30 years of Playstation How an act of revenge turned Sony into a gaming heavyweight

At the beginning of the 90s, Sony had no plans to build its own games console. It was a failed deal with Nintendo that led to the launch of the successful Playstation.

The first Sony Playstation did not exactly receive much praise when it was launched 30 years ago. Critics of the Japanese consumer electronics company put forward a number of arguments as to why the games console could not compete with the quasi-monopolists Sega and Nintendo. Technically, the first Sony console was superior to the devices of its powerful competitors. But with Nintendo and Sega, players could choose from hundreds of games each, whereas Sony only had a good handful of titles in its program.

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Sony also lacked a strong distribution base when it launched in Japan on December 3, 1994. At that time, the company was mainly present with televisions and stereo systems in traditional electronics and hi-fi stores. However, the successful models of the competition - above all the Gameboy and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) from Nintendo and the Mega Drive from Sega - were sold in toy stores, where Sony was not represented at all up to this point.

Failed deal with Nintendo

The fact that Sony was unable to optimally prepare the market launch of the Playstation in 1994 has to do with its unusual history. As a major producer of consumer electronics, which was particularly successful with video recorders and the Walkman, the Sony Corporation stayed away from games consoles. It was not until the late 1980s that Sony agreed a joint venture with Nintendo to develop a CD-ROM drive for their SNES console.

However, a conflict over software licenses quickly clouded the collaboration. In 1991, Nintendo snubbed its partner Sony and teamed up with Philips for the CD drive. Sony did not let this disgrace go unanswered for long. CEO Norio Ohga ordered the failed cooperation project to be continued as an independent system. He gave his employee Ken Kutaragi, who had previously developed a console on his own, a free hand. The Sony engineer thus became the "father of the Playstation".

Rapid sales success

On December 3, 1994, the first Playstation with eight games went on sale in Japan. It cost 39,800 yen, the equivalent of around 450 German marks (230 euros). Around 100,000 Sony consoles were sold on the very first day, and after six months two million units had been sold. Sales began in the USA on September 9, 1995, followed by Europe on September 29. In Germany, the console cost just under 600 DM (306 euros). Two years later, Sony was the market leader.

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The reasons for its success: the built-in CD-ROM drive offered ample storage space, so that the games could become increasingly complex. Although the images were blurred and blocky by today's standards, the graphics set new standards for the time. In addition, certain software titles proved to be extremely popular. Some of the most successful titles on the first Playstation include today's classics "Ridge Racer" from 1994, "Tomb Raider" and "Crash Bandicoot" from 1996 and "Gran Turismo" from 1997.

Since the market launch 30 years ago, Sony has sold over 102 million units of the first Playstation generation. Sony also managed to skillfully use price reductions to undercut competitors at the right time. Sega withdrew from consoles in 2001. Nintendo stayed and launched the global hit Pokémon Go in 2016.

Number 1 in the bestseller list

The Playstation 2, which was launched in 2000, topped the success of the first generation in a historic dimension: with almost 159 million units, it is still the best-selling console of all time - ahead of the Nintendo DS (154 million), the Nintendo Switch (143 million) and the Playstation 4 with 117 million units sold. The Playstation 2 introduced the DVD drive, which also made it attractive as a home theater device. Games such as "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" (2001) and "Sing Star" from 2004 and "God of War" from 2005 also contributed to its success.

In 2004, Sony then ventured into the mobile gaming market with the Playstation Portable, which has since sold almost 83 million units. The most important innovation of the Playstation 3 (2006) was the introduction of the DVD successor to Blu-Ray and the launch of the online gaming platform, the Playstation Network. With the Playstation 4 (2013) and Playstation 5 (2020), Sony then focused on further improved graphics, faster loading times and certain exclusive titles.

During the coronavirus pandemic, the latest model became a symbol of global supply chain problems. Sony was unable to produce the desired quantities of the PS5 for many months. The bottlenecks then led to PS5 consoles often being offered at inflated prices by resellers, which further increased gamers' frustration. Sony was only able to fully resolve the supply chain problems last year.

Games industry in transition

However, Sony not only has to face the logistical challenges, because the games industry is in the midst of a transformation. The future does not belong to a single device, says Felix Falk, Managing Director of game, the German games industry association. "Because as diverse as the games world and the interests of its community are, the possibilities for playing games will be just as diverse in the future."

Falk points to the great successes in mobile gaming. The smartphone has become the most widely used gaming platform. "Mobile games are available anytime and anywhere and offer a huge variety - even technically sophisticated titles are now being played with and against each other on cell phones." At the same time, the boundaries between the individual platforms are becoming increasingly blurred. This is demonstrated by developments such as cross-platform gaming, i.e. on a cell phone, tablet, PC or console. But the range of cloud gaming is also constantly growing, allowing PC and console games to be played on different platforms.

dpa