Sony should never have released a console, but this December 3 is celebrating the 30th anniversary of its very first Playstation. A success in the form of revenge for someone who should not have been.
If Nintendo had had some flair and perhaps not rested too much on its laurels, confining its rivalry to Sega alone, the world of video games would perhaps have been changed and we would never have talked about Playstation. However, it is Sony’s home console which is celebrating its 30th birthday this December 3. Three decades to become the queen of video games when she never should have been. A success that it owes largely to Nintendo…
The Playstation should never have existed
Originally, Play Station was a joint project with the big name of the time, Nintendo. He asked Sony, a CD player specialist, to create a CD-ROM player to accompany the Super Nintendo and offer it new possibilities by transferring video games to disc for more space. In 1991, the two Japanese companies signed a partnership. But Nintendo will ultimately reverse its decision and plant its Tokyo sidekick.
The Nintendo Play Station will not see the light of day, the Playstation will. Sony keeps its project in mind and, determined to take its revenge, its president Norio Ohga asks his teams to continue the work. The living room console made in Sony was born on December 3, 1994, trying to do everything to stand out from its now rival in Kyoto and make video games cooler and more adult. The Playstation will even have the luxury of being available in colorful collector’s versions (blue, black, white, gold, Men in Black, etc.).
A controller inspired by airplanes
First desired differentiating element, the controller. Sony didn’t want a flat or square controller that was fashionable at the time. Creating the controller would have been one of the biggest challenges for the teams who would have developed more than 200 prototypes. Because the president of Sony, a great aviation enthusiast, had requested a controller reminiscent of airplane yokes.
According to him, the idea of a controller with two grips and fingertip controls without letting go would work perfectly for gaming. The DualShock arrived in 1997, refining the concept and adding joysticks, vibrations, a touchpad, etc. over time, but without fundamentally changing the original design.
Sony chooses symbols rather than letters for its controller
A design to stand out — and generalize a concept — but not only that. The Playstation controller also had to distinguish itself from Nintendo by its controls. And this is notably one of the reasons which pushed Sony to opt for symbols rather than letters for the control buttons, then in force at Nintendo and Sega. This is how the idea of the square, the cross, the circle and the triangle was born.
However, these symbols were not chosen at random. The triangle symbolized the eye that looks (point of view), the cross the place to go and therefore validation, the circle to go back, and the square (similar to a leaf) would be used for additional information, to be sent back on the menu or a card.
Crash Bandicoot and his Japanese double to counter Mario
The Playstation never really had a mascot. Or rather several (Toro, Lara Croft, Astro, etc.). Among these, Crash Bandicoot was a sort of first ambassador of the home console. However, Ken Kuratagi, the father of the Playstation, did not appreciate the character created by Naughty Dog, wanted to be irreverent and more mature to face the sanitized side of Mario. Kuratagi found it too immature when he wanted his console to appeal to young adults.
However, Crash will be a hit all over the world with his spinning tops, his incomprehensible speech and his improbable face, the perfect anti-star in the face of Nintendo’s idol. He appeals to almost everyone. Japan remains indifferent to its charm and its features. Sony then decided to remodel it for the local market. The visuals then present it with more rounded features, less hair, less graphically aggressive and closer to local kawaii criteria.
A handheld for the PS1
Long before the PSP, the PS Vita or the Playstation Portal, Sony had already understood that a remote screen in addition to its console could be interesting. The Japanese manufacturer then came up with the idea of the Pocket Station, a sort of miniature portable console. There is a monochrome LCD screen, control buttons, a memory card that can also be plugged into the PS1, and even a mini speaker. Everything runs on batteries.
Several games will thus be compatible to play in parallel, improve the skills of your characters, add functions, etc. (Crash Bandicoot, Gran Turismo 2, Spyro…). This looks like an easy to carry Tamagochi. But it did not experience the expected success, sold in 1999 exclusively in Japan.
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