‘Nintendo left us at the altar’: How a failed SNES partnership gave us the PlayStation 1

The PlayStation 1, a console that redefined the gaming landscape, may not have existed if it weren’t for a failed partnership with Nintendo.

Former Sony boss Shawn Layden recently shed some light on this interesting piece of gaming history during an interview with Eurogamerrevealing that the PlayStation’s origins are tied to an abandoned project for an optical drive peripheral for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES).

According to Layden, the collaboration began with the shared goal of expanding the SNES’s capabilities with the cutting-edge compact disc (CD) technology pioneered by Sony’s Ken Kutaragi.

Layden explained: “Nintendo realized that the cartridges had already run out of memory and so we, or rather, Ken Kutaragi, created the compact disc technology to support the SNES.”

In 1993, the project seemed destined for success. Sony and Nintendo were preparing to announce their partnership at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). However, in a wild twist, Nintendo decided to partner with Philips, suddenly leaving Sony out of the picture.

Layden described the moment by saying, “We were almost ready. I think it was at CES 1993, we were about to announce the partnership. And Nintendo left us at the altar after making a last-minute pivot and choosing Philips.”

The betrayal was unexpected and could have marked the end of Sony’s move into video games, but Ken Kutaragi had other plans. Layden recalled:

“There was Ken, proverbially standing at the altar with his optical reader in his hands. And, outraged, he went back to Sony’s leadership at the time and said, ‘All I need is an operating system and some other connective tissue for this thing, and we can build our own gaming machine.'”

Thus the PlayStation 1 was born, setting the stage for one of the most successful gaming console lines in history. When production ceased, Sony had sold more than 102.4 million PS1 units.

History reminds us how innovation often arises from adversity. If Nintendo hadn’t switched to Philips at the last minute, the world of video games might look very different today.

Instead, Sony turned a rejection into an opportunity, giving us the PlayStation, an enduring legacy that began with a despised optical drive.

Thirty years later, the PS1 is still celebrated as a pioneer in the gaming industry. So, next time you pop in a classic PS1 disc, take a moment to appreciate this little twist of fate.