Ps5!

The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is here and it’s safe to say fans are excited for Sony’s next generation. The PS5 is expected to be one of Sony’s best selling consoles to date, projected to sell huge numbers as demand increases due to quarantine. While the PS5 looks towards likely success, Sony’s history of console releases has some pretty highs and ugly lows. Before we can assess all the pros and cons of the PS5 release, let’s look into this gaming giant’s past…

THE BEGINNING
Before the release of their first video game console, Sony had never held a large portion of the video game market. Sony Interactive Entertainment began their foray into the video game market by teaming up with it’s eventual competitors, Nintendo. Throughout the late 80s and into the early 90’s, the gaming world was firmly gripped in Nintendo’s fist and Sony was hoping to work together to create the Super Disc, a CD Rom attachment that was designed to be part of Nintendo’s Super Nintendo Entertainment System. CDROM systems were outselling traditional cartridge based games and it was time for the SNES to get innovative. What Sony didn’t know was that Nintendo was working behind their backs with Phillips Industries Technology.

At the 1991 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Nintendo announced they would be joining forces with this unexpected ally. Phillip’s technology would be used to produce add-on devices for Nintendo game players for compact discs, the exact same kind of device they were working on with Sony. While many employees at Sony wanted to scrap the project completely, Ken Kutaragi (who is now known as the king of PlayStation) lobbied to save the PlayStation concept and turn it into its own device. In June of 1991 at the Chicago CES, Sony introduced the PlayStation, a modified version of the Super Disk. Only 200 models of this PlayStation that could play Super Nintendo games was created, but it was scrapped to create a better multimedia machine and so Sony could focus more on CD Roms.

After returning to the drawing boards, Sony revealed the PlayStation X. Born out of betrayal, the first official PlayStation lowered the bar on development fees, bringing new and innovative development support. Easier and cheaper to manufacture compared to Nintendo consoles, the PlayStation X (largely known as the PlayStation or PSX) capitalized on the popularity of CD Roms and was launched into the video game hall of fame!

The Playstation was introduced to the US at the 1995 LA Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) and it pre-sold over 100,00 units by it’s September launch. Within a year, this new system had sold 2 million units in the US and over 7 million world wide. Within 10 years, the PlayStation reached the momentous milestone of 100 million units sold, being the first video game console to do so Nintendo was absolutely regretting their choice as their Phillips partnership system never came to fruition.

Having games from so many genres, like scary Resident Evil to the family friendly Crash Bandicoot, the PS was slowly building a reputation as a machine for every kind of gamer. Not only did Sony back up the console with a great game library, but the gameplay was innovative. Sony probably spent as much time on the PlayStation’s console as it did on the design of just the controller.

Sony’s innovative additions to the traditional controller forever changed the way we game. Sony added an extra set of shoulder buttons that gave both developers and players a bit more flexibility. This is also the controller that introduced the iconic square, triangle, circle and cross button layout for PlayStation controllers. Rumble technology came crashing into gamer’s living rooms with Sony’s first, and very successful, attempt at the DualShock controller.

Sony managed to score a home run on it’s first foray into the video game market, but when it tried to take the success on the road, failure came knocking.

AN ATTEMPT TO GO MOBILE
After their successful competition up against Nintendo consoles, Sony decided to take on Sega. More specifically, the DreamCast’s portable counterpart, the Visual Memory Unit (VMU). In 1998, the PocketStation was born with only one purpose, to take down the VMU. Basically a memory card with a built-in LCD screen, the PocketStation was designed to plug into the PlayStation’s memory card slot to transfer over new mini-games. With display tech similar to a 90’s era Tamagotchi or Pokéwalker, there was definitely a big market for mobile games. But no matter the demand, the PocketStation just didn’t hit the spot.

There’s a few reasons for this. First of all, you not only had to own a PS1 to get the mobile games to work, you also had to own the games themselves. While the technology was easy to use for Sony fans (the PlayStation was one of the first consoles to use external memory cards) most gamers ended up using this device not as a gaming system, but just as a memory card. Mostly because there were only a handful of PS1 games that were even compatible with the PocketStation and none of the games were exceptionally good.

The PocketStation was a complete failure. It was released in Japan and due to lack of pre-orders it was never released in the United States. Sony couldn’t capture success with mobile games, but used the momentum from the first PlayStation to succeed in the second generation.

A SECOND WIND
With high definition 3D visuals, new online play and an integrated DVD player, the PlayStation 2 hit the market with a bang. Released in 2000, the PS2 was a worthy challenger to Nintendo’s GameCube and Microsoft’s XBOX. Sales of the console, games and accessories pulled in $250 million on the first day of sales! The PS2 eventually sold over 155 million units worldwide, making it the best selling home console of all time and the fastest game console to reach 100 million units shipped.