Former Sony CEO: It’s because of PS that we have FS and Soul Games now!

In the 1990s, Sony officially entered the console market with PlayStation. The decision to replace cartridges with CD ROMs not only changed the industry landscape, but also attracted multiple developers to join the platform camp. According to former Sony Interactive Entertainment President Shuhei Yoshida, in a recent video podcast, FS decided to enter the gaming industry precisely because of the appeal of CD ROMs.

Yoshida Shuhei stated that compared to traditional cassette tapes, CD ROMs had lower production costs and faster replenishment cycles, which became an opportunity for many companies. Companies like Atlus saw the potential of CD ROMs because they were cheap to manufacture and only needed three to four days to restock, without having to wait for two or three months, “he said.” FS was a commercial software company at the time, but when they saw that PlayStation was a game system based on CD ROMs, they thought ‘we can also become a game publisher,’ so they officially entered game development. ”

Speaking about how to persuade manufacturers to support Sony’s new platform at that time, Yoshida Shuhei admitted that the process was not easy. The industry generally believes that Sega’s Saturn will be more popular because they have experience. However, the combination of PlayStation’s 3D graphics capabilities and the new business opportunities brought by CD ROMs ultimately formed a competitive advantage. ”He added that subsequently, companies such as Bandai Namco, Capcom, and Square Enix successively released 3D games and masterpieces – among which the release of Final Fantasy VII became a crucial moment, establishing the position of PlayStation.

Yoshida pointed out that the adoption of CD ROMs not only propelled the success of PlayStation, but also profoundly influenced the development of the entire gaming industry. He has currently left Sony and has repeatedly talked about industry trends in public. He has stated that Sony “cannot repeat past models” in the era of the next generation console (PlayStation 6) and has expressed his views on Nintendo’s direction in recent years.