Key Takeaways
- Sony executives doubted the success of the original PlayStation because, despite its huge success, other companies had failed to release successful consoles of their own.
- Ken Kuturagi has received skepticism from industry veterans about the PS1 launch, including representatives internal to Sony.
- However, the console was a huge success, with the PS5 outselling the Xbox Series X/S and the dominance of the PlayStation brand continuing even today.
Ken Kuturagi, former president of Sony Interactive Entertainment, recently revealed that many people at Sony believed in the original story. playstation You will fail. Considering how successful the PlayStation brand has been over the years, this is a pretty surprising statement.
The PlayStation 1 was released in Japan in 1994 and in North America in 1995. The fifth generation console competed directly with the Nintendo 64 and Sega Saturn, far surpassing both platforms. PlayStation has sold over 102 million units, surpassing the PS2, PS4, Game Boy, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo DS. This debut also marks the beginning of Sony's dominance in the console market, which had been dominated by Nintendo in the previous two generations. However, the widely successful project was not given much confidence even by Sony executives for a while.
Earlier this week, Ken Kuturagi spoke at the Tokyo Game Show about the major challenges of entering the console market with the first PlayStation. In 1993, Kuturagi led the PS1 development team, and wanted to “share the enthusiasm” for the project by talking to many people in different countries in the industry before its release. However, the SIE team responded negatively, with many executives telling them not to release the console because “several companies” had released consoles but were not successful. Kuturagi went so far as to say, “Even within Sony, no one believed we would succeed.”
Ken Kutaragi claims that many people didn't think PlayStation would succeed.
Even within Sony, no one believed we would succeed.
Ironically, the PS1 was a huge hit, and the PlayStation 1 not only had a ton of exclusive games, but also won the console war for the second straight generation. Kuturagi stayed with the company until 2007, overseeing the successful launch of the PS2, and left the company after the PS3 failed to achieve the same popularity.
Even today, gamers still fondly remember some classic PS1 games, such as the original PS1 games. final fantasy 7, metal gear solid, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Gran Turismoand others. The same goes for the PlayStation 2, which eventually became the best-selling console of all time.
30 years after the PS1 was released, playstation The brand continues to go from strength to strength. It is estimated that the PS5 will sell significantly more than the Xbox Series X/S. It sold approximately 61.7 million units compared to 28.3 million units for Microsoft's console. A world in which Ken Kuturagi and his team abandoned the PS1 launch due to comments from executives would be a completely different gaming market than the one that exists today. Luckily for all PlayStation fans, that wasn't the case.
PlayStation (original)
The PlayStation, also known as the PS1 or PS One, was Sony's first official foray into the console wars with Nintendo. It belongs to the fifth generation of video game consoles and is a competitor to the Nintendo 64 and Sega Saturn.
- brand
- sony
- original release date
- September 9, 1995
- Original MSRP (USD)
- $299, £299
- weight
- 3.2 pounds
