RETRO – What do Netflix, David Lynch and US Air Forces have in common? They are part of the history of Sony consoles.

 

Sony broke into the video game industry with the PlayStation brand, and as they say, “nothing was the same again”. The gaming device of this technological giant conquered players around the world. On December 3, 1994, the first 32-bit console was launched in Japan, of which it is estimated that over ten years, more than 104 million units were sold. The success of PlayStation was in increase with PlayStation 2, that got to sell almost 160 million units and that established to Sony like one of the developers of more important video games.

Its most recent platform, PS4 Pro, the revision of its fourth desktop console, reached the market in 2016 and served as a closure for the current generation of Sony consoles. For almost 25 years, PlayStation has provided many hours of fun, rumours, unforgettable franchises, and anecdotes of all kinds. We collect some of the best curiosities about the PlayStation brand and its consoles, one of the main engines of the video game industry.

1. The design of the controls

The original design of the controller of the first PlayStation, which serves as the basis for the other consoles of the family, had in mind the functionality and comfort. However, there was another idea: the three-dimensionality of its games. The ex-president of Sony, Noria Ohga, also explained that the symbols of the buttons also have meaning: the triangle represents the point of view of the player, the square is the menu, and the circle and the X, yes and no respectively.

2. SPC700

Recognized as “The Father of PlayStation“, Sony engineer Ken Kutaragi began his career in the video game industry by designing a key piece of the iconic Super Nintendo console: the SPC700 chip. Also known as Nintendo S-SMP this advanced chip allowed the 16-bit console a great sound quality, even being compared with the sound synthesis cards of the time.

3. The design of Atari

The design of the second Sony console is not from Sony. Actually, it belongs to Atari. Specifically, the Atari Falcon 030 and 040 models, the last computers manufactured by Atari and that Sony decided to honour almost a decade later. Even the idea of ​​allowing vertical placement of the device using optional support was from Atari. The design was so similar to Atari Falcon that Sony included Atari in its console patent.

4. Condor Cluster

The United States Air Forces connected 1,760 PS3 together to form a large unit of data processing. Its mission was to analyze high definition satellite images, after installing specific software. Apparently acquiring all these consoles was cheaper than traditional equipment that offered the same benefits. The resulting unit was called Condor Cluster and was the 33rd largest supercomputer in 2010 when it was created.

5. Polygon Man

The first PlayStation almost came to have its own pet. It was Polygon Man, floating and oscillating head that Sony developed during the first stages of production of the brand and that came to seem in pre-launch advertising material. Finally, the character was discarded before the release of the console, but it was not forgotten. Polygon Man reappeared as the final boss in the PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale.

6. David Lynch

PlayStation 2 enjoyed some of the best and most original advertising campaigns for video games. Sony gave such importance to establish the personality of its console to fans, who came to hire the great director David Lynch to make one of the television spots that included a talkative duck. It was not the only one; the shocking Chris Cunningham also left us with an unforgettable ad: that of the alien girl Fi-Fi.

7. The success of Saturn

The PlayStation went on sale in Japan for 37,000 yen, and only 100,000 units were distributed among 4000 stores across the country. The stock sold out immediately. Before the end of the month, another 200,000 units were sold. However, the rival machine of Sega, Saturn, surpassed the numbers of the console of Sony, since it managed to distribute 200,000 consoles in his day of launching.

8. Launching games

At the time of reaching stores, PlayStation had eight games in its catalogue, including two mahjong titles, a train simulator and, fortunately for Sony, the famous Ridge Racer. The title of Namco included a version of the legendary Galaxian to play while loading the game. It was an idea from the game’s producer Yozo Sakagami who, interestingly enough, also worked on the development of the original Galaxian.

9. The PS2 home screen

The columns that we can see during the iconic home screen of our PS2 have meaning: they represent the saved data. Although it may seem completely random, it actually varies depending on the information stored in the memory cards. It was a quick way to check if the console had correctly loaded the information on the cards or if there had actually been a problem while charging.

10. The black discs

The games of the first PlayStation had a great curiosity: they were black. At that time the fans speculated with all kinds of reasons for this: that it was an anti-piracy measure, to check if the console reader was of a particular type, or that if it increased reading speed or capacity … Actually there was no reason especially. Simply, during the design of the product, someone must have thought that it was excellent.

11. The hated Crash

Ken Kutaragi, the former president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, hated Crash Bandicoot, the character of Naughty Dog and former mascot of the PS2. Kutaragi felt that Crash was too childish and that the PlayStation brand should target a more mature audience. It is still unclear to what extent this made Crash take a back seat to other characters such as Nathan Drake.

12. Netflix on PS2 PS2

Users could watch Netflix on their consoles. However, only if they had a special CD and lived in Brazil. This streaming system has been active until 2011 and is a curiosity probably due to a large number of consoles distributed in Brazil. The low price of the console in comparison with other DVD systems offered a great diffusion for Netflix, that tried to establish itself in the enormous Brazilian market.

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