At the Tokyo Game Show, Ken Kutaragi revealed that even within Sony, there were doubts about the success of the PlayStation, despite it becoming one of the most influential platforms in the gaming industry.

Ken Kutaragi, the former president of Sony and the man known as the “Father of PlayStation,” admitted that when the PlayStation was born, there were many within Sony who doubted its success. Kutaragi explained that Sony did not originally plan to enter the video game market, but after a disappointment with Nintendo, they decided to develop their own console, which ultimately became the PlayStation.

“We wanted to share their passion. We wanted to hear their expectations and what they were not expecting, so we wanted to hear from them. So we visited dozens, if not hundreds, of companies, we visited a lot of game makers. It was a great memory. They were not interested. They just said, ‘Don’t do it. Several companies had tried, and none were successful. You will fail.’ That’s what they told us,” Kutaragi said.

Kutaragi, who was involved in the development of the first three PlayStation generations, made several memorable remarks over the years. For instance, he once called the Xbox 360 “Xbox 1.5,” and when the PlayStation 3 launched at a price of $600, he suggested that fans should work overtime to afford the console. Kutaragi left Sony in 2007 and has since served on the boards of companies such as Rakuten and SmartNews, while also acting as a senior technology advisor for Sony.

When the PlayStation 3 launched, Sony reportedly lost several billion dollars as the console was sold at a loss. However, since then, the PlayStation brand has become hugely successful and one of the most important players in the gaming industry.

Source: VGC