PS1 PRICE ANNOUNCEMENT – E3 1995
PlayStation is the highest selling console brand of all time. Every single PlayStation console has been a success, and three out of the four consoles sold over 100 million each, with three of them also being among the top four selling consoles of all time. The consoles are home to a diverse catalog of unmatched quality, and have gone on to cement so many industry trends, from the iconic DualShock controller, to championing optical storage media for games. And none of it might have happened if not for this single moment in time. Sony’s Steve Race took the stage at E3, right after Tom Kalinske had announced in a confusing presentation from Sega the Saturn was available now for $399 in limited quantities, and said just this one thing: $299. And he left the stage. And this announcement, of the superior seeming machine launching at a $100 cheaper than the incumbent, who were shooting themselves in their own feet with confused messaging – this almost single-handedly caused the PlayStation’s early domination against would-be rival Saturn, giving it an insurmountable headstart that the Nintendo 64 would later be unable to match. The PlayStation would consolidate third party support from across the industry, be host to a rich and diverse library, with many of the best and most influential games of all time, and start the premium console gaming dynasty. And none of that might have happened if this one moment had gone any differently. Just imagine.
