September 2020

Sony released the PlayStation in North America on September 9, 1995. The PlayStation began its life in 1988 as the Play Station (two words) CD-ROM add-on for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. A falling out between Nintendo and Sony ensued after Nintendo backed out of their deal with Sony and sided with Philips to produce the add-on instead. This motion was prompted by Nintendo and Sony being unable to determine how profits would be divided. As an aside, the new Philips deal was how Nintendo’s intellectual properties appeared in games on their CD-i platform years later. Sony chose to manufacture the PlayStation themselves instead. They opted to cater to 3rd party developers more than Nintendo and Sega had previously, garnering the support of the likes of Namco, Konami, Capcom, and Square with the added benefit of the lower production costs for CDs instead of cartridges. The PlayStation’s lower price point compared to its direct competitor the Sega Saturn turned it into a virtual overnight success. Nintendo’s blunder gave Sony the keys to the city to ultimately dominate the market with their consoles ever since.