Little Monser
Banned
Glad this mess happened. Nintendo stays winning on their own without the need of Sony. Slay Queen!
Interview with former Sony executives: Why the Nintendo PlayStation never happened.
- Thread starter BY2K
- Start date
Most likely not, there's about 0.00000000001% chance a massively successful Corp entered into a multi-million dollar co-venture with a other mega-corp without having 259 people read and dissect the contract
Nobody pointing out that this story reads like bitter nonsense about someone who has a bone to grind with Kutaragi?
Because we know the Nintendo Playstation was actually a thing, some prototypes are around...
Really reads like someone was annoyed at how much pull Kutaragi got inside Sony tbh, jut looking at the complaint of budget allocated within SME.
Beyond that, he seems to know nearly nothing, beside what he heard in Sony back at the time from other execs, as in "Nintendo screwed them up and they were unwilling to go to court due to X reason" (honor?).
Something similar happened much later around the PS3 btw.
IBM, Sony and Toshiba were developing the Cell, and IBM got behind Sony's back to sell a part of the research for the Xenon processor. A book was written about that and it's downright mind blowing the shit that happened around the Cell development, and how shady the whole thing was.
Sony is jut terribly naive as far as business deals are concerned it seems sometimes.
Because we know the Nintendo Playstation was actually a thing, some prototypes are around...
Really reads like someone was annoyed at how much pull Kutaragi got inside Sony tbh, jut looking at the complaint of budget allocated within SME.
Beyond that, he seems to know nearly nothing, beside what he heard in Sony back at the time from other execs, as in "Nintendo screwed them up and they were unwilling to go to court due to X reason" (honor?).
Something similar happened much later around the PS3 btw.
IBM, Sony and Toshiba were developing the Cell, and IBM got behind Sony's back to sell a part of the research for the Xenon processor. A book was written about that and it's downright mind blowing the shit that happened around the Cell development, and how shady the whole thing was.
Sony is jut terribly naive as far as business deals are concerned it seems sometimes.
Preach.
The Hermit
Member
What a perfect first reply
-Mutsukki-
Member
Yeah I don't think so too. Nintendo is a big company after all.
Nobody pointing out that this story reads like bitter nonsense about someone who has a bone to grind with Kutaragi?
Because we know the Nintendo Playstation was actually a thing, some prototypes are around...
Really reads like someone was annoyed at how much pull Kutaragi got inside Sony tbh, jut looking at the complain of budget allocated within SME.
Beyond that, he know nearly nothing, beside what he heard in Sony back at the time, a in "Nintendo screwed them up and they were unwilling to go to court due to X reason" (honor?).
Something similar happened much later around the PS3 btw.
IBM, Sony and Toshiba were developing the Cell, and IBM got behind Sony's back to ell a part of the research for the Xeon processor. A book was written about that and it's downright mind blowing the shit that happened around the Cell development, and how shady the whole thing was.
Sony is jut terribly naive as far as business deals are concerned it seems sometimes.
The article clearly said that a lid was put on at the very end. It's not a stretch to imagine that prototypes existed at that point. Also lol, no, Sony would absolutely go at Nintendo for contract breach, regardless of """"honor"""" or not. I mean, that's... why contracts exists. There's definitely something else there.
Rexatality
Member
Sounds like you hold a huge grudge against Sony, pal.
PeregrinSe7en
Member
yeah sounds like it
imagine how he'll feel when nintendo'h gets bought out by a company like say, apple. Then he'll have to settle for touch based mario shovelware for the rest of his playing days.
Until we see the contract (which seems to be confirmed here), we'll never know if there was some exit clause and what the terms would have been #shrug
The existence of the prototype invalidates the interview saying "it was just all about a CD Rom SNES attachment". It started that way though, but I don't think that is news at all.
It's even old news:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_NES_CD-ROM
I've seen that version pushed by Nintendo fans a lot, as it's not a great feeling to imagine your favorite company acted like dicks at one point (and at some point or another pretty much ever company does when they estimate it in their interest), but I still to this day have to see a proof that sony was actively trying to crew them?
-Mutsukki-
Member
Nothing written in this article invalidates the interview. If anything, it gives it more credibility. I don't understand your angle.
FalsettoVibe
Member
Good read.
The Hermit
Member
Jesus Christ NeoFaqs is becoming a thing now.
Nobody "lost" in the end, both companies are alive and well.
This is just a piece o history, nothing more.
Nobody "lost" in the end, both companies are alive and well.
This is just a piece o history, nothing more.
This.
The SNES CD/Original Play Station was essentially a "backdoor" into the SNES, similar to a videogame copier or an illegal Tengen cartridge, except the SNES CD was 100% legal and 1000x as big as carts and 90% cheaper than carts, at a time when developers were struggling with the cost and size of carts.
And Sony/Kutaragi had full control over that backdoor.
Companies like Square were making games for Sony's SNES CD. Sony/Kutaragi had used the promise of non-gaming as a Trojan Horse to go after Nintendo's bread and butter (gaming).
For some reason Nintendo got pissed that Sony/Kutaragi had acted in bad faith, and ran to Phillips to have them make an alternate SNES CD. It became a Mexican Standoff, or a mutually-assured-destruction nuclear arms showdown. If Sony launches, Nintendo launches, and the market becomes confused and everybody loses.
I read that Sony actually did sue Nintendo over this, because Sony's contract said they had the "exclusive right" to make a CD add-on for the SNES, but the court ruled that Phillips wasn't making another add-on, Nintendo was, and Sony's exclusive right to make add-ons didn't trump Nintendo's right to make add-ons.
After about a year of standoff, Sony backed down and walked away (and Kutaragi pushed Ohga to let him make the PSX as revenge). Sony didn't sue more because Nintendo technically wasn't stopping Sony from launching their SNES CD. It was just that if Sony did, Nintendo promised to fuck things up and confuse everyone by launching their own SNES CD.
I read somewhere that the biggest problem with this whole affair was that the contract was basically written on a cocktail napkin by Yamauchi and Ohga while they were having drinks with Kutaragi (as was the Japanese way at the time).
After it became clear that Kutaragi's Play Station was a massive threat to Nintendo's software royalties, Howard Lincoln jumped in to the rescue.
The interview mention that it was ALL about a CD rom attachment, not a console.
edit: Probably because from Maruyama' perspective, and from his own admission, that's all he cared about to get an in-house karaoke attached to your TV".
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/farewell-father-article
Nobody pointing out that this story reads like bitter nonsense about someone who has a bone to grind with Kutaragi?
Because we know the Nintendo Playstation was actually a thing, some prototypes are around...
Really reads like someone was annoyed at how much pull Kutaragi got inside Sony tbh, jut looking at the complaint of budget allocated within SME.
Beyond that, he seems to know nearly nothing, beside what he heard in Sony back at the time from other execs, as in "Nintendo screwed them up and they were unwilling to go to court due to X reason" (honor?).
Something similar happened much later around the PS3 btw.
IBM, Sony and Toshiba were developing the Cell, and IBM got behind Sony's back to sell a part of the research for the Xenon processor. A book was written about that and it's downright mind blowing the shit that happened around the Cell development, and how shady the whole thing was.
Sony is jut terribly naive as far as business deals are concerned it seems sometimes.
Yeah, expecting honor in business can and will backfire.
anothertech
Member
So the PS3 would have been the PSWii!
Seriously though, I think Sony dodged that bullet. Nintendo started making some strange decisions in the last decade.
Seriously though, I think Sony dodged that bullet. Nintendo started making some strange decisions in the last decade.
SatelliteOfLove
Member
Yall quit ruining high quality gaming history and scuttlebutt with your slapfights.
I mean, this is japanese scuttlebutt, the rarest kind!
I mean, this is japanese scuttlebutt, the rarest kind!
dampflokfreund
Banned
No, he is not. If Playstation never happened, Nintendo would have a strong partnership with Sony and a Nintendo Playstation would be a dream come true for everybody. Every third party game, hardware power and Nintendo games would be amazing.
Folks getting confused on which tab they're on. Folks, 4Chan and Reddit are in your other tabs. This is Neogaf.
PeregrinSe7en
Member
you must live in an alternate universe. what are things like in that bizarro world?
tell me more
Ewww. Sorry I was just picturing Mario 64 with resident evil style loading screens.
Hexa
Member
That sounds pretty biased, but I think I can see the general picture.
Overall, Kutaragi was not perfect and it seems he did some shady stuff, but he's still got my respect for being a key component of launching one of my favorite brands. I can not imagine what my child hood would have been like without Playstation as it was.
Overall, Kutaragi was not perfect and it seems he did some shady stuff, but he's still got my respect for being a key component of launching one of my favorite brands. I can not imagine what my child hood would have been like without Playstation as it was.
Yes because quick loading was such a great system seller for the N64...
meanwhile while the ....entire...industry moved on to CD's, Nintendo basically got left behind.
HandsomeCharles
Member
Yep, here's one:
http://www.techradar.com/news/gamin...is-the-coolest-console-never-released-1327988
(on mobile atm so I can't be bothered looking for others right now)
CartridgeBlower
Member
Playstation 1 might be the best thing that ever happened to the industry. Not saying it was the best console of all time, but it refreshed the market when it needed it, opened development up much more than any previous hardware developer, and ushered in a mass market that could help fund and sustain the industry. It also shook Nintendo to its core, which was a good thing. Sadly, it did the same to Sega, which didn't have as good a result.
If you honestly don't believe the impact the PS1 had, you probably weren't around when it came out.
If you honestly don't believe the impact the PS1 had, you probably weren't around when it came out.
-Mutsukki-
Member
First, thank you!
Secondly, oh Jesus. Sony and Nintendo were both shady as hell. So it's not like they didn't notice the contract, but just never realized how much it would fuck them up. And they did battle it out in court after all.
What could have been if Yamauchi was just a little more... gentle in resolving matters. (But I guess he felt his honor got betrayed too)
bobawesome
Member
Not so big. Nintendo didn't tear up Sony's contract. Nintendo threatened to retaliate using the Phillips-made CDi-based SNES CD if Sony went forward with their plans.
Kutaragi made the SNES sound chip "off the books" during company time and then sold it to Nintendo, without permission. It would have been a firing offense, but he walked into his bosses office with the sound chip in one hand, the Nintendo contract in the other, and said "Oh by the way, I made this. Where would you like me to put your free money?"
ArtHands
Thinks buying more servers can fix a bad patch
It has always been Sony's fault. Some people just love to rewrite history for some "reasons"
Saint of Killers
Member
Have you seen the Wii U library? It's exclusives trounce the PS4 library.
Have you seen the Switch? The PS4 Pro is shaping up to be an overpriced disappointment meanwhile Nintendo is bringing that innovation back to this creatively bankrupt industry. Nintendo ain't playing around any longer.
Tag worthy post.
That's not what it says at all...
Combichristoffersen
Combovers don't work when there is no hair
The N64 and GC weren't really a gen behind on HW specs tho, they just used storage formats that weren't quite what the rest of the industry wanted or needed.
Sorry I was speaking as a gamer with both systems. Not a shareholder.
Saint of Killers
Member
That was a very interesting read. Thank you!
Spiral Insanity
Banned
Little Mons†er;224327664 said:Glad this mess happened. Nintendo stays winning on their own without the need of Sony. Slay Queen!
You mean the other way around?
Not sure how you read that from it.
I can agree on PS1 being hugely impactful, but I'd still probably rank it below the Famicom in historical industry significance. FC/NES pretty much set the industry blueprint we still have going today. PS1 is a strong second place though, particularly with the inroads it made in unifying the European market and totally redefining 3rd party relations. VCS/2600, Game Boy, Xbox 360 and DS/Wii are all up there too I think, each sort of setting and resetting industry paradigms along the way.
JimJamJones
Member
cyberheater
PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 Xbone PS4 PS4
(Today, 03:44 PM)
cyberheater
PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 Xbone PS4 PS4
Your Pro-Nintendo bias is showing.
Yes it was Nintendos fault. They stupidly pulled the plug.
Can you image the epic RPGs on the SNES if they had gone with CDs.
Newtype-001
Member
This thread got so embarrassing.
Have you seen the Wii U library? It's exclusives trounce the PS4 library.
Have you seen the Switch? The PS4 Pro is shaping up to be an overpriced disappointment meanwhile Nintendo is bringing that innovation back to this creatively bankrupt industry. Nintendo ain't playing around any longer.
Oh man, dude, you're hilarious.
Check the whole PS4 library. It crushes the WiiU library.
Jawbreaker
Member
PopGAF.
-Mutsukki-
Member
These whole exchanges are the Neogaf variant of "my dad's stronger than your dad!!"
Of course this become a console wars thread...
The interview is incredibly informative and it gives us more information about how the Nintendo/Sony rivalry came to be and the PSX was born. Not only that, it gives us a different perspective to what we are used to.
Remember that story is written by taking into account everything that happened and all the testimonies. Of course Sony would say it was all Nintendo´s fan and of course Nintendo will say it was all Sony's, why wouldn't day? Conflicts usually happen when both parties feel they are in the right.
I find it funny that people reject the interview just because it puts their known story in a different light. Even going as far as to sell the story is biased or full with lies. I mean, is possible, but don't you guys think that the same could be said about the previous stories you already know? Are you guys so sure that we know everything that happened, so this new information not only inadmissible, its also laughable?
Sorry, but you don't get to pick and choose the bits of story you like. You take it all and form your own opinion, inform yourself and try to be analytical and objective about it.
I mean, we still got the PSX and the 64 out of it, so its clear who won.
Us.
The interview is incredibly informative and it gives us more information about how the Nintendo/Sony rivalry came to be and the PSX was born. Not only that, it gives us a different perspective to what we are used to.
Remember that story is written by taking into account everything that happened and all the testimonies. Of course Sony would say it was all Nintendo´s fan and of course Nintendo will say it was all Sony's, why wouldn't day? Conflicts usually happen when both parties feel they are in the right.
I find it funny that people reject the interview just because it puts their known story in a different light. Even going as far as to sell the story is biased or full with lies. I mean, is possible, but don't you guys think that the same could be said about the previous stories you already know? Are you guys so sure that we know everything that happened, so this new information not only inadmissible, its also laughable?
Sorry, but you don't get to pick and choose the bits of story you like. You take it all and form your own opinion, inform yourself and try to be analytical and objective about it.
I mean, we still got the PSX and the 64 out of it, so its clear who won.
Us.
Since December 1994 Nintendo's sold over 540m consoles between home and portable as well.