Last week marked 30 years since the original PlayStation launched in Europe, and few people have a clearer memory of that era than Shuhei Yoshida, the longtime Sony executive who helped guide the console’s debut. In a new retrospective interview with GamesIndustry, Yoshida recalled how Sony’s breakout system — originally conceived as a Nintendo add-on — became the foundation for a generation of 3D gaming, driven in part by sports and racing titles that helped define the platform’s identity.
Yoshida first joined the PlayStation project in early 1993 under Ken Kutaragi, who famously transformed the scrapped “Super NES CD-ROM” prototype into a standalone console. “Nintendo created their big competition,” Yoshida told GamesIndustry, noting that the cancellation of the collaboration freed Sony to develop its own hardware. When PlayStation finally hit U.S. and European shelves in September 1995, it entered a crowded market against Sega’s Saturn and Nintendo’s aging Super NES.
But the PlayStation had two key advantages: price and lineup.
“For the Japan launch, we had only a limited number of games,” Yoshida explained. “Of course, we had Ridge Racer — that was really popular in Japan, so that really helped carry the system.” By the time the console arrived overseas, however, Sony had bolstered the roster with a wider mix of games, including a growing slate of sports titles from both Japanese and Western studios. “In the U.S. and Europe, there was this range of sports games,” he said. “So the lineup of games was much stronger.”
Those early releases — NBA Jam, FIFA Soccer, NFL GameDay, and Actua Soccer among them — were instrumental in giving the PlayStation credibility beyond traditional gaming audiences. Combined with the console’s lower price point and sleek branding, they positioned Sony as a mainstream entertainment powerhouse rather than a niche competitor.
30 years later, Yoshida views that launch as a turning point not just for Sony, but for sports gaming as a whole. The move to 3D, he reflected, “was mind-blowing” for players accustomed to 16-bit visuals. Titles like Ridge Racer and FIFA showcased the potential of realistic motion, expansive arenas, and television-style presentation, traits that remain the backbone of modern sports simulations.
“We had the hardware, we had a good lineup of games, we had a good price,” Yoshida said. “And the marketing campaign was appealing to a wide audience. We tried to make games that adults could enjoy — and we made the brand look cool.”
