20 Years of Play- The Evolution of PlayStation
TRIALS, TRIBULATIONS AND TRIANGLES
The year is 1995. “You Are Not Alone” and “Gangsta’s Paradise” dominated the ARIA Charts. Jeff Kennett was Premier of Victoria, and John Howard had just taken the reigns of the Liberal Party. Overseas, Yahoo! was founded and Microsoft released Windows 95 for the PC.
It was also the year that Japanese company Sony released the original PlayStation.
Made famous for their Walkman and Discman products, Sony developed the a disc based storage platform the Compact Disc, commonly referred to as the CD. Using this technology, Sony was set to partner with Nintendo to create the first PlayStation. The prototype was made, and ready to be announced at the next industry trade show.
However, things did not go to plan. Nintendo decided to abandon Sony at the eleventh hour, and instead develop the console with another electronic manufacturer, Philips.
With Sony left out on their own, they instead decided to use the technology for themselves, and released the PlayStation in 1995 in North America.
This year commemorates the 20th anniversary of PlayStation, which is now Sony’s leading brand. The fan community has grown exponentially over two decades, into a group of people who are passionate about all things PlayStation. Here is a rundown of the past 20 years-
It wasn’t all rainbows and roses however, and there wasn’t always overwhelming positivity surrounding the brand.
In 2005, after the immense success of the PlayStation 2, Sony got too confident. Fans were desperate for them to release their next console, and Sony knew people were eager. At the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) that year, Sony walked onto stage, and announced the hideously overpriced PlayStation 3. Here’s the full reveal video-
Fans erupted. News sites tore Sony and their practices to shreds. $599 US dollars. At the time that meant that Australians had to pay $699.95 to get their hands on it. This was a first for consoles, as no manufacturers had ever sold a console for that high of a price before. Sony’s stock dropped 3.6 percent just after the expo.
The competition thrived on this horrific blunder. Both Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Nintendo’s Wii gained a considerable lead on Sony, and this had massive repercussions for the company. No longer were they seen as industry leaders that they had been in the past. It was a PR disaster.
Looking to bounce back, the next few years were relatively predictable from Sony. They relied on their own developers to create games to bring people to the platform. Franchises such as Uncharted and Infamous were developed, and received wide critical acclaim.
Turning the ship around proved more difficult than initially realised. Even after releasing high quality games for the system, there was still a bad taste in fans mouths. They had been treated as sales, not as a community like in the past.
Unfortunately, not everything released was at the highest standard either. After being threatened by the Wii’s mainstream success, Sony decided to enter the motion gaming arms race, with the introduction of the PlayStation Move in 2010.
The PlayStation Move released and was panned by critics and consumers alike. Once again, Sony was on the back foot, and it seemed that they just didn’t know what their players wanted out of them. Times were tough at Sony, and competitors Microsoft and Nintendo were further extending their market shares.
Things went from terrible to catastrophic in 2011, when the PlayStation Network (Sony’s online infrastructure) was hacked and taken down for almost a month. Credit card information was stolen from all users, and Sony was in a mad scramble trying to lessen the damage caused from the hack. Users were furious, as Sony originally tried to keep the whole thing under wraps. This lead to a storm of internet outrage-
Things weren’t looking great at Sony. The PSN was fixed after weeks of outages, and the public were as angry as ever. 2011 finished with a multitude of top quality games, such as Uncharted 3, but users were jumping ship to competitors thick and fast.
Then a mascot emerged.
No, not Crash Bandicoot or Spyro the Dragon, but a bespectacled Japanese man by the name of Shuhei Yoshida.
Yoshida had been at the company since the launch of the original PlayStation, as the President of Sony Worldwide Entertainment Studios. It wasn’t until around 2012 until he became the face of Sony, speaking at multiple trade shows and events promoting the brand. He regularly appears on PlayStation fan media, such as podcasts and video shows, giving detailed insights to the behind the scenes work that is done at the company.
2013 was the year that Sony flipped the script on the competition. Both Microsoft and Sony were heavily rumoured to be releasing new consoles in the holiday season. Sony unveiled the fact that they were working on a new console in February, but were light on details, instead opting to reveal all at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in June.
2013 was the biggest E3 in recent memory. Microsoft presented first, showing off the brand new Xbox One, which was very restrictive to its users, requiring constant internet access and verification, and not allowing players to share their games with their friends.
Sony presented that evening, directly attacking Microsoft’s unfriendly policies. Here’s a quick rundown-
Sony’s own Shuhei Yoshida and Director of 3rd Party Relations, Adam Boyes, even created their own YouTube video attacking the unfair policies of the competition-
Sony also learnt from the past in terms of pricing, and announced its new hardware would be selling for $399 US dollars-
Since the PS4's launch in November 2013, it has gone on to be one of the most commercially and critically well received consoles of all time, currently outpacing the previous record holder, the PS2, in sales.
Shuhei, more affectionately known as “Shu”, has become the face of the brand, and is present at all major events involving PlayStation. He openly talks about the good and bad business practices, and how to better serve the customer.
After the release of the PS4, it seems as though Sony have learnt what its biggest issue was all along- being transparent and honest with its fans.
In 2014, Sony held its own independent expo, PlayStation Experience, in Las Vegas.
It was here where Sony directly talked to its fans, and showed the way forward into 2015 and beyond.
They also released the extremely limited 20th Anniversary PS4, which was based on the original PlayStation design. They also redesigned the controller.
The swing from Sony from being a soulless, cold company into a forward facing and honest business has only taken roughly 2 years. They are a testament to the fact that a business as large as them can turn their public perception around by changing a few key things.
It’s onwards and upwards from here for the PlayStation brand, and the next 20 years may be as exciting as the last, and hopefully less turbulent.
