December 3, 1994 marks a major milestone in the history of the game. On this day, the PlayStation launched in Japan. We all take the brand for granted, but there were times when Sony wanted to enter the gaming space – including many of the company’s employees. It is an incredibly interesting part of our shared history. That’s why we’re proud to announce that the next cover story of the Game Informer magazine is a comprehensive chronicle of the origins and history of the PlayStation. We talked to more than a dozen men and women who were present during PlayStation’s key moments, and they shared their stories in a 24-page blowout.
Our story covers the history of PlayStation from the days when Nintendo and Sony planned a CD-ROM add-on for the SNES until today. We talked to some of the biggest names in the company’s history, including Ken Kutaragi, Shuhei Yoshida, Andrew House, Mark Cerny and many more. In addition, we have highlighted some of the lesser known people behind important elements, such as: These include the PlayStation’s catchy launch sounds, legendary controller design, and other aspects that have stood the test of time.
Below is a complete overview of all oral interviewees to give you an idea of what to look forward to reading:
- Mark Cerny, lead system architect for PlayStation 5
- Brian Fleming, co-founder and producer at Sucker Punch Productions
- Takafumi Fujisawa, former producer of the sound group at Sony
- Teiyu Goto, former member of the Sony Merchandising Strategy New Business Group
- Ben Heckendorn, engineer and creator
- Andrew House, former President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Hermen Hulst, Head of Sony Worldwide Studios
- Masayasu Ito, executive vice president of hardware engineering and operations at Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Ken Kutaragi, former honorary chairman of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
- Eric Lempel, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Marketing at Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Ted Price, founder and CEO of Insomniac Games
- Siobhan Reddy, studio director at Media Molecule
- Jim Ryan, President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Manabu Sakamoto, former senior graphic designer, senior producer, director and senior art director at Sony
- Angie Smets, studio director and executive producer at Guerrilla Games
- Michiel van der Leeuw, studio director and technology director at Guerrilla Games
- Evan Wells, president of Naughty Dog
- Kazunori Yamauchi, Deputy Director and President of Polyphony Digital
- Shuhei Yoshida, director of the Independent Creators Initiative of Sony
You do not have to wait long to read this story. Due to the timeliness we publish the entire article in a few hours. Do not forget to check back at 1pm. Central, after some time to check out.
The cover story takes up much of the topic, but is by no means the only one contained in it. We’ve got a lot of great features, including a conversation with the showrunner of The Witcher’s upcoming Netflix adaptation, a glimpse into the future of Xbox, and a full-fledged preview of Crystal Dynamics’ new Avengers game. In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and The Outer Worlds, there are also post-mortem features and a summary of some great board games you can play with your family this Christmas.
Print subscribers can expect their spending to arrive in the coming weeks. The digital edition of this issue will be released Thursday for PC / Mac, iOS and Google Play. You can also get the latest issue later this week through third-party apps on Nook and Kindle. Click here to convert your print subscription to digital, or click here to create a new subscription.
The cover was created by Sam Spratt (the longtime GI reader knows we’ve worked with him many times in the past). Large posters and art prints of the cover art will be available for sale on his website from 5 December. More information on Sam’s works and updates can be found here on Instagram.
