepad was one of the biggest challenges. They would have produced more than 200 prototypes,” according to Mr. Maeda. The overall design has changed little over the years, “a sign that it was really well thought out.”
The success of the PlayStation is notably due to its games, such as “Ridge Racer”, which first enjoyed success in arcades, or “Metal Gear Solid”, an infiltration game with cinematic accents.
“Final Fantasy VII”, the first 3D episode of this saga which left Nintendo consoles for the first time, also served as an introduction to Japanese role-playing games for many Western players.
Release of the PlayStation 2 console, the biggest success in video game history (more than 160 million units sold).
The limited stocks at the release of the PS2 are far from sufficient to meet demand: in France, 70,000 consoles are available at launch, including 50,000 pre-reserved. The remaining copies are being snapped up, like at the Virgin Megastore on the Champs-Elysées in Paris, where the wait degenerates into fights.
One of the reasons for the PS2’s success was its ability to play DVD movies, at a time when dedicated players were still expensive and uncommon.
At the end of 2000, the American channel NBC claimed that Saddam Hussein’s Iraq had acquired 1,400 PS2s to use their powerful microprocessors in missile guidance systems.
The same year, the machine was, according to media reports, placed by the Japanese government on a list of sensitive items due to its advanced graphics processing capabilities, raising fears of military use.
Release of the PlayStation 3, which will sell 87 million copies.
PlayStation 4 released: more than 117 million consoles sold.
Sony is launching a “Pro” version of the PS4 in 2016, more powerful and more expensive, which will ultimately represent a little less than 15% of total console sales, according to unofficial figures. He reproduces the pattern in 2024 with an 800 euro version of his PS5.
Release of the PlayStation 5, which had sold some 65 million copies at the end of last September, according to Sony.
Due to disruptions in global supply chains linked to Covid-19, the PS5, like many other consoles, was rare on store shelves for many months, fueling a lucrative resale market for astronomical prices.
(afp)
