It’s hard to think of Sony’s PlayStation console not being a massive hit. After now hitting their fifth console release, Shuhei Yoshida found it to be a perfect time to reflect on the initial start-up of Sony’s home console release. If you don’t recall who Shuhei Yoshida is, this individual has been with Sony’s PlayStation division for years. In fact, he was a part of the original team to bring on the very first PlayStation console. And if we fast forward just a bit, Shuhei would become the president of SIE Worldwide Studios for Sony Interactive Entertainment from 2008 through 2019. But, looking back at the start of Sony’s PlayStation console, getting a stable foot in the industry wasn’t necessarily easy.
A report from Gamereactor highlighted a speech given by Shuhei Yoshida as he received the BIG Conference Honorary Award. Here the individual made a note of how Sony had to really work their connections to get publishers behind the PlayStation console. It was a big jump for home consoles as the era jumped from 2D gaming to 3D. So plenty of developers were working on how to bring out some thrilling 3D experiences. One of the ways Sony showcased its console and how it could deliver this new-age experience was by showcasing the PSX Dinosaur demo. That very demo can be viewed in the video right below.
This demo showcased the power of the Sony PlayStation, but even then, some publishers weren’t eager to jump into the console. As a result, when the game console did launch, the success was mainly in different markets outside of Japan. As a result, it was a struggle to get the PlayStation into the forefront of the competition within the Japanese market, but that eventually changed with two video game IPs.
Shuhei Yoshida, at the time, was part of a division that worked with the third-party licensing program. Fortunately, Shuhei managed to speak with SquareSoft and Enix regarding Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, the two biggest franchises in Japan. While we were not given what exactly was discussed, Shuhei noted that it was the agreement of those two franchises landing on the PlayStation that finally allowed the platform to have real success within Japan. Of course, since then, the PlayStation brand has become a behemoth and continues to thrive today. It would have been interesting to see if Sony would have found the success it needed to succeed within the market if neither IP managed to land on the PlayStation.
