http://www.gameconsolesedu.info/PS1.php
http://www.historyofplaystation.com/main_en_GB.html
http://uk.psx.ign.com/articles/060/060188p1.html
The PS1 was first coming into creation as early as 1986. Nintendo had been trying to develop CD technology since the Super Nintendo but they had come across a lot of problems. CD's could easily be tampered with and there was a serious piracy threat. Nintendo approached Sony in order to get them to come up with a CD drive that would be used on the console originally named the SNES-CD.
In 1989 the SNES-CD was due to be announced but Nintendo are said to have become worried over details of the contract that would mean that Sony almost have complete control over the console. Hiroshi Yamauchi (Nintendo President at the time) was said to be so furious that he secretly cancelled the contract with Sony and instead announced a partnership with Phillips. Following this development Sony decided to take the technology they had designed for Nintendo and produce their own console.
Steve Race, Sony Computer Entertainment Of America's (SCEA) then CEO, stated, "Since the deal with Nintendo didn't come to fruition we decided to put games on a back burner and wait for the next category. Generally, the gaming industry has a seven-year product life-cycle, so we bided our time until we could get in on the next cycle."
Headed by Kan Kutaragi the Playstation's development was underway in 1990 and was announced in 1993 having made a lot of changes. They had originally planned to include a cartridge slot and to make a multimedia system that did more than just play games. This was all scrapped in favour of making a "Dedicated games console". Key to the success of the Playstation was the decision to make the console focus on 3D games using a high power CPU and GPU. Once they had the console designed Sony then had to focus on software, as they were pretty new to the console world they knew that without a strong line up of titles the console would fail so they set about rounding up third party developers. With arcades doing so well in Japan it was a good idea to get them on side. By setting up deals with NAMCO, Konami and Wiliiams they were sure to get gamers interested. Sony also suprised a lot of people by purchasing Psygnosis which at the time was a relatively unknown European developer responsible for the Lemmings titles. This turned out to be a very wise decision as Psygnosis went on to develop some of the Playstation's most successful titles including Wipeout and Destruction Derby.
On December 3rd 1994 the Playstation was released in Japan, a week after the Sega Saturn which also used CD technology and was a direct competitor with Sony's console. Software available at launch included Namco's Ridge Racer which was Playstation's first huge seller. The console was hugely popular in Japan on release and Sony described it as their most important product since the Walkman.
By mid 1995 Sony had it's sights set on America. At E3 in May 1995 the Playstation was unveiled to the US. A extremely flashy show was put on at the Sony booth, which included an appearence from Michael Jackson and was rumoured to cost $4 million. Sony definitely stole the show with titles like Ridge Racer, Wipeout and Tekken. On September 9th that year the Playstation was launched in the US and was an instant success with many stores selling out of games and peripherals. Sony had made the clever decision of aiming the console at a slightly older market than usual and the Playstation was seen as the serious gamer's console.
By late 1996 the Playstation had sold 7 million units worldwide. And in May of that year Sony dropped the price to $199 which made the console even more popular in the US. With a clever marketing strategy, solid hardware and a multitude of games available the Playstation was a huge success.
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