PlayStation

The PlayStation's creation story begins with Ken Kutaragi, a Sony engineer who had been fascinated by gaming since working on a digital audio chip for the Super Famicom's sound system. Kutaragi developed the SPC700 sound processor used in the SNES, an arrangement that most Sony executives were unaware of, as they considered gaming to be beneath the company's prestige consumer electronics brand. When the Nintendo partnership to develop a CD-ROM add-on collapsed in the dramatic 1991 CES betrayal, Kutaragi found an unlikely ally in Sony chairman Norio Ohga, who was reportedly so personally angered by Nintendo's duplicity that he authorized Kutaragi to develop a standalone console partly out of a desire for corporate revenge.

Kutaragi assembled a team to design what was internally codenamed "PS-X." The hardware centered around a custom 32-bit MIPS R3000A CPU running at 33.8688 MHz, paired with a Geometry Transformation Engine (GTE) co-processor capable of performing the vector mathematics required for 3D graphics at hardware speed. The GTE could process up to 360,000 flat-shaded polygons per second, or approximately 180,000 textured polygons, performance that substantially exceeded the Sega Saturn in real-world 3D rendering scenarios despite the Saturn having more total processors.

The graphics hardware included a custom GPU that handled 2D rendering, texture mapping, and frame buffer management. The system used 2 MB of main RAM and 1 MB of video RAM, with an additional 512 KB of sound RAM for the SPU (Sound Processing Unit), which could handle 24 ADPCM channels simultaneously with hardware reverb effects. The audio capabilities, reflecting Sony's expertise in consumer audio, were exceptional for the era and enabled CD-quality music and sound design.

Sony's approach to developer relations was revolutionary and became one of the PlayStation's most important competitive advantages. Kutaragi and his team made the deliberate decision to offer development tools at a fraction of competitors' prices. While Sega's Saturn development kits could cost $20,000 or more, Sony priced its Net Yaroze hobbyist development kit at $750 and professional kits at around $2,000. More importantly, Sony provided comprehensive C-language libraries and technical documentation that made the PlayStation significantly easier to develop for than the Saturn's complex multi-processor architecture. This accessibility attracted thousands of developers ranging from major publishers to small independent studios, creating an ecosystem of software support that no competitor could match.

The marketing strategy, developed in partnership with advertising agency Chiat/Day (known for Apple's iconic "1984" commercial), positioned the PlayStation as a lifestyle brand for young adults rather than a children's toy. The aggressive "U R Not E" campaign, combined with club promotions, music event sponsorships, and placement in trendy retail environments, cultivated an image of gaming as cool adult entertainment. This cultural positioning was essential in expanding the gaming market beyond its traditional demographics.

The PlayStation's retail launch strategy in North America was a masterclass in competitive positioning. At E3 1995, after Sega announced the Saturn's surprise early launch at $399, Sony's Olaf Olafsson took the stage, and Steve Race famously uttered a single number: "$299." The crowd erupted, and the moment became one of the most celebrated in gaming industry history. The $100 price advantage, combined with stronger launch software and developer support, gave the PlayStation an insurmountable lead that the Saturn never recovered from.

Sony also innovated in memory card and peripheral design. The PlayStation memory card, using 128 KB of flash memory on a removable card, standardized the concept of portable save data that players could carry between consoles. The Dual Analog Controller (1997), and its successor the DualShock (1997), added twin analog sticks and vibration feedback, establishing the controller template that would define PlayStation hardware for decades.