Prior to the PlayStation, Sony worked with Nintendo on a CD-ROM drive for Super Famicom. Nintendo decided to pull the plug from the device, so Sony entered the console alone – becoming a direct rival and an industry power.
With that in mind, “PlayStation Father” Ken Kutaragi recently visited Bandai Namco’s Katsuhiro Harada bar and took some time to reflect on PlayStation’s relationship with other companies – like Nintendo – during this period.
Kutaragi said he enjoyed working with the Nintendo team and believes that the media at the time, along with “outside perspectives”, misjudged these relationships. He explains how, in the long run, this idea of ”conflict” between Sony, Nintendo and Sega has helped the industry grow. Here is the full summary:
“Before PlayStation, I worked at Super Famicom with Nintendo and I really liked Mr. Uemura and his team, I was often with them and I got along with them. But from the outside, we were considered to be fighting. We are not fighting at all. “
“I was just asked such questions,” he said [PlayStation’s] Sega or Nintendo competitor? “They asked me, but we never thought about who the competitor was because we were all co-workers. However, outsiders didn’t believe … they didn’t know the truth …They made our industry happy. “
Although such comments may not have been as compelling in the 1990s, Sony and Nintendo now occupy different segments of the video game industry. If you’re curious to find out more about Nintendo and Sony’s past, check out our PlayStation SNES feature.