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| It had virtually no experience in videogames, but knew exactly what it was doing. Edge examines Sony's remodelling of the interactive entertainment landscape |
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Tokyo,
December 3 1994. An assuming vehicle with a Sony logo emblazoned on
its side cruises along the main street in the Akihabara consumer electronics
district. From behind its tinted windows, Sony officials attempt to
gauge the hysteria surrounding the arrival of their latest wonderchild,
the PlayStation. They frown. The gaming otakus are out in force, but
there's no doubt that more punters were waving Yen for the launch of
Sega's Saturn system two weeks earlier. The first round belonged to
the veterans. Perhaps Sony knew what was to come. Maybe the megacorp's
experience with innovations like the Walkman and the Compact Disc gave
it a foresight that others lacked. But could it have really expected
to make such an an impact? 30 million consoles sold worldwide (two
million in the UK alone) to an untapped market of twenty-somethings
who had largely stopped playing games in the mid-eighties? PlayStations
in clubs and its games on the cover of 'The Face'? Titles like Tekken
3 and Metal Gear solid still whetting gamer's appetites
some three years after the system's launch? It's a remarkable success
story.
Side-stepping
Nintendo
The
PlayStation was forged in a fire of corporate infighting, technological
innovation and freak historical accidents. Considering it began life
as a CD upgrade for a 16bit console, its status today is all the more
remarkable.
PlayStation
arose in the midst of the legendary SNES-versus-MegaDrive wars. Sega
was desperate to expand its worldwide lead over Nintendo's |
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1983
Sony
develops System G, real-time graphics technology for TV image manipulation.
Ken Kutaragi joins the proiect in 1985 and works on Nintendo's SNES
sound chip (right).
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1988
Sony
and Nintendo begin to collaborate on a CD-ROM drive which would sit
under the Super Famicom (SNES) prior to the 16bit console's launch
in 1990.
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1991-1992
Meanwhile,
Sony also works on a SNES-compatible CD/cart console (artist's impression
right) to be called the Sony PlayStation. Nintendo backs out of the
deal.
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