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On This Day: Electronics giant Sony had eyes on the UK games console market, with PlayStation due to launch in just over a month
Coloress_Kafka
Member
I’ve never seen Phil with hair, he looks so tame.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
I was big into SNES/Genesis and starting to get into PC back then.
I didn't think Sony was going to be successful, what did I know, I was in HS at the time. Then an older friend said, "don't count them out, I guarantee they will dominate in this arena..." ... I still laughed. I was thinking more along the lines of 3DO, or CDi... but...
Then that price tho. Then the tech delivered at the price, and then I tried one when they came out. Needless to say, I was actually blown away with the 3D and the sound at the time.
I didn't think Sony was going to be successful, what did I know, I was in HS at the time. Then an older friend said, "don't count them out, I guarantee they will dominate in this arena..." ... I still laughed. I was thinking more along the lines of 3DO, or CDi... but...
Then that price tho. Then the tech delivered at the price, and then I tried one when they came out. Needless to say, I was actually blown away with the 3D and the sound at the time.
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Sosokrates
Report me if I continue to console war
Oh nostalgia and how times have changed. In hinsight its a bit silly people did not expect media consumption hardware to be built directly into TV's.
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remember_spinal
Banned
First time i heard about playstation was when i saw a street fighter alpha commercial and it ended with “now on playstation” while i looked down at my yellowing Super Nintendo.
James Sawyer Ford
Member
I’ve never seen Phil with hair, he looks so tame.
Lmao
Phil Hairison before he turned into a vampire
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Kagey K
Banned
PSX was a cracking system, it was heads and tails above what other systems were doing at the time.
I haven't been to chuffed on it since though. Ps3 was especially bollocks and I haven't bothered going back.
Porcile
Member
She actually pronounce it correctly though.
Kagey K
Banned
There is no doubt that in the 80s and 90s Sony had a firm dominance of electronics, from TVs to Walkman if it was quality it had the Sony name on it.
Fast forward 30 years and the guy at 1:12 sounds like a gaffer posting about Microsoft and the girl at 1:40 makes me laugh about how Sony will stop customers being overcharged.
Fast forward 30 years and the guy at 1:12 sounds like a gaffer posting about Microsoft and the girl at 1:40 makes me laugh about how Sony will stop customers being overcharged.
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TheGodfather07
Member
I was only like 7 years old back then. I remember my uncle showing me a catalogue and saying he's going to buy this new awesome machine from Sony. I looked at it and thought the controller looked stupid.
Anyway, once he actually bought it I was amazed at what I saw. Remember staying up late all the time to play. Eventually everyone started getting one. All my relatives had one. We would gather and play smackdown 2: know your role. Great memories.
Anyway, once he actually bought it I was amazed at what I saw. Remember staying up late all the time to play. Eventually everyone started getting one. All my relatives had one. We would gather and play smackdown 2: know your role. Great memories.
I always pronounced it as Sow-nee, at least that's how it's said in their adverts.
Bernd Lauert
Banned
The worldwide video game market back then was only worth $20b? Damn. It's almost 5x now if we exclude mobile, and almost 10x with mobile.
supernova8
Banned
Haha back in the good old days when BBC presenters still had proper posh accents "Soh-naaaaaay", not today's half-arsed posh-ish accents.
Back on topic, I've always found it interesting how Sony took the game console market by storm but never managed to develop a really strong (and lasting) smartphone market share. I remember back when the Sony Ericsson K800i was all the rage (it was pretty much the only mainstream mobile phone with a decent camera at the time) and then Apple (along with all these random companies, who the hell had heard of HTC before their Desire smartphones?!) came along and wiped the floor.
I suppose Sony doesn't really care since Apple is still using Sony's image sensors so they're getting a piece of the pie but it seems like an area where Sony could have been pretty strong. Of course they have their Xperia line of phones but they're relatively niche (also the naming scheme for their latest Xperias is pretty confusing).
Back on topic, I've always found it interesting how Sony took the game console market by storm but never managed to develop a really strong (and lasting) smartphone market share. I remember back when the Sony Ericsson K800i was all the rage (it was pretty much the only mainstream mobile phone with a decent camera at the time) and then Apple (along with all these random companies, who the hell had heard of HTC before their Desire smartphones?!) came along and wiped the floor.
I suppose Sony doesn't really care since Apple is still using Sony's image sensors so they're getting a piece of the pie but it seems like an area where Sony could have been pretty strong. Of course they have their Xperia line of phones but they're relatively niche (also the naming scheme for their latest Xperias is pretty confusing).
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It's amazing that new comer Sony was able to easily wrestle away the Sega foothold in Europe and vanquish any of the micro computers that were still remaining. I know they did it world wide, but still still impresses me to this day and just highlights the importance of the Psysnosis purchase.
Tams
Member
Nokia were big in the camera space as well. And honestly, I wish they and Sony Ericsson were leading the market now.
As for now, well the smartphone division and imaging division did not get on well for years. That's been sorted now. And the naming scheme is fine, unless roman numerals are too much for you. Honestly, they make the best phones now. I'd get a recent one if it weren't for foldables. I hope they get into them with a great camera, 3.5mm socket, dedicated two-stage camera button and front facing speakers. Ideally Wacom EMR (and really, they just need to pop across Tokyo for that - lazy bastards).
Tams
Member
Her pronunciation is much closer to the Japanese. There's no way to make the 'O' sound in Japanese.
I reckon that's what might have happened, as the BBC have style guides. Sometimes they choose the native pronunciation over the Anglicised one.
Porcile
Member
Well to be fair, Asian names do usually go through the English blender and what comes out the other side often sticks, even officially, but here is the correct way to say it:
Mazda is another one.
supernova8
Banned
Haha in my defence who the hell uses roman numerals these days anyway? I hadn't been following Sony phones recently so the roman numerals kinda caught me off.
Did you get a foldable? They seem to be getting better really quickly, especially in terms of the crease becoming less and less visible. I would get one but honestly I prefer iPhones so I'm going to let my iPhone 6S die eventually, get an iPhone 11 to tide me over (pretty cheap on Mercari these days) for a few more years and then see if/when Apple jumps into foldables.
Tams
Member
OG Samsung Fold.
I really like it. Sure, it's a brick and the outside display is ever so slightly too narrow, but it's fun to use. I play Niantic games, that go to sleep if you hop between them. On the Fold's inner display I can have all three up at once and they don't go to sleep. Same with some banking apps and my password manager. And then there's reading chat in streams, or just doing some quick research and taking notes.
I'm completely off Apple. 'My way or the highway' is not how I expect to be treated as a customer. If I wanted that I'd join the military.
Roman numerals are fine. Hell, Apple used them for the X. Sony have the 1 series (high end), 5 series (midrange), and 10 series (lower midrange). Each iteration gets the next Roman numeral. Not hard to grasp.
TGO
Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
I simply don't get why she was pronouncing it like that.
I'm English and I've never heard anyone pronounce it that way....well maybe some South Asians
Tams
Member
It's quite literally been outlined in this thread already.I simply don't get why she was pronouncing it like that.
I'm English and I've never heard anyone pronounce it that way....well maybe some South Asians
Anyway, if we're going to overanalyse this; firstly her pronunciation is closer to the Japanese pronunciation. Secondly, she says it the normal way in English when it's in the middle of a sentence. She only says it that other way at the beginning of sentences when she's trying to emphasis it. This may also be down to what ever the BBC News style guide on it was at the time.
And Sony are Japanese, not South Asian.
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TGO
Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
I meant I've only heard south asians pronounce it that way, I wasn't referring to Sony being south asian
saintjules
Member
1:19 says it best. Even in 2022.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
For every corporation in the arena under the sun.
Ezekiel_
Banned
I remember having a SNES with many games and enjoying those, but as I grew older, and with the release of the N64 and PS1, my siblings and I were ready to upgrade.
Only being allowed one console, and being familiar with Nintendo's franchises, we were naturally more inclined to get the N64, but out father convinced us to try out the PlayStation because of its 'CD-ROM' technology (he probably heard it on the news or on the radio).
So the deal was we were going to rent both consoles and decide based on that.
The first console we rented was the PlayStation. While looking for games to rent, we picked one with the bigger CD case, with a cool looking dude and a big sword on the cover.
That game, of course, was Final Fantasy VII.
It blew us away : the graphics, the sound, the world, the mature story.
It was exactly the next step in our gaming journey we needed. We were hooked from there on.
We didn't even bother renting the N64. Our choice was made.
Only being allowed one console, and being familiar with Nintendo's franchises, we were naturally more inclined to get the N64, but out father convinced us to try out the PlayStation because of its 'CD-ROM' technology (he probably heard it on the news or on the radio).
So the deal was we were going to rent both consoles and decide based on that.
The first console we rented was the PlayStation. While looking for games to rent, we picked one with the bigger CD case, with a cool looking dude and a big sword on the cover.
That game, of course, was Final Fantasy VII.
It blew us away : the graphics, the sound, the world, the mature story.
It was exactly the next step in our gaming journey we needed. We were hooked from there on.
We didn't even bother renting the N64. Our choice was made.
Captain Toad
Banned
After Phillips, Panasonic, etc, I gave this no shot.
I still bought one at launch, because I got almost everything and it was relatively cheap.
It did not take long before I realized it was something special and not another CDi or 3DO. I had no idea what it would quickly become though.
I remember playing the hell out of Battle Arena Toshinden and Ridge Racer, then later Wild Arms. It was Resident Evil when I became a real believer though. That's still one of my all-time favorites.
And Final Fantasy was my favorite franchise by far at the time. I was shocked when I heard Final Fantasy 4 was coming to the system. Even more shocked when I found out my friend was right and they were actually naming it Final Fantasy 7 in the US. I had basically been calling him a moron for thinking that for weeks.
I still bought one at launch, because I got almost everything and it was relatively cheap.
It did not take long before I realized it was something special and not another CDi or 3DO. I had no idea what it would quickly become though.
I remember playing the hell out of Battle Arena Toshinden and Ridge Racer, then later Wild Arms. It was Resident Evil when I became a real believer though. That's still one of my all-time favorites.
And Final Fantasy was my favorite franchise by far at the time. I was shocked when I heard Final Fantasy 4 was coming to the system. Even more shocked when I found out my friend was right and they were actually naming it Final Fantasy 7 in the US. I had basically been calling him a moron for thinking that for weeks.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
Same. I would play BAT, NFL Gameday and Tekken, etc... then when I picked up Resident Evil the day it launched, just based off seeing it in an ad in gaming magazines and knowing Capcom's pedigree, I was blown away.
Tiago Rodrigues
Member
The fact that in 2022 they only released one console that didn't end up as the most successful one the gen it released is amazing when you think about it.
Lupin3
Targeting terrorists with a D-Pad
"Sony says the machine will also connect to television..."
Fuck yeah! Take that, Nintendon't!
I remember hooking up my PSX to the television for the first time. I was truly amazed over the fact that I was able to actually see the games I was playing. No more guessing.
Fuck yeah! Take that, Nintendon't!
I remember hooking up my PSX to the television for the first time. I was truly amazed over the fact that I was able to actually see the games I was playing. No more guessing.
FunkMiller
Banned
Christ.
I'm so old, I remember watching all these news reports and getting hyped about its release.
I'm so old, I remember watching all these news reports and getting hyped about its release.
ManaByte
Member
When the PSX was launching, Sony had no first-party development studios. You know how they got their first one?
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
They had 989 Studios that was built in-house and 989 Sports became Sony San Diego.
989 Studios - Wikipedia
Japan Studio was founded before the launch of the PS1 as well.
Japan Studio - Wikipedia
They also had Psygnosis which was purchased before the PSX ever hit retail shelves.
Psygnosis - Wikipedia
They also had their publishing arm for well over a decade before the PS1 launch that worked with many of the studios and later became SCEA after the launch.
Sony Imagesoft - Wikipedia
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ManaByte
Member
They had 989 Studios that was built in-house and 989 Sports became Sony San Diego.
989 Studios - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Japan Studio was founded before the launch of the PS1 as well.
Japan Studio - Wikipedia
They also had Psygnosis which was purchased before the PSX ever hit retail shelves.
Psygnosis - Wikipedia
They also had their publishing arm for well over a decade that worked with many of the studios.
Sony Imagesoft - Wikipedia
They had none of that when the console was first launching. Psygnosis was their first in-house developer that they bought for $48 million in 1993.
Sony Imagesoft WAS 989 Studios. Sony took Imagesoft (which started as a partnership when Sega) and turned them into SISA a month before the PSX launched in the US. That's where Kelly Flock came from. Likewise even though Japan Studio was founded in 94 when Sony published Crime Crackers (developed by Media Vision) for the PSX launch in Japan, their first actual games wouldn't release until about a year later.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
You said this...
Which was factually wrong based on the founding dates.
ManaByte
Member
The PSX launched in Japan in December of 94 and the US in September of 95. The reason they bought Psygnosis in 1993 was so they'd have first-party games at launch (Wipeout, 3D Lemmings, Destruction Derby, etc). The rest of their first party studios started in 94/95.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
And Japan Studio was formed in 1993.
989 branding in August of 1995 which had NFL Gameday at launch. That game and Tekken were the first two I purchased with it.
It's all right there in the wiki links posted.
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ManaByte
Member
NFL Gameday was not a launch title. The first NFL Gameday didn't release until November, closer to Thanksgiving.
The first NFL Gameday was actually kind of rushed because Madden '96 for PlayStation was cancelled due to Visual Concepts fucking up.
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DeepEnigma
Gold Member
You are literally splitting hairs with semantics. Considering we all call it launch window now, especially with the holiday when most get their consoles after launch.
It was still a fantastic football game that sold over 300K copies by April the following year on a new system with a new IP. Some sites gave it sports game of the year as well.
Most games around launch are rushed... even the launches themselves (now that they do mostly global instead of year delay staggers).
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