Sony PlayStation
Developer: Sony
Year Released: 1994
Generation: 5th
The PlayStation began in 1998 when Sony and Nintendo worked on a joint project to create a CD ROM drive for the unreleased Super Famicon (SNES). They made actual working prototypes, and even introduced them at the Consumer Electronics Show in 1991. However one day after the show, Nintendo dissolved their partnership with Sony and chose to go with Phillips instead (their partnership also eventually broke down).
The broken contract infuriated Sony president Norio Ohga, who responded by appointing Ken Kutargi with the responsibility of developing the PlayStation project to rival Nintendo. Sony channeled the experience gained from developing for everybody else into its own console. They had the money and marketing muscle, but more importantly, they had both the machinery and the software to go with it. After a few years of development, Sony came up with the PlayStation. They used the technology from the cancelled SNES, upgraded it, and built upon it so much that they managed to create their own innovative console that was clearly capable of competing with Nintendo and Sega. Its 2D graphics outstripped those of the SNES, it’s 3D graphics were as good as or better than Sega’s arcade offerings. Its 2D and 3D processing appeared without equal, and its double speed CD Rom drive ensured faster loading times. Best of all, the development libraries Sony already had on hand for potential third party supporters made the new console easy to program, giving PlayStation greater appeal within the video game industry.
At the end of 1995 and a few weeks after the launch in North America and in Europe, three million PlayStations had been sold, and demand was still increasing. By the time Nintendo brought its own 3D machine to maturity, Sony had long conquered the market.