How the PlayStation Changed Everything

Summary

El guion narra la revolución que desencadenó PlayStation en la era moderna de los videojuegos, desde su inicio en la década de 1990 hasta su impacto en la industria. Con una estrategia disruptiva, Sony, sin experiencia previa en juegos, se enfrentó a gigantes como Sega y Nintendo. La adopción de CD-ROMs en lugar de cartuchos, alianzas con desarrolladores y la creación de títulos innovadores como 'Final Fantasy VII' y 'Gran Turismo', sentaron las bases para el éxito de PlayStation y su legado en la diversidad y la narrativa en juegos, que continúa con la PlayStation 5.

Takeaways

• 🎮 La PlayStation no es un sistema de juegos normal, sino una revolución que marcó el inicio de la era moderna de los videojuegos.
• 🏆 En los años 90, Sega y Nintendo dominaban el mercado de consolas de videojuegos, pero Sony, sin experiencia en juegos, desafió el escenario y cambió la forma en que pensamos sobre los juegos.
• 👥 Ken Kutaragi, conocido como el padre de la PlayStation, impulsó la creación de una máquina que llevara la experiencia de las arcades a los hogares.
• 📀 La elección de los CD-ROM como medio para la PlayStation fue una estrategia que redujo los costos y fomentó la participación de desarrolladores en la industria.
• 💿 Los CD-ROMs ofrecieron flexibilidad en la producción y suministro de juegos, lo que permitió una mayor participación y creatividad en la industria de los videojuegos.
• 🔄 La PlayStation dependió inicialmente de desarrolladores y editores de terceros, lo que contrastaba con la estrategia de Nintendo y Sega basada en juegos desarrollados internamente.
• 🌐 La adquisición de Psygnosis por Sony ayudó a crear juegos originales y a establecer PlayStation Studios, precursor de Sony Computer Entertainment worldwide Studios.
• 🎨 La PlayStation se posicionó como una marca con una identidad y cultura únicas, alejada de la imagen infantil de Nintendo, y fomentó una nueva forma de entretenimiento.
• 📈 La estrategia de marketing de PlayStation, con anuncios innovadores y una imagen para adultos, ayudó a establecer la marca y a diferenciarla de sus competidores.
• 🇯🇵 El lanzamiento exitoso de PlayStation en Japón fue seguido por un impacto significativo en los mercados de EE. UU. y Europa, donde superó a la competencia de Sega Saturn.
• 🚀 La PlayStation logró una gran variedad en su librería de juegos, fomentando la innovación y ofreciendo experiencias únicas que no estaban disponibles en otras plataformas.
• 🌟 Títulos como 'Final Fantasy VII' y 'Gran Turismo' destacaron la capacidad de la PlayStation para ofrecer juegos ambiciosos y atractivos, consolidando su posición como líder del mercado.

Q & A

¿Cuáles eran los dos nombres importantes en la consola de videojuegos en la década de 1990?

Sega y Nintendo eran los dos nombres importantes en la década de 1990 en el mundo de las consolas de videojuegos.

¿Qué consola de videojuegos fue vista inicialmente como un revolucionario disruptor en el mercado?

La PlayStation de Sony fue vista como un revolucionario disruptor en el mercado de consolas de videojuegos.

¿Qué empresa tenía la intención de crear un sistema de juego basado en CD-ROM para la SNES?

Nintendo propuso a Sony crear un sistema de juego basado en CD-ROM para la SNES.

¿Por qué Sony decidió crear su propia consola de videojuegos después de que el acuerdo con Nintendo colapsara?

Después del colapso del acuerdo con Nintendo, Sony decidió crear su propia consola de videojuegos debido a la determinación de Ken Kutaragi y la visión de crear una máquina que trajera la experiencia de los arcades a los hogares.

¿Cuál fue la ventaja competitiva de PlayStation en términos de tecnología de almacenamiento?

La ventaja competitiva de PlayStation fue el uso de CD-ROMs, que eran más baratos que los carretiles, lo que permitió una mayor participación de desarrolladores en la industria y un menor umbral de entrada.

¿Qué impacto tuvo la PlayStation en la forma en que se consideraba el juego después de su lanzamiento?

La PlayStation cambió la forma en que se consideraba el juego, llevando a los usuarios a perder la noción de la realidad y entrar en otro mundo, y revolucionando la era moderna de los videojuegos.

¿Quiénes eran Andrew House y Shawn Layden, y qué papel jugaron en la historia de PlayStation?

Andrew House fue uno de los principales detrás del marketing innovador de PlayStation y más tarde se convirtió en CEO, mientras que Shawn Layden ayudó a desarrollar algunos de los juegos más queridos de PlayStation.

¿Qué papel jugó laPsygnosis en la creación de juegos para PlayStation?

Psygnosis, que fue comprada por Sony en 1993, creó 'Wipeout', que fue una de las piezas clave del lanzamiento europeo de PlayStation en 1995.

¿Cómo ayudó la PlayStation a cambiar la dinámica del mercado de videojuegos con su lanzamiento en 1995?

La PlayStation ayudó a cambiar la dinámica del mercado de videojuegos al ofrecer una consola con tecnología avanzada, fomentar la participación de desarrolladores y proveedores de terceros, y presentar juegos innovadores que desafiaban los géneros establecidos.

¿Qué juegos y desarrolladores fueron fundamentales para el éxito de PlayStation en su primer año?

Juegos como 'Ridge Racer' de Namco, 'Wipeout' de Psygnosis y la colaboración con desarrolladores de terceros fueron fundamentales para el éxito de PlayStation en su primer año.

¿Cómo describirían los empleados de Sony la actitud inicial hacia el proyecto PlayStation dentro de la empresa?

La actitud inicial de los empleados de Sony hacia el proyecto PlayStation fue de escepticismo y desafío, enfrentándose a la idea de que un juguete no era el enfoque de la empresa y luchando contra la percepción de que el proyecto era un fracaso seguro.

Outlines

00:00

🎮 La Revolución de PlayStation

Este párrafo relata el inicio de la era moderna de los videojuegos con la consola PlayStation de Sony. Se menciona el contexto de la década de 1990, donde Sega y Nintendo dominaban el mercado. La presentación de la PlayStation como una revolución en el ámbito de los videojuegos se destaca, así como el papel de Andrew House y Ken Kutaragi en su desarrollo. La consola no solo cambió la forma en que se consideraban los videojuegos, sino que también impactó en la industria de juegos al permitir更低的价格 para los desarrolladores y fomentar la creatividad y el riesgo en la producción de juegos.

05:01

🤝 Alianzas y Desarrollo de Primeras Partes

El segundo párrafo se enfoca en las alianzas iniciales de Sony con otros desarrolladores y la importancia de la dependencia en terceros para el lanzamiento de la consola. Se destaca la asociación con Namco y cómo juegos como Ridge Racer contribuyeron a la imagen de PlayStation como una extensión del arcade en casa. Además, se menciona la adquisición de Psygnosis y el desarrollo de Wipeout, que jugó un papel crucial en el lanzamiento europeo de PlayStation. La creación de Sony Computer Entertainment worldwide Studios se inició con estas adquisiciones y alianzas.

10:02

🎨 Identidad y Estreno de PlayStation

Este apartado cubre la construcción de la identidad de PlayStation y su lanzamiento en Japón. Se describe cómo la marca se diferenciaba de la imagen infantil de Nintendo, buscando un tono más maduro y atractivo para los jóvenes adultos. La estrategia de marketing innovadora y el éxito de ventas en el lanzamiento se resaltan, mostrando el impacto inmediato de PlayStation en el mercado japonés y cómo su éxito desafía las expectativas de la competencia de Sega.

15:05

🌐 Lanzamiento Global y Desafíos

El cuarto párrafo narra el lanzamiento de PlayStation en mercados internacionales y los desafíos que enfrentó, incluyendo la competencia de Sega y su estrategia de precios. Se relata la audacia de Sony al anunciar un precio de 299 dólares para la consola, un movimiento que generó grandes expectativas y presión económica. A pesar de los riesgos, PlayStation logró vender más unidades que la Saturn de Sega y se consolidó como la consola líder de su generación, capturando el 20% del mercado de videojuegos en los Estados Unidos en su primer año.

20:06

🛠️ Innovación y Diversificación de Contenido

Este segmento destaca la importancia de la innovación y la diversificación en el catálogo de juegos de PlayStation. Se mencionan títulos innovadores como PaRappa the Rapper y Crash Bandicoot, y cómo estos contribuyeron a la imagen de PlayStation como una plataforma que desafiaba las convenciones del género. La adquisición de Squaresoft y la exclusividad de Final Fantasy VII se destacan como un hito en la historia de la consola, mostrando la capacidad de PlayStation para atraer a desarrolladores y jugadores con experiencias únicas y de gran alcance narrativo.

📚 Juegos Narrativos y Éxito Comercial

El último párrafo analiza cómo PlayStation continuó su éxito con juegos de gran narrativa y cómo el formato de DVD permitió una mayor ambición en los juegos. Se discuten los juegos como el Getaway y Gran Turismo, que representaron un cambio en la forma en que se creaban y se jugaban los videojuegos, ofreciendo una experiencia más rica y detallada. La adopción de tecnologías como el Blu-ray y SSD por Sony en las generaciones futuras de PlayStation se menciona como una evolución continua de su enfoque en la narrativa y la calidad de los juegos.

Keywords

💡PlayStation

PlayStation es una marca de consolas de videojuegos propiedad de Sony. En el video se destaca cómo PlayStation no era solo una consola, sino también la revolución que marcó el inicio de la era moderna del videojuego. Se menciona su aparición en la década de 1990 y su impacto en la industria del entretenimiento, cambiando la forma en que pensamos en los juegos.

💡Sega y Nintendo

Sega y Nintendo son dos marcas importantes en la historia de las consolas de videojuegos. En el script, se mencionan como las dos marcas líderes en la década de 1990, con personajes emblemáticos como Mario y Sonic, y cómo Sony, con PlayStation, fue desafiando su dominio en el mercado.

💡CD-ROM

El CD-ROM es una tecnología de almacenamiento de datos que permitió a PlayStation ofrecer juegos con mayor capacidad y a un menor costo que los carritos de Nintendo. En el video, se destaca cómo la elección de usar CD-ROMs en lugar de carritos fue una arma secreta para Sony y cómo esto llevó a una mayor participación de desarrolladores en la industria.

💡Ken Kutaragi

Ken Kutaragi, a menudo referido como el padre de PlayStation, fue quien impulsó la idea de crear una máquina que trajera la experiencia de los arcades a los hogares. En el video, se narra cómo su visión y determinación llevaron a Sony a no darse por vencida tras el colapso de un acuerdo con Nintendo y a lanzar su propia consola.

💡Final Fantasy VII

Final Fantasy VII es un videojuego de rol desarrollado por Square para PlayStation, que marcó un hito en la industria y es considerado uno de los juegos más ambiciosos de su tiempo. En el script, se menciona cómo la decisión de Square de traer este título a PlayStation fue un evento significativo que ayudó a sellar el éxito de la consola.

💡Gran Turismo

Gran Turismo es una serie de videojuegos de simulación de carreras desarrollada por Polyphony Digital y publicada por Sony. En el video, se destaca cómo este juego, con su enfoque en la simulación y realismo, se convirtió en el juego más vendido de PlayStation, vendiendo casi 11 millones de copias.

💡E3

E3, o Electronic Entertainment Expo, es una de las ferias más importantes del entretenimiento electrónico. En el script, se narra cómo Sony utilizó E3 para hacer una presentación impactante, donde anunció el precio de PlayStation en 299 dólares, una decisión que generó una gran expectación y presión sobre Sega.

💡RPG

RPG, o juego de rol por computadora, es un género de videojuego donde los jugadores controlan personajes en una historia con una trama y desarrollo personal. En el video, se menciona cómo PlayStation atrajo a desarrolladores de RPG prominentes, como Square, para crear experiencias inmersivas y detalladas.

💡Crash Bandicoot

Crash Bandicoot es un personaje de videojuego creado por Naughty Dog y lanzado en PlayStation. En el script, se describe cómo este personaje, con su diseño y campaña publicitaria atípica, se convirtió en una mascota para la consola y un ejemplo de cómo PlayStation apoyó la creatividad y el riesgo en el desarrollo de juegos.

💡Tomb Raider

Tomb Raider es una serie de videojuegos de aventuras en los que la protagonista, Lara Croft, se enfrenta a desafíos en diferentes entornos. En el video, se destaca cómo este juego, con su enfoque en una historia de acción y un personaje femenino fuerte, se convirtió en un símbolo de la innovación y diversidad de PlayStation.

Highlights

PlayStation disrupted the video game console market with its introduction in the 1990s.

Sega and Nintendo were the major players before Sony entered the gaming industry.

Sony's PlayStation was initially met with skepticism due to the company's lack of gaming experience.

The use of CD-ROMs instead of cartridges was a strategic advantage for PlayStation.

Ken Kutaragi, known as the 'father of PlayStation,' played a pivotal role in Sony's gaming ambitions.

Sony's partnership with Namco and other third-party developers was crucial in the early success of PlayStation.

The acquisition of Psygnosis helped Sony establish its own development studio for first-party games.

PlayStation's marketing approach was innovative, targeting a mature demographic and differentiating from Nintendo's image.

The launch of PlayStation in Japan was met with significant consumer enthusiasm.

Sony's bold pricing strategy at E3 1995, announcing the PlayStation at $299, was a game-changer.

PlayStation's success in the U.S. and UK markets outperformed Sega's Saturn console.

Sony encouraged creative risk-taking among developers, leading to innovative gaming genres.

Final Fantasy VII's release on PlayStation was a major coup and demonstrated the console's capabilities.

Gran Turismo's success showcased the potential of racing simulations and the impact of new technology on gaming.

By 1999, PlayStation dominated the American video game market with a 60% share.

The PlayStation 2 continued Sony's legacy, introducing DVD technology and expanding gaming possibilities.

The transition from CDs to DVDs allowed for more ambitious games with richer narratives and larger worlds.

PlayStation's evolution has been marked by a shift from a wide variety of genres to a focus on cinematic single-player experiences.

Transcripts

how do you know PlayStation is not a

normal game system

it carries these telltale signs

[Music]

at the dawn of the 1990s there were only

two names that mattered in the world of

video game consoles Sega and Nintendo so

he had Mario on the left side and he had

Sonic on the right side and you know

what was places to bring to the party he

looked in the eye at the end of the

presentation he said Sam you'll never

make a good game you'll never take on

Nintendo it may look like a harmless

Bagel toaster but inside is a deadly

donut back then no one could have

foreseen that a consumer electronics

company with zero experience in gaming

would disrupt the space so thoroughly

that its name would soon become the de

facto noun for home consoles not just

that but its impact would change the way

we thought about games forever users

lose all sense of reality and enter

another world

wasn't a lot of respect for conventional

wisdom quite a lot of possibly misplaced

arrogance around the fact that we knew

what we were doing that we were going to

get it right

[Applause]

Sony's Playstation wasn't just a console

it was the revolution that began the

modern era of video games this is the

story of how its Legacy began told by

two former Sony presidents Andrew House

one of the original mines behind the

PlayStation's groundbreaking marketing

Who Rose to CEO status and Sean Laden

who helped developers bring some of

PlayStation's most beloved games to life

for over 20 years PlayStation really

overturned the tea table everyone had to

kind of deal with the world that Sony

was going to create after that remember

do not underestimate the power of

PlayStation

[Music]

technology has transformed ham

entertainment and many young kids now

are growing up spending their time and

their money on this kind of strange

electronic world the origins of

PlayStation go all the way back to the

late 1980s when Sony agreed to produce

sound processor chips for Nintendo's new

SNES console just a short duration into

their partnership Nintendo proposed a

joint venture it wanted Sony to create a

new drive system for the SNES based on

the CD-ROM format that Sony had

pioneered but the deal collapsed in an

ugly fashion leaving many Sony

Executives bitter and wary of working in

the industry again there was a sense

that video games were toys and Sony's

not a toy company so what confidence do

we have to fight on someone else's

Battlefield with unproven weapons and no

experience or strategy But Ken kutaragi

the man who first arranged Sony's deal

with Nintendo refused to be deterred the

often called father PlayStation was

trying to get the company to not back

down from their gaming ambition to the

rather lean further in and say that we

can't do a profile for the Nintendo

let's just do our own Machine kutaragi's

Vision was to create a machine that

bought the cutting-edge experience of

arcades into the homes of regular people

that would mean a console capable of 3D

Graphics at the time that felt like a

true Quantum Leap Beyond Sega and

Nintendo's 2D offerings but while

Stellar visuals would be what would sell

the console to the public it was the use

of cheap CD-ROMs rather than expensive

cartridges that would be Sony's secret

weapon those shiny plastic Bagels would

convince The Wider games industry to bet

on PlayStation at least that's what Sony

hoped getting flash ROMs manufactured

and built in in Hong Kong invariably or

Taiwan the lead times of getting those

things done the expense per unit was

light years away from what we were able

to do with optimal disk you know you

didn't have to have a hundred thousand

unit plus minimum order on flash ROM

which was the order of the day for

things like genesis or Super Nintendo

with Optical disk you can just order 10

000 discs and if your game sells out on

Thursday give us a call and we can

replenish You by Wednesday the next week

and it really sort of change the dynamic

around that and that I think was the

aspect that people sort of lose sight of

by lowering the cost of how your magic

costs to make physically a game you

could have developers have more

developer participation in the industry

you lower the barrier to entry so there

could be lot lots more companies making

games that in turn opened up to creative

risk taking of a kind that had been seen

in the business before which wasn't

possible with the previous model despite

skepticism among the executives kataragi

had the backing of Sony's new CEO norio

ogre who have previously spent over a

decade as the president of CBS Sony

records one of ogre's first decisions as

CEO was to purchase Columbia Pictures

Entertainment he wasn't just interested

in furthering Sony's electronics

business but his entertainment Ambitions

too and cataracti's Playstation could be

the Gateway into a new and lucrative

Market still the first moves were made

with some trepidation when I joined the

division my then boss said to me you

know give it more or less you you're an

idiot and and it's a toy and you know

it's destined for failure and why would

you want to go and work on something

like that there was kind of a sense I

think for the finance side it was like

please lease everything because in nine

months you may not be there anymore

anyway so we're kind of up against this

sink or swim dichotomy but down in the

newly dug PlayStation trenches the staff

of Sony's fresh gaming division were

eager to bring the fights to their

heavyweight Rivals most of us still very

very Junior in the industry and so we

had the advantage of what there wasn't a

lot of fear there wasn't a lot of

respect for conventional wisdom and

therefore you know there was possibly

quite a lot of you know possibly

misplaced arrogance that found that

around the fact that we knew what we

were doing that we were going to get it

right we were just all there to embark

on this new Venture with the enthusiasm

and the Gusto of the uninitiated and

just dived in the swimming pool and

thought yeah Nintendo Sega these two

entrenched embedded leaders in the field

sure why can't we start a new platform

and and take them on head to head this

is Shigeru Miyamoto Japanese youngsters

call him the god of games Nintendo now

has 80 of the computer games Market in

the United States the company showing

that in one area of software at least

the Japanese aren't just successful they

can wipe the floor with their arrivals

all the confidence in the world couldn't

make up for Sony's clear disadvantage

though the company had no experience in

creating video games at all there wasn't

even one person on staff who could rival

Superstar developers like Nintendo

Shigeru Miyamoto or sega's yujinaka we

didn't have any first party development

at that time because you can't spin that

stuff up in six months you've got to

spend years doing that we couldn't

afford to have that strategy you know we

had to be heavily flipped the other way

around very dependent on third-party

Publishers and third-party developers we

had a very deep partnership with Namco

from the start they were like the

Touchstone in the Japanese Market if you

really want to talk about bringing

arcade into the home nothing told that

story or sold that story better than

Canon Ridge Racer that people were

lining up in arcades to drop their 100

yen coin into a slot to pay three

minutes of these games and we're saying

you can take this thing home and then

Ubisoft and Instagram and you name it

everyone just found a place to come to

where they thought they all had an equal

chance to be the biggest dog in the room

Sony's initial Reliance on third-party

development was a very different

approach to how Nintendo and Sega did

business within a couple of months of

the SNES launching it already had a trio

of Nintendo developed games in contrast

Sony planned to launch the PlayStation

in Japan without a single game made by

its own hand but the company knew first

party development would be vital to its

long-term success Sony needed its own

developer at the time we had a

partnership with a company called

signosis in Europe which we ended up

buying three years later to bring that

facility in-house they had reached the

head breath and they had a sensibility

about wanting to be successful in

Japanese Market they're very keen to do

that and I think they were also looking

at us as being an Insurgent party that

they could get in and and be part of a

growing Enterprise not just being bolted

onto somebody else's established success

Sony bought psygnosis in 1993. the

studio would go on to create Wipeout the

jewel in the crown of PlayStation's

European launch in 1995. this game is

very fast to have incredible Graphics

but when you first start you'll probably

spend so much time crashing to notice

and alongside the Tokyo space Japan

Studio cygnosis formed the first

building block of what would become Sony

Computer Entertainment worldwide Studios

better known today as the hugely

successful PlayStation Studios the path

to God of War and The Last of Us began

here

[Music]

foreign

PlayStation required more than just a

console and some games though it needed

a brand an identity and it needed to be

built by people who understood that a

console was more than a plastic box of

silicon chips Innovation number one was

moved to Optical media Innovation number

two was Sony's recognition that going

into entertainment was a completely new

thing for them and the electronics team

that they had the technical prowess they

didn't know exactly what entertainment

was all about the original southern

created entertainment was a joint

venture between Sun electronics and Sony

Music Entertainment and you brought

these two cultures together in one room

the Sony Music team

console plugged into your TV but as a

lifestyle like music gaming had its own

culture aesthetic and personality and

PlayStation's identity was absolutely

not going to be the childlike image

projected by Nintendo

I mean you try and avoid using that

awful word attitude but it was something

that was very prominent at the time it

was sort of games that had a just a

tonally a very different message around

them than what you'd seen before that

they weren't you know just cute and

found there was slight elements of

darkness and and so on that was starting

to emerge even at that time if the

suspense doesn't kill you

something else will everyone's gonna die

particularly pan when we started

advertising for PlayStation games it was

like nothing anyone had seen before

early PlayStation advertising was

groundbreaking and it was taking that

music sensibility of putting it into a

interactive entertainment medium and

seeing what they can do with that so it

spoke differently it pitched differently

PlayStation really overturned the T

table everyone had to kind of deal with

the world that Sony was going to create

after that by the final month

and identity have been found and forged

it was time to launch the console in its

first region Sony's home territory of

Japan it was sort of a bunch of sort of

very deliberate people in their 20s sort

of hammering on a sort of closed store

room door you know shouting one two

three eating isan which was also the

launch date 12-3 no one had seen Game

campaigns like that before there was a

very simple idea around you know the

targeting of the initial campaign around

PlayStation and that was that the

mindset was going to be of someone who

was 17. if you were older and in your

20s and and upwards it was that sort of

fun mindset that you had when you were

17 and that's what the platform is going

to offer if you were younger than that

that it was what you aspired to be that

you were aspired to be a 17 year old

because that was cool and hip if you

were a young kid 100 000 PlayStations

were sold in Japan on launch Day by the

end of the year 300 000 had been sold

despite tough competition from Sega

which launched its own 3D capable Saturn

console just weeks before the

PlayStation was an instant success story

The Next Step was to bring PlayStation

to the rest of the world Sony knew it

had to make an impact ahead of its U.S

and European launch in September 1995

and a brand new summer trade show called

E3 was the place to do it but on the

first day of the show it seemed as if

Sega had stolen Sony's Thunder the Rival

company announced that its Saturn

console which was also planned for a

September launch in the west was

available right there and then in U.S

stores for 399 it was a huge move from

Sega but one that Sony was well prepared

for for the PlayStation presentation

Steve race the head of development at

Sony Computer Entertainment America took

to the stage to deliver the industry's

boldest mic drop

299

we all understand that that created Bad

Blood between SCE and the entertainment

software Association which was

sponsoring the event where I think the

ground rules were you know we'll have

this keynote panel discussion that you

can't bring a commercial message to it

you just have to talk about the warm

fuzzies of interactive entertainment and

for Sony guys to come up there and go

yeah thanks for the rules but 299 mic

drop off the stage just kind of fed into

the narrative that PlayStation is the

Rogue platform you can tell it things

but it won't necessarily listen but

while the statement created headlines

this Sega undercutting price points came

with Incredible risks let's say a lot of

the cost work was sort of dollar based

and the thing that everybody was really

frightened about was was currencies

right and you know being put in a

position of selling a unit that the more

that you sold the more money you lost

and you know whether it was 299 or not

that's exactly what happened because I

went back and checked exactly what it

was but the Yen strength into I think 80

Yen to the dollar in the summer of the

launch year which was a historic

historic high and so you're in this you

know really really awful position now of

you know 299 sounded great on studies

and then when you start look at the

economics around that it's an absolute

disaster you know potentially for that

first year or two on Friday you'll

finally be able to get your hands on the

PlayStation what could have been a

disaster was instead a Monumental

success PlayStation significantly

outsold the Sega Saturn in both the US

and the UK and the console quickly

became the flagship games machine of the

generation within its first year Sony

took control of 20 of the entire

American video games Market the

PlayStation needed to provide more than

just initial novelty if it were to

survive though and despite strong

success in its first year there was

still some doubt that PlayStation could

really contend with the industry

heavyweights I was trying to get a

business off the ground Distributing

other internal Sony studio games in

Japan and I went to the editor of you

know the sort of most prominent magazine

in games that was out there at the time

and I remember he looked me in the eye

at the end of the presentation he said

Son you'll never make a good game you

just you don't have what it takes you

don't have an eye to Quality you'll

never take on Nintendo and so the real

battle began Sony had to prove that

PlayStation was the place to find not

just quality but experiences that you

couldn't play anywhere else thanks to

the cheaper CD format it was able to

encourage development Partners to take

creative risks and experiment Beyond

established genres and so the

PlayStation quickly became the home of

some of Gaming's most Innovative

Creations we gave a lot of autonomy to

the studios to decide what they want to

make as a first party platform holder it

was an imperative upon PlayStation and

Sony to continue to bring not just a

variety of content but actually create

new genre you know make gaming something

that it wasn't at the time in the early

days it was fighting racing RPG it was

until PlayStation where you had

something like parappo which introduced

the idea of Rhythm Action gaming had to

make that one up because I know what to

call it

if you want to test me until you finding

the things

[Music]

something like PaRappa the Rapper was

certainly not without risk in terms of

making that a you know somehow a big

Triple A title in the US there's an

element of the quirky a mindset of

trying to find the somewhat

unconventional or giving the

conventional a Twist I think Crash

Bandicoot you know very much fell into

that category it was a platform game on

its surface but had other elements and

you know the choice of a Bandicoot to be

the sort of you know lead character the

ad campaign of having a guy dressed up

in a suit going shouting outside

Nintendo headquarters which was one of

the first large-scale campaigns that I

did hey plumber boy stash man you're

in your side we had Sonic on the right

side you know what was PlayStation

bringing to the party I think we put

some energy in trying to make Crash

Bandicoot into a type of mascot for the

platform but I think the breadth of our

offering diluted the impact of having a

mascot or not want a piece of me

you want some of this Crash Bandicoot

showed how PlayStation was thinking

differently about established video game

Staples but elsewhere in the consoles

Library developers were exploring

Uncharted Territory where the Sega

Genesis and Super Nintendo have thrived

on Platformers and fighting games some

of PlayStation's biggest successes were

in action-fueled Adventures and blood

drenched horror I remember biohazard in

Japan AKA Resident Evil was the first

game to go out with an explicit content

sticker is big red triangle like you

know danger danger and of course nothing

helps sell a title faster than uh

government label telling you you

shouldn't play this I think the best

example I can give is sort of Tomb

Raider both the gameplay mechanics are

different and represent sort of a real

move you know shift forward in what

games could be coupled with a strong

female character as the lead an

adventure setting shades of Indiana

Jones all of those elements together led

us to believe that this is something

that you want to really get behind to

make emblematic of the platform perhaps

Sony's most significant move though was

to convince Japan's most prolific RPG

developer to leave a decade of Nintendo

loyalty behind and bring its most

ambitious game to PlayStation

[Music]

foreign

for them to get square to bring Final

Fantasy VII to PlayStation was huge you

know remember those those opening cut

scenes and the ability to to ramp that

up it really showed that we'd come to a

new uh a new agent gaming right I mean

part of the promise of PlayStation was

it was to bring 3d gaming into the home

with something like Final Fantasy with

the artists and The Visionaries at

Square it really showed the way you

could do with this it was remarkable to

all developers who saw it it just gave

them more colors to paint with more more

shapes to work with Final Fantasy 7 went

on to become the PlayStation's second

biggest game of all time selling over 10

million copies but in a demonstration of

the diversity of PlayStation's Library

final fantasy's huge story and even

larger swords were in complete contrast

to the PlayStation's best-selling game

of all time Gran Turismo developed by

Sony's own Japan Studio it was a racing

Sim the likes of which had never been

seen outside of an arcade before to date

it has sold almost 11 million copies no

matter your gaming tastes there was

something for you on Playstation Sony's

advancements in both technology and

business strategy had pushed the game's

industry into a vibrant and varied new

place by 1999 the company had claimed an

astonishing 60 of the American video

game Market it was the uncontested king

of the fifth console generation its

position was so strong that it easily

fended off competition from sega's new

more advanced Dreamcast but the

PlayStation couldn't last forever with a

new millennium insight and armed with

all of its new experience Sony set in

motion plans for a successor console

welcome to the third place

the concept behind the PlayStation 2 was

simple do it again but bigger and better

but despite its success with the

original PlayStation the sequel

initially proved to be a difficult

second album oh here we go again

PlayStation 2 is the first time for Sony

to launch a successive platform you know

Sega had done it and then hello had done

it we'd never done it so we didn't know

we didn't know about the trickiest

around that we've had to make it up as

we went along the PlayStation 2 had some

architectural uniqueness to it which was

difficult to get across to you know some

of the developers who were more used to

working on a traditional like arcade

based platform despite the difficult

the original PlayStation provided a good

blueprint the new console had to push

the technology forward in a way that

would fundamentally change the

opportunities available to both

developers and players for Playstation

that was the CD-ROM for PlayStation 2

that was DVD sold in PlayStation 2 will

be the biggest thing to come along since

TV was invented it started to open up

another chapter in PlayStations sort of

you know Vision which was not just to be

about games or interactive entertainment

but to not necessarily be our home hub

in in some sort of living room dominant

sense but to allow you to have lots of

different members of the family still

interact with PlayStation potentially

for different reasons the ps2s

the drive wasn't just a movie player

though much like how CD-ROMs allowed

developers to think beyond the limiting

boundaries of cartridges DVDs provided

the space to create significantly more

ambitious games oh boy it's about on

schedule

and that was just a very serendipitous

alignment of technological Trends

um PlayStation got in there before

anybody else what you're doing is you're

making just a bigger palette to paint on

more painting is more time more time is

money but more painting is also richer

more involved storylines you could

actually have a narrative and so began

the journey towards the huge cinematic

action games that Define PlayStation

today I remember when we did the getaway

when I was in the London Studio that was

really groundbreaking we were making a

movie in a game at the same time it was

a huge step change from whatever action

adventure tropes had been prevalent at

the time because you had DVD and you had

endless amounts of memory and you could

put all kinds of textures you can put

the you know 16 square miles of London

into a into a DVD and that means you can

tell a bigger story you can tell a more

nuanced story and I think that was what

really was a huge change that PS2

brought to the gaming Market was the

Inception of that kind of hugely

narrative based gaming I just bought my

boy only a good time storage and

narrative have remained a core part of

PlayStation's DNA the evolution from DVD

to Blu-ray to SSD has seen Sony's story

Ambitions expand today the PlayStation 5

is considered the home of cinematic

single player games in fact that's

almost exclusively what it's known for

in contrast to The Wilds and

experimental days of the original

PlayStation Modern Sony is much more

focused and risk-averse there's no

Parappa no vibriven but the foundations

of the original console are still clear

to see third-party Partnerships Remain

the lifeblood of not just the platform

but modern console gaming an

ever-expanding array of developers

create new and fascinating games every

year and that variety means that no one

person's Playstation or Xbox library is

the same as anyone else's long gone is

the era when you're action was

guaranteed to be almost entirely made up

of games produced by Shigeru Miyamoto

the PlayStation changed video games

forever and we play in its world

over 200 apes are on the loose and it's

up to you to stop them introducing ape

Escape

what'd you say

your toast

where are you open the drapes

shh

it's called mental wealth

today