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Behind the Scenes at PlayStation: Former CTO Talks about 16 Years of Creation
[Content of book]
PlayStation celebrates its 30th anniversary in December 2024. The first PlayStation was enthusiastically received by game fans around the world, achieved sales of over one trillion yen just seven years after its launch. In 2019, it became the first stationary video game console with the Guinness World Record of 500 million units.
Being part of the launch of the PlayStation business, I was then involved in the conception, development, introduction, and operation of following generations of PlayStation, up to the basic system conception of PlayStation 4. This is the story of the 16 years I was involved with PlayStation, beginning with the startup phase of the company.
[From Preface in the book]
Launched in Japan in December 1994, PlayStation will celebrate its 30th anniversary this year in 2024.
Recently, I have been hearing from former colleagues who started and ran the PlayStation business at Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE, now Sony Interactive Entertainment) that they want to preserve the history of PlayStation, a rare success in the history of Japanese industry in the Heisei era (1989-2019).
The first PlayStation, which was launched in Japan in 1994 and enthusiastically received by game fans around the world, achieved sales of over one trillion yen just seven years after its launch. In 2019, it became the first stationary video game console to reach the Guinness World Record of 500 million units.
I was fortunate enough to be part of the launch of the original PlayStation business. I was then involved in the conception, development, introduction, and operation of following generations of PlayStation, up to the basic system conception of PlayStation 4.
As one of the few who have experienced this, I thought I would leave some of this great achievement behind and share with you the story of the 16 years I was involved with PlayStation, beginning with the startup phase of the company.
This book is solely the story of PlayStation as I saw and experienced it as a member of the project. Needless to say, many people were involved in the success of PlayStation.
These include not only SCE colleagues involved in PlayStation's worldwide success and the many collaborators at SCE's founding parent companies Sony Corporation and Sony Music Entertainment, but also the video game, technology, sales, distribution, and media industries that have been integral to PlayStation's success, as well as PlayStation fans around the world. I believe that everyone who has been involved with PlayStation has their own experiences and memories related to PlayStation......
[Index]
Preface
Chapter 1 The Adventure Begins
Chapter 2 On the Eve of the Launch of PlayStation
Chapter 3 After the Launch of the First PlayStation
Chapter 4 Launch of the First PlayStation in North America
Chapter 5 "Net Yaroze," a Project for Amateur Game Creators
Chapter 6 SCE's Sandlot Baseball Team OzBlacks
Chapter 7 Assignment to Silicon Valley
Chapter 8 North American Launch of PS2
Chapter 9 Returned to Japan and Became CTO at Age 40
Chapter 10 PSX bequeathed XMB, being Sony's Common UI
Chapter 11 PlayStation Portable, SCE's First Handheld Device
Chapter 12 E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo)
Chapter 13 Cell Processor Ahead of its Time
Chapter 14 The PS3, a Difficult Production
Chapter 15 Challenges for Non-Gaming Applications
Chapter 16 PlayStation Network
Chapter 17 Passing the Baton from the Founder Generation
Chapter 18 Things Tried and Fantasized About
Chapter 19 16 Years, 5,767 Days Adventure with PlayStation
Closing Into the Fu
PlayStation celebrates its 30th anniversary in December 2024. The first PlayStation was enthusiastically received by game fans around the world, achieved sales of over one trillion yen just seven years after its launch. In 2019, it became the first stationary video game console with the Guinness World Record of 500 million units.
Being part of the launch of the PlayStation business, I was then involved in the conception, development, introduction, and operation of following generations of PlayStation, up to the basic system conception of PlayStation 4. This is the story of the 16 years I was involved with PlayStation, beginning with the startup phase of the company.
[From Preface in the book]
Launched in Japan in December 1994, PlayStation will celebrate its 30th anniversary this year in 2024.
Recently, I have been hearing from former colleagues who started and ran the PlayStation business at Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE, now Sony Interactive Entertainment) that they want to preserve the history of PlayStation, a rare success in the history of Japanese industry in the Heisei era (1989-2019).
The first PlayStation, which was launched in Japan in 1994 and enthusiastically received by game fans around the world, achieved sales of over one trillion yen just seven years after its launch. In 2019, it became the first stationary video game console to reach the Guinness World Record of 500 million units.
I was fortunate enough to be part of the launch of the original PlayStation business. I was then involved in the conception, development, introduction, and operation of following generations of PlayStation, up to the basic system conception of PlayStation 4.
As one of the few who have experienced this, I thought I would leave some of this great achievement behind and share with you the story of the 16 years I was involved with PlayStation, beginning with the startup phase of the company.
This book is solely the story of PlayStation as I saw and experienced it as a member of the project. Needless to say, many people were involved in the success of PlayStation.
These include not only SCE colleagues involved in PlayStation's worldwide success and the many collaborators at SCE's founding parent companies Sony Corporation and Sony Music Entertainment, but also the video game, technology, sales, distribution, and media industries that have been integral to PlayStation's success, as well as PlayStation fans around the world. I believe that everyone who has been involved with PlayStation has their own experiences and memories related to PlayStation......
[Index]
Preface
Chapter 1 The Adventure Begins
Chapter 2 On the Eve of the Launch of PlayStation
Chapter 3 After the Launch of the First PlayStation
Chapter 4 Launch of the First PlayStation in North America
Chapter 5 "Net Yaroze," a Project for Amateur Game Creators
Chapter 6 SCE's Sandlot Baseball Team OzBlacks
Chapter 7 Assignment to Silicon Valley
Chapter 8 North American Launch of PS2
Chapter 9 Returned to Japan and Became CTO at Age 40
Chapter 10 PSX bequeathed XMB, being Sony's Common UI
Chapter 11 PlayStation Portable, SCE's First Handheld Device
Chapter 12 E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo)
Chapter 13 Cell Processor Ahead of its Time
Chapter 14 The PS3, a Difficult Production
Chapter 15 Challenges for Non-Gaming Applications
Chapter 16 PlayStation Network
Chapter 17 Passing the Baton from the Founder Generation
Chapter 18 Things Tried and Fantasized About
Chapter 19 16 Years, 5,767 Days Adventure with PlayStation
Closing Into the Fu
193 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 10, 2024
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15 people want to read
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 4, 2025
A good read but very repetitive at times, occasionally paragraphs repeat themselves in different ways. Some really interesting stories though.
Overall quite interesting and a decent book
Overall quite interesting and a decent book
Displaying 1 of 1 review